Back when I was a kid growing up in San Francisco, there was a great place named Johnson’s Tamale Grotto where we would get “cup” tamales. Cup tamales were made in – you guessed it – coffee cups. They spread the filling into greased coffee cups, added the filling – the turkey cup tamale was the most popular – and then added more filling to the top. They were then steamed until done and served with a brown sauce that went on everything.
San Francisco had scores of “Tamale Parlors” and “Tamale Grotto’s” once upon a time – most coming into being during the 1920’s. We practically lived at The Hot House at Playland, and Johnson’s was a short bike ride when we were catching crawdads at Pine Lake. (Yeah – we city kids had our pockets of country right in our own backyards – and the Pacific Ocean was 2 blocks away!) Roosevelt’s is still in full swing – albeit a new remodel and menu has changed the place dramatically (and their website is still a mess…) But I digress…
I bought a bag of masa a few weeks back thinking that I might just make some tamales, again… I actually used to make them all the time – they’re pretty easy to do – and even kept corn husks on hand. I think my most memorable tamale party was my brother-in-law’s birthday maybe 25 years ago. He’s a 4th of July baby and we had a huge party. I made hundreds of tamales and consumed hundreds of margaritas. I think we had a great time.
Fast-forward to 2009…
I wanted tamales, didn’t have corn husks. I remembered those wonderful Johnson’s Tamales (damn, I wish I had their tamale sauce recipe!) and decided to go for it.
Tamale Dough
- 3 cups Masa Harina
- 3 cups lukewarm broth or water (I used homemade beef broth – I was roasting beef bones…)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup lard
Whip lard in mixer until light. Mix dry ingredients in a bowl and then add lukewarm broth a nd mix with fingers to form a slightly moist dough. Add to lard and mix well.
Filling
I had a couple of chip steaks that I simmered in the aforementioned beef broth. I chopped them and then – in a skillet – mixed them with:
- 1 diced onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp pasilla pepper
- 1 tsp ancho chile powder
- 1 can diced green chilis
- 1/2 cup chipotle sauce
- salt and pepper, to taste
Saute chopped beef with the onions and garlic. Add green chilis and spices. Add chipotle sauce and simmer.
Assembly
I used 10 oz souffle cups.
Grease containers well. Place about 2 tbsp dough in bottom of cup and press down. With a small spatula or knife, spread dough around the inside of the cup to the rim, leaving a well for the filling.
Place a couple of tablespoons of filling in each cup, pressing down. Add a bit more dough to top to cover and smooth.
Cover with foil and place in deep pan. Add boiling water halfway up cups and bake at 350° for 1 hour.
Tamale Sauce
I’ll never be able to replicate this one…
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 jar mole paste
- 1 tbsp assorted chili powders (I have several. I just added some of all of them…)
- 2 cups aforementioned beef broth
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Mexican oregano
- salt and pepper
I sauteed the onion and garlic, added the fresh tomatoes, then the canned. I added the rest of the ingredients and then hit it with an immersion blender. I then strained it and put it back into the pot to simmer.
I made the (brown) rice with bottled enchilada sauce thinned with yet more of that beef broth.
The beans were canned pintos to which I added jalapenos and sofrito sauce.
Dinner was really, really good.
This one took some time, because I really did do it all from scratch. I think if I could find a good all-purpose Mexican Red Sauce (maybe I’ll take a run out to Wegman’s one of these days) it would save a lot of time. Plus, I hadn’t done these in a really long time, so I took my time putting them all together.
Tomorrow is Chinese New Year – the year of the Ox. I can guarantee no Oxtail Soup.
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I have been looking for years for the hot house chicken cup tamale. We loved the hot house. Spent our first anniversary there 55 years ago. They used to serve with onions on top of the sauce and of course sour dough. Will give yours a try. Thank you!
Hi, Kathy!
Ah… I forgot about those chopped onions! NOW you have completed the memory! I’ve also searched in vain for that recipe. There is a Hot House recipe posted on the Western Neighborhoods Project website. I haven’t given oit a try, but I think I will next time I’m making cup tamales!
Thanks for stopping by!
BTW… if you’re not already a member of Western Neighborhoods Project, JOIN! It’s a fun group of people who, for the most part, grew up west of Twin Peaks!