Tamales [Paperback]

Mark Miller (Author), Stephan Pyles (Author), John Sedlar (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2003

"Mouthwatering . . . this book's a treat for eye and palate." --Metropolitan Home magazine

"Nobody makes a tamale quite like Sedler." --Ruth Reichl

Popular features of southwestern and Mexican cooking, tamales--little packages of corn masa dough--are quickly becoming one of America's favorite wrapped foods thanks to the genius of these three chefs. Tamales are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and highly versatile. Best of all, they can be made with all types of fillings and in limitless styles.

Try these tempting variations:
* Roasted Potato, Garlic, and Sun-Dried Tomato Tamales
* Asparagus and Hollandaise Tamales
* Caribbean Jerk Shrimp Tamales
* Lobster Newburg Tamales
* Smoked Salmon Tamales with Horseradish Crema
* Arroz con Pollo Tamales
* Chicken Tamales with Mole Poblano
* Coriander-Cured Beef Tamales with Barbecue-Onion Marmalade
* Lamb Tamales with Mint, Black Beans, and Blackened Tomato and Mint Salsa
* Mom's Apple Pie tamales
* Chocolate Bread Pudding Tamales
* And more than 100 other recipes
* After tasting these tantalizing recipes, you'll agree it's true that good things do come in small packages.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Tamales—little packages of corn mass dough typically containing a tasty filling and wrapped in a dried corn husk—are an increasingly popular feature of Southwestern and Mexican cooking. They are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and highly versatile—they can be made with all types of fillings and in limitless styles. In Tamales, three pioneers of America's modern Southwestern cuisine present their imaginative and delicious takes on this exciting wrapped food.
The three chefs introduce readers to the many kinds of masa, or dough, with which tamales can be filled. The rich and vibrant flavors range from chipole chiles to red Thai curry. The authors also guide the reader in the basics of tamale making—stuffing, wrapping, and cooking—clarifying the steps and demystifying tamale preparation.
The tamales themselves contain worlds of flavorful diversity. There are vegetarian tamales such as Ratatouille Tamales with Rosemary-Queso Fresco Pesto; Roasted Potato, Garlic, and Sun-Dried Tomato Tamales; and Asparagus and Hollandaise Tamales. The seafood tamales include the flavors of Caribbean jerk shrimp, Lobster Newburg, and smoked salmon with horseradish crema. Poultry is a natural tamale filling. Try Arroz con Pollo Tamales, Squab-Chestnut Tamales with Red Cabbage Chow Chow, or Chicken Tamales with Mole Poblano.
Meat-filled tamales range from Coriander-Cured Beef Tamales with Barbecue-Onion Marmalade to Lamb Tamales with Mint, Black Beans, and Blackened Tomato and Mint Salsa. Tamales even make wonderful, innovative desserts; the inspired recipes in this book include Ginger-Sticky Rice Tamales with Mango and Basil, Mom's Apple Pie Tamales, and Chocolate Bread Pudding Tamales.
Tamales are quickly becoming one of America's favorite wrapped foods. It's no wonder: they welcome any flavoring and suit every occasion. After tasting these outstanding recipes, you'll realize it's true that good things come in small packages. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

"Mouthwatering . . . this book's a treat for eye and palate." —Metropolitan Home magazine

"Nobody makes a tamale quite like Sedler." —Ruth Reichl

Popular features of southwestern and Mexican cooking, tamales—little packages of corn masa dough—are quickly becoming one of America's favorite wrapped foods thanks to the genius of these three chefs. Tamales are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and highly versatile. Best of all, they can be made with all types of fillings and in limitless styles.

Try these tempting variations:

• Roasted Potato, Garlic, and Sun-Dried Tomato Tamales
• Asparagus and Hollandaise Tamales
• Caribbean Jerk Shrimp Tamales
• Lobster Newburg Tamales
• Smoked Salmon Tamales with Horseradish Crema
• Arroz con Pollo Tamales
• Chicken Tamales with Mole Poblano
• Coriander-Cured Beef Tamales with Barbecue-Onion Marmalade
• Lamb Tamales with Mint, Black Beans, and Blackened Tomato and Mint Salsa
• Mom's Apple Pie tamales
• Chocolate Bread Pudding Tamales
• And more than 100 other recipes
• After tasting these tantalizing recipes, you'll agree it's true that good things do come in small packages.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1st edition (April 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764525670
• ISBN-13: 978-0764525674
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #440,912 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Cookbook, November 7, 2000

By 

Scott McPherren (Chico, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tamales (Hardcover)

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. I have made several of the recipes in this book and all have turned out excellent. The arroz con pollo recipe is my personal favorite, my friends and family agree! This is not a "quick" cookbook, however, many of the recipes I have tried require several hours. Many recipes require roasting peppers, rehydrating dried chiles, and chopping lots of veggies. Fortunately most of the work is prep work, towards the end of the recipe it's "put the skillet in the oven and bake for 40 minutes" or "steam the tamales for 25 minutes" which means if you time it right, you still have time to get ready for the guests to arrive after all the messy stuff is done, while the meal is still cooking. Also, if you want, prepare the tamales and put 'em in the fridge, a great idea if you have several hours before the guests arrive. And don't worry if you can't find dried corn husks or banana leaves, plastic wrap works fine in their place (they suggest this in the intro, as well as a dozen other items that can make these recipes easier). If you like Mexican food, and like spending a few hours in the kitchen just so your guests say "this is the best food I have ever had!" then this is a book you want to take a look at.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CUT A TAMALE MANY, MANY WAYS, March 10, 2004

By 

Margaret Martindale "Marty Martindale" (LARGO, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tamales (Hardcover)

TAMALES
By Mark Miller, Stephan Pyles, and John Sedlar with John Harrison
Photographer: Lois Ellen Frank

If you are not Latino or never lived in the southwest, chances are your first tamale was a strange little package, wrapped and tied as a bundle inside an early TV dinner. Further, it was probably pale red, mushy and you liked the nearby enchilada better.

Tamales become gourmet, fusion cuisine in this book, and your ideas for more can be endless. Basically think of a tamale as a house in structure. It has its foundation, living rooms and finally the roof. With tamales the foundation is a corn husk wrapper lined with masa dough, the living area is the filling and the roof a tantalizing sauce. Tamales can be vegetarian, seafood, poultry, any meat or desserts, depending on ingredients. Tamales, the lined corn husk wrapped around and filling and cooked over steam.

The masa base for the dough is large-kernel corn which looks like hominy. It is dried, cooked in limewater, drained, dried again and ground into flour. You can also purchase it, then proceed with one of the book's intriguing flavored masa dough recipes. Some variations include:

Roasted Corn Tamale Masa Dough
Wild Mushroom-Chipotle Tamale Massa Dough
Red Thai Curry Tamale Massa Dough
Habanero-Blackened Tomato Tamale Massa Dough
plus many more.

Just a few of the filling and sauce recipes are:

Wild Mushroom and White Truffle Tamales
Artichoke and Sun-Dried Tomato Tamales with Olive Oil and Saffron
Salmon Tamales with Red Pepper Masa and Mole Amarillo
Shrimp Tamales with Ranchero Sauce
Clam Tamales with Fennel and Chayote-Melon Salsa
Chicken Tamales with Mole Poblano
Duck Tamales with Pineapple and Chipotle
Bittersweet Chocolate Tamales with Anchos, Prunes and Raisins (one of several dessert tamales)

Apt headnotes identify newly-introduced ingredients and clarify each recipe's mission. Helpful, too, is the book's section, Basic Recipes, Sauces, and Techniques. In it they cover such steps as blackening tomatoes, tomatillos, chiles, and onions. It also goes into how to process chiles, toast herbs and spices and make delicious stocks.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfect tamales, December 2, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Tamales (Hardcover)

I searched for recipes to perfect my tamales and came up with little success until i stumbled upon this book. Getting masa to have both a good flavor and texture can be tricky, but i've been successful on both levels with the various masa dough recipes. This book goes beyond the traditional tamale by creating some of the most innovative and flavorful recipes - - sauces included! Mark Miller has succeeded in yet another fabulous cookbook!