Typical Costa Rican Tamales for Christmas

Ingredients:

2 ½ kg of banana leaves
1 kg of corn flour
½ kg pork post Tamales Típicos de Costa Rica para Navidad
½ kg of green beans, cooked
4 cups mashed potatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup lard
1 cup rice, cooked to taste with achiote
6 chicken broth envelopes
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 sweet peppers, cut into strips
1 cilantro roll
1 chicken breast
1 celery stalk
1 thyme sprig
1 hot pepper
1 carrot, cooked and sliced
1 can petit pois
1 wick roll
Salt and ground cumin to taste

Preparing:

Cook pork with garlic, thyme, celery, hot peppers and salt.
Remove meat from broth and crumbled.
Reserve the broth and strain.

Cook chicken in a little oil with achiote, hot peppers, cilantro and broth.

Separately, mix well in a pot corn flour with the mashed potatoes, oil, lard, chicken broth, salt, a little chicken and meat broth and any other condiment of your choice.

Trim the leaves and wash them well.

Place a big tablespoon of dough on two banana leaves.
Add a spoonful of rice, a piece of meat, a piece of chicken, 2 carrots slices, 1 strip of pepper, 2 green beans, petit pois, a sprig of cilantro and any other ingredients you want.

Wrap each tamale well, leaving no or too tight or too loose.
Join 2 tamales and wrap them well.
Cook in boiling water for 45 minutes.

* Reserve a bit of pork and chicken broth to the end, if the mass that gives very dry.
* The dough should be well mixed and wet, if it becomes too dry the tamal can be hard.

Thanksgiving Corn, Beans and Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:

16-ounce can dark red kidney beans, drainedThanksgiving Corn, Beans and Pomegranate Salad
15.25-ounce can whole-kernel corn, drained
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1/3 cup bottled olive oil vinaigrette
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preparing:

Arrange beans and corn on a serving platter.
Sprinkle seeds, cilantro and parsley over the beans and corn.
Drizzle with the olive oil vinaigrette and serve.

Roasted Chinese Peas

Ingredients:

400 g Chinese peas
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbspchopped cilantro
1 tbsp chopped onion
Salt and pepper

Preparing:

Preheat
oven to 200ºC (400ºF).

Mix and blend olive oil with cilantro, onion, salt and pepper.
Place peas on a baking tray and bathe with the mix above.
Bake for 10 minutes.