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.

Rice with Candied Walnuts and Parsley for Christmas

Ingredients:

2 cups white riceRice with Candied Walnuts and Parsley for Christmas
½ cup nuts
½ cup almonds
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp butter

Preparing:

Cook rice normally and set aside.

Place walnuts and sugar in a skillet over medium heat.
Stir constantly with wooden spoon until the sugar candy is made.
Remove from heat and spread the caramelized nuts on a tray.
Let cool and chop.

Brown
the almonds in the oven at 180ºC (270ºF), placing them on a tray.

Mix the rice with candied walnuts, toasted almonds, butter and parsley and serve.

Thanksgiving Turkey with Caramel Sauce

Ingredients:

1 turkey, precooked
3 cups cooked riceThanksgiving Turkey with Caramel Sauce
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
1 cup toasted almonds
1 cup raisins
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup soy sauce
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 tbsp ketchup
3 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp oil
½ tsp salt
Pepper and paprika, to taste

Preparing:

Rub the turkey well with salt and wash well.
Cover the turkey with water, salt and sugar.
Remove the turkey from the water and season with garlic, mustard and ketchup.

Crystallize the onion, pepper and almonds in oil and season with salt and pepper.
Remove from heat, add the rice, raisins and cream and let cool.
Fill the turkey with the rice and place on a greased baking tray.

Place brown sugar in a pan and let it begin to get liquid.
Add soy sauce and chicken broth and allow melting the sugar again.

Pour the sauce over the turkey and sprinkle paprika on top.
Bake to 175ºC (350ºF) for 1 or 1 ½ hours.