Cheesy chicken tamales

I've been a bit amiss with my blog, so I'm using the NFL playoffs as an excuse to make up for lost time. Today I've chosen to make tamales. A few weeks ago my friend Andriena treated Justin and me to her homemade tamales. They were delicious, but, man, her mouth must be made of asbestos! I usually fear no spicy food. For example, the last time we visited our local Indian spot, I ordered my entree medium-hot and thought it too mild. I would never say that about Andriena's tamales. Fortunately she had plenty of milk in her fridge. I drank 2 cups!

This recipe uses poblano peppers, which are quite mild.

So, I decided for a training wheels version of Andriena's tamales and found one in the Food & Wine Best of the Best (volume 8) cookbook. This is a great cookbook. It has a lot of variety and the pictures are inspiring. Although I bought it 4-5 years ago, I peaked on Amazon and it is still available.

Makes approximately 18 tamales, 4-6 servings
Start early - there are a lot of steps. Also, the husks must be soaked for 1.5 hours and the tamales steamed for 1.5 hours.

Ingredients

Kitchen string/twine
1 8-ounce package dried corn husks
2/3 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned grits (just NOT the instant version)
1 1/4 cups chicken stock, plus more for tamale batter if required
3/4 cup masa harina (A very finely ground corn flour made from corn that has been dried, cooked, ground up and dried again. I found it at the local Mexican tienda.)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 cup lard or vegetable shortening (I used vegetable shortening)
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sal
1 1/2 cup cooked chicken (I used a rotisserie chicken)
1/2 lb Monterey Jack or mild cheddar, coarsely grated
4 poblano chiles, roasted, seeded, peeled and coarsely chopped

1. Combine the corn husks and enough water to cover in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Place a heavy plate or pan atop the husks to keep them submerged and boil for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and soak until the husks are soft and pliable, 1-1.5 hours. Drain the husks, remove any corn silk, and pat dry.
2. Process the grits in a food processor for 1 minute. Bring the chicken stock to a low boil in a small saucepan. Transfer the grits to a large bowl and add the hot stock. Let stand, uncovered, for 10-12 minutes. Add the masa harina and cumin and mix until evenly combined. Cool to room temperature before processing.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, whip the lard until smooth, light and creamy, about 2 minutes. (I don't have a paddle attachment and it worked just fine.) Stir in half of the masa mixture and whip until well blended. Add the remaining masa mixture, little by little, until the batter resembles thick cake batter, adding additional chicken stock if needed. Add the baking powder and salt and whip for 1-2 minutes, or until well incorporated and smooth.
4. Lay 1 corn husk on a work surface with the narrow end closest to you. Top with a second corn husk so that the fat ends overlap in the middle and the narrow ends point in opposite directions. Spoon 1/4 cup of the masa batter into the center of the husks and, with the back of a spoon, spread it into a 4-inch square. Place about 1 generous tbsp each of the chicken, grated cheese, and chopped poblanos in the center of the masa square.
5. Fold 1 side of the corn husk over the filling, fold the other side over the filling, and then the top and bottom ends. With a piece of kitchen string or thin strip of leftover corn husk, tie the tamale together loosely so that it resembles an oblong rectangular package. Repeat with remaining corn husks and filling.
6. Once the tamales are assembled, line a steamer basket with any remaining corn husks and layer the tamales inside the steamer basket, leaving enough room for the tamales to expand slightly while cooking. Cover the tamales with another corn husk, cover the steamer with a tight fitting lid and steam for 1 1/2 hours, or until the tamales are tender and pull away easily from the corn husks. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving.

Note - I don't have a tamale steamer (no place to put it in my overcrowded kitchen.) Instead, I used a metal steamer insert in my Dutch oven and placed the tamales atop it. I added about one inch of water, brought it to a boil, and then turned it down to simmer and covered the pot.