Guest Author - Amy McDaniel

Plantains lend a novel fruit flavor to classic pork tamales. I serve these with tomatillo-avocado salsa, but most any salsa, store-bought or homemade, would probably suit them.

If you don�t have a steamer, chances are you can cobble something together. A pasta pot works beautifully, and so does a large stockpot with a colander nested inside.

For the tamales wrappers:

3 ounces dried corn shucks, soaked at least 2 hours in hot tap water

For the filling:

1/4 cup cilantro
2 cups chicken broth
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
2-pounds boneless pork roast
2 ripe plantains, diced
2 serrano chiles, very finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1-1/2 cup Spanish cooking wine or other white wine
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. On top of stove, heat oil in 5 to 6 quart dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season pork roast with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in the oil. Remove roast from pan. Add chopped garlic, saut� just until golden. Add wine to deglaze the pan. Return roast and any juices that have collected to dutch oven, add chicken broth, and bring to a boil on top of stove. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 2 to 2-1/2 hours or until meat is tender. Transfer roast to a plate to cool. When cool enough to handle, shred meat with a fork and your fingers.
Mix shredded port, diced plantains and Serrano chiles in a bowl and set aside.


For the tamales dough:

3 cups masa harina (flour for corn tortillas)
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup lard or solid shortening
3 cups chicken broth

Mix the masa harina, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In another medium bowl, with a wooden spoon or electric mixer, beat shortening until creamy. Add the masa mixture and broth, beating until the dough is soft and fluffy, scraping the bowl as needed.

Assembling the tamales:

For each tamale, place one drained corn husk lengthwise, pointed side at the bottom, on a work surface.
Spread with about two tablespoons of masa (approximately a one-inch ball of dough), leaving a border of one inch at the top and sides and three inches at the bottom.
Add a tablespoon of filling to the middle of the tamale.
Fold the sides in so they overlap, and then fold the top and bottom in, and place on a cookie sheet or plate seam-side down. Repeat with remaining ingredients.

Cooking the tamales:

Prepare a steamer with 3 inches of water, and drop a coin in the bottom. (As the tamales steam, the coin will stop rattling if the steamer is dry. Add more water in this case.)
Line the bottom of the steamer with extra corn husks.
Stand the tamales up in the steamer insert, working carefully so they don�t come apart.
Cover with more extra corn husks, place a dish towel over the top, and cover with lid.
Let water boil and steam for about an hour or until the dough is firm and can separate easily from the husk.
Serve hot!