Tamales de rajas con queso

Blend six roasted roma tomatoes, four roasted serranos, three garlic cloves, a quarter teaspoon of ground cumin, a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of black pepper to a smooth salsa.

Set a pan over medium-high heat and add two tablespoons of oil to heat up.

Add one sliced onion and two serranos cut into strips and saute three minutes.

Add the roasted, peeled poblano strips, season with garlic salt and cook a couple of minutes.

Add the salsa, mix it all together and bring to a simmer.

Taste for salt, reduce to medium-low and simmer down about five minutes; turn it off and cool.

Beat 12 ounces of lard on medium speed five minutes until creamy.

Add one cup of the instant corn masa, five teaspoons of baking powder and two teaspoons of salt, and mix.

Add one cup of the pickled jalapeno juice and mix in.

Alternate the remaining masa and the six cups of warm chicken broth a cup at a time until all six cups of each are in.

Turn the speed to high and mix 15 minutes until the masa is fluffy and moist.

Check it by dropping a little masa into a cup of water — it should float.

Fold two cups of queso Oaxaca into the masa; optional.

Cover and rest the masa 15 minutes.

Spread masa on the smooth side of a pre-soaked corn husk, thicker for a thicker tamal.

Add a good amount of the rajas, top with queso Oaxaca, overlap one end, close the other, grab the tail and bend it under; repeat with the rest.

Set the steamer pot on medium heat with water covering the bottom, put in the divider, lay corn husk on the bottom and arrange the tamales.

Cover them with more corn husk, then a kitchen towel, put the lid on and weight it with a molcajete so no steam leaves the pot.

Steam an hour and a half on medium-low heat.

They are ready when the masa falls away from the corn husk; turn it off and rest them 15 minutes so the masa sets.