K and J kitchen at La Cantine

Watch Kate making the recipe for the delicious Fresh Corn Tamales on tv .

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Fresh Corn Tamales With Rajas

Fresh Corn Tamales with rajas, hongos, queso Oaxaca zucchini flowers and salsa morita

This is a recipe purely inspired by the beautiful local, seasonal vegetables that can be found at Jean-Talon and Atwater markets at this sunny time of year. Wild mushrooms, fresh corn, peppers, tomatoes and chilis! The summer time bounty is always fun to work with! This is a play on the classic rajas y hongos and the delicious mix of earthy, sweet and savory flavors are sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Tamales:

4 ears of fresh corn

2 cups masa for tamales

¼ cup butter at room temperature

¼ cup lard

1 tbsp. sugar

¾ tsp. salt

1 1.2 tsp. baking powder

2 chile poblanos roasted, seeded and cut into strips (rajas)

½ cup queso Oaxaca shredded

Carefully remove the husks from the corn and set aside for later use. Discard the corn silk and with a sharp knife remove the kernels of corn. In a blender or food processor puree the corn to a chunky consistency.

Mix the masa with the sugar, salt and baking powder and add to the corn puree. Add the butter and lard and mix until smooth and fluffy. Fold in the cheese and rajas.

Spoon 2 tbsp at a time of mix onto a cornhusk and fold to close. Tie with a string or a piece of cornhusk. Repeat with the rest of the mixture. You should get about 20 tamales. Place in a steamer lined with more cornhusks and steam over simmering water for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Salsa roja de morita:

1 cup of smoked beer (in our case our own home brew)

2 avocado leaves

5-6 chile morita

4-5 chile pulla

2 large tomatoes cut into quarters

1 onion, cut into quarters

4 whole garlic cloves, with skin

4-5 branches of coriander

juice of 1-2 limes

salt

In a small saucepan bring the beer to boil with the avocado leaves. Toast the chiles in a dry pan and add to the hot beer. Allow to rehydrate for around 20 minutes. Meanwhile in the same dry pan char the tomatoes, garlic and onion until black on all sides. Remove the chiles from the beer and seed and devein if you don’t want the sauce to be too spicy. Remove the garlic cloves from the pan and peel. Add the chiles to the pan as well as the peeled garlic and deglaze with the beer. Reduce to dry and add another cup or so of water along with the coriander. Simmer for around 15 minutes to soften the vegetables. Pour everything into a blender and puree until smooth. Add enough lime juice and salt to season the salsa to you liking and allow to cool to room temperature before serving.

Chorizo, wild mushroom and zucchini blossom garnish:

6 zucchini blossoms with small zucchini if you can find it, cleaned

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped finely

4 fresh chorizo, casing removed

2 cups of wild mushroom (we used lobster and chanterelle)

¼ cup fresh coriander lightly chopped

salt and pepper

In a large pan heat the olive oil. Lightly brown the zucchini and remove from pan. Add the onion and chorizo and cook for about 3-4 minutes until the fat and juices start to run out. Now is a good time to add the mushrooms so that they absorb all this good stuff. Cook for another 7-8 minutes to nicely brown and caramelize everything. Add the zucchini blossoms back in and if you’d like you can deglaze with a little of the smoked beer used earlier in the salsa. Season everything to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with coriander. At this point your tamales should be ready.

Serve the tamales topped with the wild mushroom and coriander mixture and a generous serving of salsa morita. Fresh coriander leaves are always a welcome garnish. Enjoy!

Leftover tamales are great reheated and eaten with salsa or butter!