Green Chicken Chili Tamales

Hey my friendly foodies! Welcome to The Tasteful Texan! If this is your first time joining us, you're in for a delicious recipe. We will be making tamales. I'm super excited about this. Now, normally I don't have time to make tamales. We do have this amazing older lady who frequents our apartment complex delivering various tamales. She usually has chicken, pork, and beef on hand. I must say we love when she visits. Yum yum!

Well, unfortunately our lovely tamale lady isn't around to deliver her scrumptious tamales, so we will be making these ourselves. This is a pretty lengthy process, but believe me when I say that these will come out beautifully! For now, I invite all of you to join me in the kitchen. We'll whip quite a few of these. I'll meet you there!

Green Chicken Chili Tamales

Yields 30

You will need:

• Kitchen Twine
• 6 oz package corn husks

For the Chicken, you will need:

• 2.5 pounds chicken breasts, trimmed
• 4.5 cups warm water
• 2 Knorr Homestyle Chicken Stock
• 1 cup Salsa Verde
• 1 teaspoon garlic salt

For the Filling, you will need:

• 1.5 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed
• 5 large jalapenos, seeded, sliced in half lengthwise
• 6 large garlic cloves
• 1.5 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

For the Dough, you will need:

• 1 1/3 cups vegetable shortening
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 1.5 teaspoons baking powder
• 4 cups Masa
• 2 cups (maybe a little more) low-salt chicken broth
• 2.5 cups fresh corn, about 4 ears

1. For the Chicken: In the bowl of your slow cooker, mix warm water, Knorr homestyle stock, salsa verde, and garlic salt. 
2. Once fully mixed, add the chicken. 
3. Cook on high for 4 hours. 
4. Pour the juice/chicken stock into a large bowl, set aside. 
5. Shred the chicken and set aside.
6. For the filling: Place the husks in a large pot or large bowl, then add enough hot water to cover. 
7. Place a heavy plate on the husks to keep submerged. 
8. Let stand until the husks soften, about 30 minutes. 
9. You can let this happen while you are preparing the dough and filling.
10. Meanwhile, heat the broiler. 
11. Line a heavy baking sheet with foil. 
12. Arrange the tomatillos on the prepared sheet. 
13. Broil for 6 minutes, then remove from the oven. 
14. Turn each tomatillo over. 
15. Add the jalapeno to the baking sheet and return to the broiler. 
16. Broil for 6 more minutes and remove from the oven completely.
17. Transfer the tomatillos, jalapenos, and any juices on baking sheet to the food processor (or blender). 
18. Add garlic to the processor and blend until a smooth puree forms. 
19. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. 
20. Add the tomatillo puree and boil for 5 minutes, stirring often. 
21. Add 2 cups of the leftover juice from the slow cooker. 
22. Reduce heat to medium, then simmer until sauce coats a spoon thickly, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes. 
23. Season with salt. 
24. Mix in chicken and cilantro.
25. For dough: Using a stand mixer, beat the vegetable shortening with salt and baking powder, until fluffy. 
26. Beat in the masa in 4 additions. 
27. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in 2 cups broth, forming a tender dough. 
28. If the dough seems firm, beat in enough broth, 2 tablespoons at a time, to soften, then gently stir in the corn kernels.
29. Meanwhile, open 1 large husk on the work surface. 
30. Spread 1/4 cup of dough into a 4-inch square in the center, leaving 2- to 3-inch plain border at the narrow end of the husk. 
31. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of filling into a strip down the center of each dough square. 
32. Fold the long sides of the husk and dough over filling to cover. 
33. Fold up both ends of the husk. 
34. Tie the tamale with twine. 
35. Stand the tamales in a steamer basket. 
36. Repeat with more husks, dough, and filling until all filling has been used. 
37. If necessary to keep tamales upright in steamer, insert pieces of crumpled foil between them.
38. Fill a pot with about 2 inches of water, place in the 2-inch ceramic oven safe dish, and bring water to a boil. 
39. Carefully place the steamer basket on top of the ceramic dish. 
40. Steam the tamales until the dough is firm to touch and separates easily from husk, adding more water to pot as necessary, about an hour. 
41. Let stand for 10 minutes. 
42. Serve immediately, or freeze.

I know this recipe took a while, but it will feed an army of hungry tamale lovers. My family usually orders 2 dozen and it still isn't enough. I'm positive that your family and friends will be begging you to make more of these delicious tamales. Anyway, I'm out of here for today. I'll be back tomorrow with another (shorter) recipe for you all. Until then, have a great day, and happy blogging to all!