Tiffany's Chicken Tamales with Queso Fresco & Tomatillo Sauce

My wife and I are fans of Top Chef (Bravo TV Network).  On episode 8 - - Tiffany Derry won the elimination challenge with her Chicken Tamales with Queso Fresco & Tomatillo Sauce.  After a bit of googling, I also found a video by last season's winner, Michael Voltaggio showing how to make the tamales.  The recipe is a bit terse; for instance, it doesn't even include instructions for cooking the tamales.  The video is a bit better.  This is how I did it, which is, hopefully, a bit more complete.  They are a bit of work - but well worth the effort.

Tomatillo Sauce

• 12 tomatillos, cut in quarters
• 1 habanero, seeds and membrane removed
• 1 lime, juiced
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 large avocado

1. Place half the tomatillos and all of the rest of the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth
2. Gradually add the rest of the tamatillos until all are incorporated and the mixture is smooth

 Radish Pico de Gallo

• 1 bunch radish, thinly sliced on a mandolin
• 1 English cucumber, seeds removed and diced small
• ½ red onion, small dice
• ½ bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• ½ habanero pepper, seeds and membrane removed and finely minced
• 2 limes, with zest from 1 lime and both juiced
• Salt & Pepper

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and then refrigerate for a couple of hours to allow the flavors to blend

Chicken Filling

• 1 whole chicken
• 7 whole cloves garlic
• 3 Tbl chili powder
• 2 Tbl paprika
• 3 Tbl salt
• 1 dried Ancho chili, sliced
• 1 Cup of Tamatillo Sauce (recipe above)

1. Place all ingredients into a pot and add enough water to cover
2. Bring to boil and then reduce heat to medium and cover with a lid
3. Cook chicken for about 30 minutes
4. Turn off heat, but leave lid on pot and let chicken simmer in liquid for another couple of hours until cool enough to touch
5. Remove chicken and separate meat from bones and shred the meat
6. Add the 1 cup tamatillo sauce to shredded chicken

Equipment

• Blender
• Mandolin
• Chinese bamboo steamer baskets

Tamales

• 4 Cup Masa Harina
• 4 oz (by weight) Lard
• Water - enough to make a thick dough the consistency of clay
• Fresh corn husks, washed to remove any grit
• Queso fresco, for garnish

1. Mix Masa Harina, Lard, & water according to package directions to make a thick dough the consistency of clay.
2. Remove whole husk leaves from fresh ears of corn, being careful not to tear.
3. For each tamale, take a piece of Masa dough, about the size of a small egg, and flatten it out in the middle of a corn husk to be approximately 2" x 4"
4. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the chicken mixture down the middle of the Masa
5. Roll the corn husk and tie ends with thin strips of corn husk
6. Arrange tamale's on a chinese bamboo steamer basket
7. Place over boiling water and steam for about 30 minutes until firm.
8. Serve with Tomatillo Sauce and Radish Pico de Gallo

Notes

• It was difficult to tell for sure; but, it appears Tiffany steamed just a square of Masa dough in the corn husks and then served them with the chicken mixture spooned on top - sort of a deconstructed tamale.  It's an alternative method; however, I prefer them to be a bit more traditional.  The advantage of Tiffany's method is you can put more meat.
• The Radish Pico de Gallo is very non traditional - bordering on weird.  But, it is actually quite delicious.  After dinner we had a few tamales left over, but the Radish Pico de Gallo was gone.
• I had a lot of the Tomatillo Sauce left over.  I suggest cutting the recipe in half as it doesn't keep very well (no more than a day or two).
• Be very careful chopping the habanero pepper and wash your hands thoroughly in warm soapy water after handling it.
• Although I haven't tried it, I think the chicken mixture would be very tasty in enchilada's.  You could make half the amount of tamale's and then make chicken enchiladas as a second dinner for the next day.  I would include monterrey jack cheese inside the enchilada's and sprinkle crumpled Queso fresco cheese on top.

Painted Desert Soup

I first had this soup at Blue Mesa Grill - a Mexican restaurant that is more Southwestern in flavor -verses Tex-Mex that defines most of the Mexican restaurants around these parts. Not that there is anything wrong with Tex-Mex - but it's nice to have something different once in a while. Anyway, Blue Mesa Grill has the recipe for their Painted Desert Soup on their web site, as well as recipes for many of the other items on their menu (Their guacamole is to die for).

It is actually two different soup recipes that are then ladled together into the same bowl so that one side is Corn Chile Chowder and the other side is Black Bean (I didn't do a particularly good job of ladling in my picture, but you can get the idea). Each of these soups are very good and could be made individually; but, they aren't that hard to make - and for the full effect, you need to make both and serve them together. As the web site states, it is as colorful as the Southwest.

I've adapted the recipe on the Blue Mesa Grill web site to both cut it down (i.e. make less) and to use more readily available ingredients.

Corn Chile Chowder

• 3 cups frozen cut corn
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 6 oz. Velveeta Cheese (a slab about 3/4" thick), cut up
• 1 Tbl canned sliced jalapenos, finely minced (no juice)
• ½ tsp salt
• corn starch - as needed
• cold water - as needed

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the frozen corn on a cookie sheet and roast until it starts to turn light brown, about 30 minutes

Take 70% of the corn and the chicken stock and puree in a blender. Pour the puree in to a double boiler and heat over a medium heat. Add the heavy cream and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add the remaining whole corn, Velveeta Cheese, jalapenos and salt. Continue cooking until cheese has completely melted. Stir often.

Mix corn starch and cold water in a separate bowl and add to soup as needed to thicken. Cook on low heat about 8 minutes until it thickens.

Black Bean Soup

• 2 slices of bacon (preferably hickory smoked) cut into small pieces
• 2 ounces (about 1/3 cup) chopped onion
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped (or pressed, if you have a garlic press)
• 2 14 oz cans of cooked black beans
• water as needed
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ½ tsp. chipotle puree
• 2 Tbl brown sugar
• 2 Tbl cider vinegar
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp. black pepper
• (optional) dash of liquid smoke

Saute bacon and onions in a large pot until they begin to caramelize. Add the garlic and then saute for another 30 seconds to a minute

Add canned beans with liquid to the pan. If necessary, add just enough water so that the beans are just barely covered. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.

Puree ¾ of the soup and add back with remaining bean soup.

To serve

Simultaneously ladle both soups on opposite sides of the bowl.

(optional) Drizzle with sour cream and a teaspoon of pico de gallo.

Notes:

1. The chipolte in adobo sauce is the one ingredient people are less likely to have on hand. It's not expensive (a 4 oz can is a $1 or so); but, it may not be worth getting for just a ½ tsp. of the sauce. I don't recommend just leaving it out because the Black Bean soup needs some sort of spice; but, You could try substituting it with some sort of hot sauce. The chipolte in adobo sauce is pretty spice (hence only ½ tsp.); so, if using some other sort of hot sauce, you might want to increase it to a teaspoon or so.
2. We tend to not use much salt in our cooking; so, you may need to add a bit more salt.
3. For the picture, I poured the soups into two mugs and then simultaneously poured into the bowl - an option if you don't have two ladles.

Guacasalsa

This is a slight variation of a recipe from Emeril Lagasse, part of his Grilled Fish Tacos with a Roasted Chile and Avocado Salsa recipe. What he calls Roasted Chile and Avocado Salsa" - I call Guacasalsa, a sort of combined guacamole/salsa. It is quite delicious and worthy to stand on its own.

Ingredients
* 1 Hass avocado, flesh removed from peel
* 2 poblano peppers, roasted, peeled and seeded
* 1 jalapeno, roasted, peeled and seeded
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
* 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves
* 1 lime, juiced
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 3 Tbl water

Stick everything in a blender and puree until smooth