Las Posadas

Tamales Rojos (makes 30 or so)

3 (8 ounce) packages dried corn husks (you need around 35)
4-5 lbs chuck roast
1 onion
1 head of garlic
3 bay leaves
1 tsp whole black pepper
1 tsp all spice
2 tbsp salt
5 whole cloves
water

Sauce:
20 New Mexico chiles or guajillo chiles
3 ancho chiles
12 tomatillos
water
7 garlic cloves
1 1/2 tsp cumin

Masa (dough):
6 cups instant corn masa for tamales
5 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cup lard
5 tsp baking powder

Soak your corn husks in a bowl of warm water until softened, about 4 hours (or overnight).

Place meat, onion, garlic, bay leaves, pepper, allspice, salt, cloves in a Dutch oven. Add enough water to cover and bring to a boil, with lid on. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat is cooked through, about 2 hours.

While the meat is cooking. broil the chiles until they're charred and the skin starts peeling and cracking. Then place the chiles along with the tomatillos in a saucepan with water to cover. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool a bit. Transfer chiles and 4 cups of their cooking water to a blender, add the garlic and cumin, and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into a skillet and let it simmer on very low heat.

When the meat is done, take it out of the pot and pour the broth it's formed into measuring cups. You need 5 cups of broth (if you need more liquid, use canned or bouillon-made broth to make up for what you lack). Now take a cup of the chile sauce from the skillet and add it to the broth. You want 6 cups of liquid total. Set this liquid aside for a moment until you make the masa.

Shred the meat with a couple of forks. Then add the remaining chile sauce from the skillet to the shredded meat and mix.

Make the masa: Beat the lard until creamy and fluffy, for about 5 minutes. Mix in the baking powder, 1 cup of masa, and about 1/4 cup of the broth. Mix on low speed, adding more masa (1 cup at a time) with broth alternately. Once all the masa and broth have been added, mix at a higher speed for a long time -- about 15 minutes -- until you're able to drop a bit (a teaspoonful) of the masa into a glass of water and it floats.

Form the tamales: Pat the husks dry. To form a tamale, place a husk smooth-side up in front of you. Arrange the husk so the wide side is at the bottom and the pointy side is at the top. Spread about a golfball-sized bit of masa on the bottom 3/4 of the husk so it's about 1/8 of an inch thick and spread all the way across. Top with meat, spreading it in a line down the center of the dough. Fold over one long side of the husk about 1/3 over dough and filling, then fold in the other long side, overlapping the first as if you're folding a business letter to put in an envelope. Fold down the top -- the pointy end (some tie it in place using a piece of husk or twine, but you really don't need to if it's folded correctly) -- and place the tamale in your steamer basket so it's standing with the folded end down and open end up. Don’t over-pack the steamer; load the stearmer just tightly enough to keep tamales in an upright position.

Put water in your steamer so it'll almost reach the bottom of your steamer basket. Turn the burner on to medium heat and get the water hot. Put your steamer basket full of tamales in your steamer, cover the steamer, and steam the tamales -- checking the water level periodically so your steamer doesn't run dry -- for about 2 to 3 hours. To test tamales for doneness, take the biggest one and try to peel the husk off: if it comes off cleanly, they're done.

You can freeze tamales. Just let them thaw in the fridge overnight to use. They're good fried up in a bit of bacon fat.

Chile de Arbol Salsa

2 tomatoes, de-stemmed
20 chiles de arbol
1 cup of fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. oregano

Broil tomatoes until charred. Broil chiles until charred. Put everything in a blender. Serve with chips (or over eggs, tamales, most anything savory).

Biscochitos

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground anise
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 pound lard, softened
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1 large egg
2 tablespoons sweet white wine, brandy, rum, apple juice, or pineapple juice
1/4 cup sugar + 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon for the topping

Sift together the flour, baking powder, anise, and salt and set aside.

Beat the lard in an electric mixer, gradually adding the sugar, and beat until fluffy and light, about 8 minutes, scraping down the bowl as you go (don't shortcut this step). Add the egg, followed by the wine, and continue beating. To this, add in the dry ingredients, adding about one-third of the mixture at a time. Stop the mixer as you make each addition, and beat no longer than necessary to incorporate the dry ingredients (the dough will be stiff, like a pie crust dough).

Chill the dough for about 15 minutes for easy handling. Preheat the oven to 350.

Roll out the dough 1/4-inch thick on a floured work surface and cut into shapes. Avoid handling the dough any more than necessary. Transfer the cookies to ungreased cookie sheets. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until just set and pale golden. Cool for a minute or two, then dunk the tops in cinnamon-sugar mixture while still warm.

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