Carimanolas and Tamales

These are two of my favorite things to eat when I visit my family in Panama- especially at Christamas

CARIMANOLAS
3 lbs yuca
salt to taste Filling:
1 lb ground meat (iguana, gatosolo, vaca, puerco.....)
1 teaspoon chopped parsley
1 large onion chopped
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 clove garlic pressed
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 or 4 capers Boil yuca with salt but do not allow to get too soft. Grind with fine blade in grinder and knead with salt. Form balls, flatten in the palm of the hand and fill with stuffing forming into an oval shape. Pinch to close ends. Fry in very hot oil until golden.
To Make Filling: Season ground meat with salt, worcestershire sauce, vinegar, capers, onion, sugar, garlic and parsley. Brown in very small amount of hot oil and add tomato paste. Simmer until quite dry.
If you want to freeze the carimonolas, dust with a little flour after they are formed and place on a cookie sheet in the freezer until firm and then place in sealed ziplock bags. To fry, take from freezer to hot oil at one time as they may fall apart. Do one or two at a time only.
(courtesy of Tula Brown)


Panamanian Tamales

Ingredients :
3 lb Cracked corn
1 Chicken 2 1/2 or 3 pounds
2 lb Tender pork
1 cup Onions chopped
1 tsp Achiote
1/2 cup Peppers to taste
1 can Tomato paste
3 Leaves of culantro or 1/2 cup Cilantro chopped
1 tsp Oregano
Salt and pepper to taste cup
1/2 cup Capers
3/4 cup Stuffed olives
3 Tomatoes
3 Cloves garlic
Banana leaves
String

Method :
The leaves are washed, boil 20 minutes, let drain and dry. Boil the corn until soft and grind to make the masa. Boil the chicken or pork until tender, remove the bones and saute in butter or oil. When this starts to brown add the onion, pepper, tomato, culantro, oregano and tomato paste.
Add 3 or 4 cups of water and cook to make the sauce. Strain and save both parts separately. Stir the liquid into the masa until it is a little softer than mashed potatoes. Take a piece of banana leaf, place a spoonful of masa in the center of the leaf, squash it down a little to make a pocket, add the meat sauce that was strained out, add another spoonful of masa and fold the leaf around it. Tie with string. Put a large pan of water to boil. Add the tamales. Boil for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve hot. They may be made ahead of time, frozen and re-heated. To re-heat, microwave or steam.