Walts Store for Supreme Beef Hot Tamales
Lorraine Englande
Lorraine Englande's Hot Tamale Recipe won her a spot as a featured recipe in the 'Prize-Winning New Orleans Recipes' cookbook, which featured recipes from the first six cookoffs sponsored by The Times-Picayune. (Englande family photo.)
(Lorraine Englande's family)
Bernie Wahl wrote to ask for a recipe for Lorraine Englande's famous Hot Tamales, which she said were "the best in the world." After the request was printed on Wednesday, I got this note - and the recipe!
"I saw your article in the Living Section of The Times-Picayune this morning requesting Lorraine Englande's Hot Tamale Recipe. I am her daughter, Lorraine. Years ago, The Times-Picayune had a cookbook contest. My mom entered her recipe and was a finalist. Her recipe is published in the book, "Prize-Winning New Orleans Recipes."
She attached a copy of the recipe and photo of the cover of the book, which compiled recipes from the first six cooking contests sponsored by the newspaper.
I asked Lorraine about her mother.
"My mom was always around food," she wrote. "In the 1940s, my family owned a restaurant on Claiborne between Franklin Avenue and Elysian Fields. Unfortunately, I don't know the name of it. She waitressed and learned how to cook seafood from her father-in-law, who came from Yugoslavia.
"We grew up in the Lower Ninth Ward and, in the 1960s, we moved to Arabi, in St. Bernard Parish. There were five of us kids. My dad was a blue collar worker, and my mom was a stay-at-home mom, so cooking was a necessity. She learned how to cook her dishes from her friends or the ladies in the neighborhood. Occasionally, I would come home and someone would be in the kitchen with my mom showing her how to cook something. And then she would put her own twist on it."
"For the Hot Tamales, I understand a little Mexican lady came to the house and showed her how to make, as she called it, 'real Mexican tamales.'" She added that her mom cooked the old New Orleans staples: Crawfish Bisque; Stuffed Baked Red Fish; Stuffed Mirliton; Chicken in Red Gravy, "fried anything" and so on.
"Mom and Dad were heavily involved in the Catholic church and school, St. Robert Bellarmine," Lorraine continued. "In the late 1970s, a new priest came into the rectory and heard about my mom's cooking. He came to dinner at our house and he hired her. She served him many wonderful meals and pulled off dinner parties for all the priests in the area.
"You really made my day asking for information about my mom. And I know you would have made her day too! From my full heart, thank you!"
Lorraine said her family still makes her mother's tamales every other year or so, because this is an all-day production. "You don't want a lot of cornmeal. You want more meat than corn," Lorraine said of the tamales. "I sound like my mother!"
Lorraine said her mother never froze her tamales, but she is sure you could.
The tamales "never lasted that long in our house. You could sit and eat dozen by yourself," she said.
Please read through all the notes at the end of the recipe before starting.
Lorraine Englande's Hot Tamales
Makes 10 dozen
FILLING:
- 3 pounds ground beef
CORNMEAL MIXTURE:
- 4 cups yellow corn meal
FOR COOKING:
- Water to cover tamales
In a food processor, finely chop the vegetables and garlic. In a large skillet, saute beef with vegetables, 1 tablespoon paprika, 2 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon cayenne and salt. Cook until meat is light brown. Reserve.
Make cornmeal mixture: Combine thoroughly cornmeal, shortening, water, 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon chili powder and salt.
Wet tamale papers lightly. With a knife, spread cornmeal mixture about 1/8-inch thick over about a third of the paper, leaving about 1-inch border around the edges. Spoon about a tablespoon or so of meat and spread it to cover cornmeal. Roll; after the first rotation, fold up the inch on the bottom of the tamale. Continue rolling until tamale is enclosed at the bottom and open at the top.
Stand rolled tamales with open end up in a large heavy Dutch oven. Add water (and spices) to almost cover the tamales. Over highest heat, bring to a boil and boil 15 minutes. Turn down to very lowest heat and cook for 2 hours.
Check water level periodically. If needed, add more hot water.
Serve tamales hot or warm.
Recipe notes:
* Mrs. Englande did not drain the fat from her meat filling after cooking it, but she did a remove a spoonful or so to drain a bit before adding it to the tamale, her daughter said. The filling needs to be juicy, but not wet or drippy.
* Her daughter is uncertain if Mrs. Englande stirred the remaining salt, chili powder, paprika and cayenne into the cooking water, or if she sprinkled it atop the tamales before adding the water. When the tamales finish cooking, Lorraine said, the juice was "a spicy mixture of everything." (I would add the spices to the cooking water.)
* Lorraine said her mother would have a bowl of water next to her work space to briefly dampen the tamale papers. Do not saturate them.
* As she worked, Mrs. Englande would prop a Dutch oven on its side to stack the tamales inside, with the closed tamale end at the bottom of the pot. (How clever is this!)
Stack the tamales rather tightly, so they don't fall over into the cooking water, which will make the filling fall out. If there is extra space in the Dutch oven, Mrs. Englande used aluminum pie tins to wedge them into place. You can also use a steamer.
If you, like Bernie, have a recipe request, email me and we will try to locate it. You may reach me at judywalkercooks@gmail.com.
Source: https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/article_e7b24613-711c-564d-a019-d268b608947a.html
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