Or should I say Central American food Troubles...

Just a small clice of the comedic h e double hockey sticks my live has become.

Monday, the wife went over to Jersey (don't ask "what exit" either) and took her parents grocery shopping while she was there. She came home and had these bags of Tamales. Found them at the store, looked like ones we used to get around here so she picked them up. Tonight I decided to cook them up for dinner, and was reading the ingredients on the back of the package. No mention of meat anywhere; Hmmmmmmm... So, I get them all cooked up, and they don't really smell great, but hey, they atr tamales, right? How bad could they be? "Producto de El Salvador" on the back of the bag and all. I cut into the first one, but there wasn't anything inside it! NOTHING! Just nicely steamed Masa all the way through! Now, I grew up in SO Cal, and have been eating Mexican food my whole life, even had a friend there whose mother would save me some turkey tamales every Thanksgiving. I have seen Beef tamales, chicken tamales, cheese tamales, but never nothing tamales.

I leave it to the all-knowing sages of Bench Racing to tell me just what in the heck I am supposed to do with tamales that don't have any filling. It doesn't look from the package like they forgot to put it in, the package says "Green Corn Tamales" No mention of meat, or any kind of tamale filling.

I assume they wuld be good for throwin' but I'd rather find something to do with them that involves eating. Anybody got any recipies?

K

I blame the damn liberals

I blame the damn liberals
No, it's definitely Bush's fault ;) :D

No, it's definitely Bush's fault ;) :D

WHY DO YOU HATE FREEDOM!?!

;)

I support the tamale makers, but I'm against tamales :p

Green corn tamales don't have meat in them, they are GREEN CORN!!!!!

You got what you bought, corn meal.. Now if it said, chicken, or beef, or cheese, etc. tamales, thats a different story. The ones you bought, my dog loves them.....

OH great, here comes the CAFTA debate again.

The ones you bought, my dog loves them.....

LMAO!!! :D :D :D :D

Don't lie Rich, you know you're the one who really eats them! :p :D :D

Oh sure, to you guys it's a big joke, but I have a freezer full of them, and need to know how to make them edible. Now quit going off topic before the mods clost the thread and I have to eat dry cornmeal straight for 2 weeks! ;)

K

You're living in PA now, so cook them in lard, stuff them with cabbage, and cover them in ketchup. ;)

I dunno man. You could just cook them up like you mentioned you did, and throw some shredded beef, heck even some ground beef, and mix it all up! I'd give it a shot :D :D :D

Stuff them with Barbacoa,good stuff.

Ok, now you know why they were so cheap! :D BTW, when I saw the subject, I thought it was going to be about some kind of digestion problem...

I wonder how good they would shoot out of my potato gun???????

I wonder how good they would shoot out of my potato gun???????

Just eat them and give them an hour or so, and they'll shoot out just fine. ;)

Just eat them and give them an hour or so, and they'll shoot out just fine. ;)

ROTFLMAO!!!! :D :D :D :D

I dont think so, If they are just corn they would surely plug you up. Now if you smothered them in refried beans, a pound of guacamole, salsa and some jalepeno's then they would shoot out fine. Plus, It doesn't hurt when they come out of a potato gun.

Plus, It doesn't hurt when they come out of a potato gun.

I guess that all depends on which side of the potato gun you're on ;) :p :D :D :D

Just pour salsa all over them and eat it. Or get some taco bell sauce all three flavors hot mild and fire and dump all those over it. Or you can just put beef on top and dump salsa and taco bell sauce all over it. ITs good eating. But you will be on the can all night.

I think that for all of that trouble, I would just order from taco bell while im there, buy some beer and shoot them out of my potato gun.

ROTF,LMAO,PIMP:beers:

Just eat them and give them an hour or so, and they'll shoot out just fine. ;)

He, He!! PA, eh??

Can you turn them into "scrapple"??

I couldn't eat the darn stuuf when I tried it when I was over by Lancaster on a trip years ago BUT you might like it??

pdq67

Man I really feel for you! Me being a gringo and growing up in sunny California and I never new of Tamales until I met my wife (now of 28 years) her being from a traditional Mexican family there were many different ethnic foods we both put into our household,the best being homemade tamales. Every Thanksgiving and Christmas she has tamale making parties where all the women come to my house and sit and make tamales and drink Margaritas. Last year they made over 25 dozen for each holiday..........yes I really feel for you.

A good green corn tamale is really good, and are usually more of a special occasion- or holiday-type treat. Maybe even a seasonal thing. I don't know if it is because you were expecting meat, or they are just a bad example, but around here, good green corn tamales are a real treat.

So, I get them all cooked up, and they don't really smell great, How bad could they be? "Producto de El Salvador" on the back of the bag

Ever had a bad case of severe food poisoning that you darn near died from ?

Throw that friggin crap in the dumpster.

Nate

Ever had a bad case of severe food poisoning that you darn near died from ?

Throw that friggin crap in the dumpster.

Nate

I agree, a burrito from Tijuana is gourmet compared to anything made in El Salvador.

[QUOTE I'd rather find something to do with them that involves eating. [/QUOTE]

Throw them out on the front lawn for the birds. They'll eat them!

Keith ya must have grew up eating Taco Bell. They are a seasonal specialty at El Cholo Cafe for years. I get them once in awhile.
http://aolsvc.digitalcity.com/losangeles/entertainment/venue.adp?sbid=100006903&ncid=AOLACG00170000000004&sem=1

I agree that the green corn tamales are good, but I usually can eat only one of them before I get a craving for some meat. Maybe you can add some meat on the side and enjoy the two together.

try this:

blend (in a blender) 1 lb italian sausage-hot, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 1/8 cup diced garlic, 1/8-1/4 cup Corona/XX/ or other appropriate cervesa.

fill tamales w/goo and cook til done.

The trouble with filling them is that they are already wrapped up nicely (and frozen) If she had brought home just the masa not pre-tamale-ed I would have been much happier :)

So the green corn ones are more like a dessert item? kind of like that nasty lump of sweet cornbread they put on your plate at all the "tex-mex" restaurants?

They aren't non-tasty, I just wondered what the heck I was supposed to put with them to eat them, ice cream? Frijoles?

I'm liking the idea of feeding the birds with them, there is a guy at work with a Jag that it would be funny to see covered in geese once they start heading by here on their way south :D

Thanks for the tips guys, I might start work on a tamale gun this weekend if I don't get some decent recipes (that ought to keep you guys from replying :))

K

So the green corn ones are more like a dessert item?K

They are a main dish. Bought them off street vendors before. Next time you are out visiting the parental units, stop on by. I'll drag you out for some with a few drinks.

I still say they would work better out of a potato gun.

Here goes:

El Salvador tamales are different from Mexican ones, as the two cultures differ quite a bit. A genuine Salvadorian tamale should be wrapped in a banana leaf, as a opposed to the Mexican tamales' corn husk leaves.

In Mexican culture, there's plenty different kinds of tamales. The most common are the shredded beef or shredded pork variety. There are also tamales that are made with masa that is mixed with pineapple juice, strawberry puree, and other sweetners. These are normally made as dessert. The process usually starts with the making of the meat filled ones. Then after the meat is all used up, some families also make ones with cheese/chile in them. After that are the sweet ones and whatever masa is left over are made into "tamales blancos" which are just the masa prepared for making tamales, shaped into the tamale form and wrapped in a leaf and then cooked just like any other tamale, except its just plain.

Some masa will even end up being played with like clay by the youngsters in the families, keeps them busy while everyone else is busy making the food.

Go mix some good mortar and build that garage you've been wanting.
When dry, they'll make good bricks!

Just smother them in some good homemade chile, maybe with some cheddarjack. They'll be good. One of our local Tex-Mex restaurants here has a really good chile gravy the put on their tamales. Delish.

It all makes a turd! :D

It all makes a turd! :D

Yeah, but these seem to taste like one before you even eat it. :)

put them sreaming hot, on a plate next to a good size pile of chile colorado. then you'll figure it out. for us who grew up on this stuff, they are fine alone, but if you need the meat, a spicy plate of chile colorado and green corn tamales are hard to beat, especialy with an almost frozen, dos xx.....

put them sreaming hot, on a plate next to a good size pile of chile colorado. then you'll figure it out. for us who grew up on this stuff, they are fine alone, but if you need the meat, a spicy plate of chile colorado and green corn tamales are hard to beat, especialy with an almost frozen, dos xx.....

Frozen to the point where you open it and it turns all slushy. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Cerveza....... Now we are getting somewhere.

slowpoke70 is right.

I travel on business to Central and South America, and these cultures are different from Mexico, even though the language is common. Basically, the Central America countries are very mountainous with out a lot of range land for a beef/meat culture. Fish is excellent though, some of the best I've had anywhere was in Panama.

I like the suggestions in some of the other posts -- find something you like as a topper. Even a baked potato isn't that great without your choice of toppings