SMOKED SAUSAGE TAMALE

 Two weeks vacation from the salt mine and so many ‘Meat Adventures’ to go on. This Meat Adventure brought us to Chico California. We had a very successful visit to U.C. Davis Meat Lab, so we thought “Chico State” would be a meat department just as worthy. This Meat department had all the right tools and then some.

 Except for the ‘Ebonics’’ take on their sign, they were a meat worthy destination. This meat lab was located in a rural area of Chico. You could see the cattle grazing on the grounds. The actual meat market was no more than a window which you placed your order. A pork shoulder of Yorkshire cross breed was obtained. This beautiful pork shoulder was obtained at a very decent price.

The Recipe

(This recipe is only approximations and please adjust to your situation.)

1  1 pound of pork shoulder ground. (The best you can find, at UC Chico)
2   2 tsp sugar
3  1 tsp cumin
4  3 tsp salt
5  2 tsp black pepper
6  2 tablespoons of freshly ground cilantro
7  3 tablespoons freshly ground jalapenos.
8  2 dozen dried corn husks (Soak in warm water until pliable.)

Combine the first 6 ingredients and let rest in refrigerator for a couple of hours. Once meat mixture is cool form into 1/3 cup rolls. Then wrap in corn husks. Smoke or cook corn husk rolls until the internal meat temperature reaches 150 degrees.

This batch of meat tamale was cooked on a Weber Smoky Mountain Cooker. The wood of choice was apple wood. A thermometer was placed in the middle of tamale to monitor the final temperature.

Serve this with salsa and home made corn tamales. The salsa was a melody of home grown produce. The corn tamale was sweet with fresh corn. This sausage was smoky, spicy and bursting with wonderful pork juices. The corn husk protected and cradled this pork bundle of flavor. This Meat Adventure ended with very tasty results.