Hot tamales and they red hot......

'Yeah she's got 'em for sale
Hot tamales and they red hot, yes, she got 'em for sale
Hot tamales and they red hot, yes, she got 'em for sale
I got a girl, say she's long and tall
Now, she sleeps in the kichen with her feets in the hall, yes
Hot tamales and they red hot, yes, she got 'em for sale, I mean
Yes, she got 'em for sale, yeah...'
-Robert Johnson



We had homemade tamales for dinner last night. Not homemade from our kitchen. Homemade from the kitchen of a couple of guys that work with my dad, Arturo and Jesus. My dad hunts like a fiend. He loves deer hunting, but never eats the meat. So he gets his deer butchered and turned into either summer sausage, or meat that these two kitchen masters turn into fabulous tamales. They always hook us up with some, and we have them in the freezer year round. They are so good. Last night we had them with slowed cooked beans and brown rice.

Slow Cooked Beans
1 pablano diced
1 onion diced
1/2 cup canned tomatoes (Fresh, peeled and seeded. they aren't in season yet for us.)
1 can beans of choice (I used navy beans because of their thin skin and canned over dry because, well, that's all we had.)
Cumin to taste

Sauté onions and peppers in some olive oil with a little salt until onions are transparent.
Add beans and saute until combined well.
Add tomatoes, stir well and bring to a simmer.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour (they don't have to go nearly that long but they taste soooo much better the longer they cook).
Add cumin and salt to taste and serve over brown rice.

As a surprise, we found a tamale that just had cheese and peppers in it, no meat. It was lovely. I think I might request half cheese half venison next season.