8.1.10

I made sweet corn tamales (recipe tweaked but passed down from friends) with black beans and mango, corn and avocado salsa. I mix up the toppings, sometimes I just put avocado and cilantro, try different salsas, whatever you please. Tamales:

• Roast three cans of white corn(or yellow, your preference), about 4 1/2 cups, in a 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned. Meanwhile boil a big pot of water and once it's boiling turn it off and throw in about 30 dry corn husks, cover and leave to soak.
• Mix dry ingredients: heaping 2 cups of masa, 2 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Simmer all but one cup of the corn in 1 1/2 cups milk (I use 1% milk, it's up to you) for about 10 minutes and let cool a bit.
• Whip 1 cup + 1 (or 2) tablespoons butter in a large bowl.
  
• Throw the corn and milk into the blender and pulse to combine. Stir in the one cup of corn you reserved (you can blend it all but I like getting whole corn kernels in my tamales).
• Alternate stirring in the dry mix and the milk blend into the whipped butter.
• Take your tamale husks out of the water and shake them dry. You need to tear a couple of husks into long strings to use as ties. Put about 3 tablespoons of the masa mix into the center of a flat corn husk; wrap the bottom up, then the left side and then the right and tie the top with a string of husk. Place each finished tamale in a steamer. Once done put it on the stove and cook for 35-45 minutes.