2 bags dry beans – split pea or navy beans
4 large carrots, sliced
4 stalks celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
10 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 teaspoons dried thyme
Pepper
3 medium bay leaves
1 large ham bone from Honey Baked ham store (or similar spiral sliced ham)

If using navy beans, soak overnight in cold water. (Do not soak split peas overnight)

Place beans in crock-pot with ham bone. Add onion, celery, carrots, thyme, pepper and bay leaves. Do not add salt until beans are soft or the beans will not cook properly. Remember to remove bay leaves and fresh thyme sticks before serving.

To top

2 tablespoons olive or other oil, divided
2 leeks, white part only, rinsed and chopped
1 McIntosh or Granny Smith apple, cored and diced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups unseasoned GF bread cubes (or cut up day-old GF bread)
1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth or enough to moisten bread
4 (5-ounce) boneless pork chops, about 1-inch thick, trimmed of fat

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add leek and apple and sauté 4 minutes, until tender and golden. Add oregano, rosemary, and salt and pepper, to taste, and stir to coat. Transfer mixture to a large bowl and add bread cubes and chicken broth. Mix well and set aside.

Using a sharp knife, slice pockets into chops by slicing horizontally into the side, and almost through to the other side. Season the outside with salt and pepper. Stuff chops with apple mixture, allowing stuffing to overflow out of pockets.

Heat remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork chops and sear on 1 side until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip chops and transfer to oven to finish cooking for 8 to 10 minutes, or until cooked through.

Tamales are made in large quantities for special occasions and large celebrations and can be frozen to be eaten over an extended period of time. Bigger batches yield tastier tamales. These are GFCF by nature (without having to adapt the recipe) but because they are time-consuming to make them, make a lot and freeze.

Pork Butt:
2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt in 1 piece, trimmed of all but a thin layer of fat
1 whole head garlic, un-peeled, cut crosswise in 1/2
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
4 large bay leaves
1 teaspoon salt

Masa:
10 pounds masa (cornmeal flour)
1/4 cup water
3 heaping tablespoons baking powder
1/4 cup salt
4 cups vegetable shortening, boiled and cooled

Chile Sauce:
5 whole dried California chiles
2 whole dried New Mexico chiles
2 whole dried pasilla chiles
2 pounds tomatoes
4 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
3 tablespoons salt
2 cups water (stock saved from boiling chiles and tomatoes)
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening or coconut oil
1 1/2 tablespoons GF Flour mix

Tamale Assembly:
4 to 6 dozen dried corn husks (you can buy these at a Mexican food store if your local grocery doesn’t carry them)
Green olives
Potatoes, peeled and cut into small pieces
Carrot sticks, peeled and cut into small pieces

Pork Butt:
Place pork butt in large Dutch oven or medium-size stock pot. Add garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt. Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches. Bring just to a boil on high heat, quickly reduce heat to medium-low, and let simmer, partly covered, skimming any froth from the top during the first 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. A piece this size should be well-cooked but not dried out in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Remove from stock and let cool to room temperature. When cool, pull meat into fine shreds.

Strain and degrease the stock. It will be easier to remove fat when thoroughly chilled.

Can be kept, tightly covered, 2 days in the refrigerator, if de-greased at once, up to 1 week if you leave the top layer of fat on it until ready to use. The stock also freezes well.

In a mixing bowl, combine the shredded pork with the red chile sauce.

Masa:
Place 10 pounds of masa in a large plastic mixing bowl. Mix 1/4 cup water with baking powder in a cup held over the bowl with the dry masa until it fizzes, then pour mixture evenly over masa. Add 1/4 cup salt and work masa with hands to mix evenly. Melt 4 cups vegetable shortening in a large saucepan and allow to cool. Pour evenly over masa and knead masa with hands again. When it starts to feel thick and compact (like fudge) it’s ready. Pat down in bowl and set aside.

Chile Sauce:
In a large saucepan, boil chiles and tomatoes together for about 10 minutes or until softened. Drain the chiles and tomatoes and reserve the water (stock.) Set stock aside. Rinse seeds out of boiled chiles at sink. Grind garlic, 2 teaspoons salt and whole cumin with mortar and pestle. Put chiles, tomatoes, 3 additional tablespoons salt and ground ingredients together in blender and blend well. Add 2 cups of the reserved water (stock.)

In a heavy, medium-size saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat until rippling. Add flour, stirring constantly until golden. Add strained chile puree to the pan and reduce the heat to low. It will splatter, so be careful. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the raw taste is gone and the flavor of the chiles has mellowed, about 10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, combine the shredded pork with the chile sauce.

To assemble the tamales, soak dried corn husks in warm water for about 1 hour until soft. Spread masa mixture evenly onto husk using a wooden spoon. Fill with about 2 tablespoons pork mixture and top with 1 green olive, 1 slice of potato and 1 carrot stick. Fold and tie ends with pieces of corn husk. Steam for 1 and 1/2 hours.

To steam: To make a steamer, place a metal rack (such as a cooling rack) in the bottom of a large stock pot or canner. Water level should be below the rack. Lay extra corn husks over rack. Stand the tamales on the folded edge in the steamer (the open edge with be facing upward). First fill the bottom of the steamer, then start stacking tamales on top of one another. Place any extra husks on top of tamales, cover with pot lid and steam for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Replenish boiling water if necessary during steaming, time. The tamales are done when the husk peels away easily from the filling.