• Begin by soaking your corn husks in hot water to soften (or overnight with room temp water). Change this water a few times to rinse the husks while you're making the tamales.
  

Chicken & Broth

• Spatchcock your chicken- use heavy duty kitchen shears to remove the spine, then place the chicken breast side up and press firmly on the breast bone with your palms to flatten it as much as possible.
  
• Once flat, season on both sides with 1 tbsp kosher salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Season the spine too- this is also going into the broth.

  Note: You can also just cut a whole chicken into pieces, or you can use skin-on chicken thighs, drumsticks, and/or breasts.
  
• In a large pot, sauté the diced onions in 2 tbsp olive oil on medium low heat until translucent. Reduce the heat to low, then add the smashed garlic and sauté for another minute or two. Then add the cumin, Mexican oregano, and Knorr chicken bouillon (most of these ingredients are listed under the salsa verde- you'll understand why later).
  
• Continue to sauté for 20 seconds. Don't let the spices burn. Then remove the onions/garlic from the pot and set them aside. This is going into the salsa verde.
  
• Add the remaining olive oil (1 tbsp) to the pot and increase the heat to medium. Then place the chicken skin side down (the removed spine too) for 3-4 minutes to get a good sear on the skin. Flip over and continue cooking for another 2-3 minutes.
  
• Add enough room temp water to cover the chicken, and two bay leaves. Then bring to a gentle boil.
  
• Skim off any scum and excess oil that float to the surface, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer, covered for 45 minutes.

  Tip: Once you cover the pot, the heat will naturally increase so make sure you check the strength of the simmer a couple minutes after you have covered it with a lid. You may need to adjust the heat. You don't want the water to boil too hot, or the chicken will be tough and dry.
  
• Remove the chicken from the pot and let it cool. Shred the chicken, but don't over-shred into super thin strips or your tamales will have a mostly mushy texture. I like to include the chicken skin in my tamales, but you can discard the skin if you prefer. Cover with aluminum foil and set aside so it doesn't dry out.
  
• Reserve at least 2 cups of broth (this will be used for the salsa and masa).

  *Optional* We just created a super flavorful chicken broth and a lot of it. You won't need it all for this recipe, but I like to have homemade chicken broth handy in my kitchen, so I add the bones back into the broth and continue simmering for another hour or so. This will result in a delicious broth full of collagen from the bones, that you can use to cook another dish, or just for drinking.
  

Salsa Verde

• Roast your washed peppers and tomatillos on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes (or until they have softened and browned) at 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
  
• Put the poblano peppers in a plastic bag for 10 minutes to sweat. Then remove the skin, stem and seeds. You can remove the seeds from the jalapenos too if you don't want it spicy (I leave them in).
  
• Blend all the peppers, tomatillos, reserved onion & garlic from earlier, cilantro, and 1¼ cups of chicken broth from the boiling chicken. Add salt to taste- I added 1 tsp. This should make about 4 cups of salsa verde.

  *It's ok if your chicken broth still has a little fat (oil) at the top, but if you prefer a dryer masa, skim off the fat. I leave it in because flavor, and I prefer oily masa over dry masa. This makes a particularly big difference when reheating tamales, which is inevitable.
  
• Reserve 3/4 cup of salsa verde and set it aside (This will be for the masa + extra salsa as a topping)
  

Filling

• Melt 1 tbsp of lard in a saute pan over medium heat.
  
• Carefully pour the rest of the salsa (about 3 ¼ cups) into the pan, and fry the sauce for a couple minutes.
  
• Add the shredded chicken and cook over medium low heat for 5-10 minutes.
  
• Add salt to taste (I added about 1/2 tsp), then turn off the heat and cover.
  

Masa

• Melt ½ cup of lard (or ⅓ cup if you prefer less lard) in a saucepan over the stove until it just starts to smoke. I'm not 100% sure why, but my Tia says that your lard needs to be smoking to make great tamales.

  Let the lard cool down a bit before adding to the masa.
  
• Combine 1/3 cup of salsa verde and 1/4 cup warm broth in a measuring glass or cup.
  
• To a stand mixer or mixing bowl with a electric hand mixer, combine the masa preparada, warm lard, baking powder, and salt. Mix on medium speed until well combined (about 5 minutes) then set the speed to low to slowly incorporate the salsa/broth mixture. Once fully combined, increase the speed to medium-high again for 5 to 10 minutes.

  If you don't have and electric mixer, you can just use your hands but it will take a bit longer- about 25 minutes total.
  
• You'll know the masa is ready once it is light & fluffy. My Tia never did the "float test" but I think it is really helpful in determining whether your masa is ready. Drop a coin sized amount into a glass of water. If it floats, your masa is ready. If it sinks, your masa may need some more chicken broth and/or lard mixed into it.
  
• To taste test your masa for salt, microwave about 1 tablespoon of masa for 20-30 seconds. You want the masa to be just a bit over-salted, as they will lose some saltiness while steaming.
  
• Cover and let your masa rest for 20 minutes before you begin spreading it onto the corn husks.
  

Assemble Tamales

• Using a bench scraper or spoon, spread the masa evenly onto the corn husks, Make sure you spread it on the smooth side, not the ribbed side (look closely, it can be hard to tell). I prefer a thinner masa, but feel free to make yours to your liking!
  
• Add the cooked chicken in salsa verde (cooled down). The amount I have is almost pushing it too far- careful not to overfill, especially if you have thinner masa.
  
• Fold one side of the husk over the filling so the masa wraps around it, then fold the other side over to enclose the masa and filling completely. Fold the narrow bottom end of the husk up toward the center. This creates a little pocket to hold everything together. Then stack them at an angle so they hold their shape while you fold the rest.

  *If desired, tear a thin strip of corn husk and use it to tie the tamale, securing the folded bottom. This is also helpful for identifying different types of tamales if you're making more than one kind.
  

Steam the tamales

• Fill the bottom of a large steamer pot (or large pot) with water. Make sure the water level is below the steamer basket or rack—you don’t want the water to touch the tamales. Place the steamer basket or rack inside the pot, then cover the bottom with some corn husks.

  Stand the tamales upright in the steamer with the open ends facing up. Lean the tamales against each other to keep them standing; this prevents them from falling over. If you don’t have enough tamales to fill the pot, use a ball of foil or extra corn husks to help prop them up.
  
• Place any leftover corn husks on top of the tamales. I like to tuck the thin ends behind the tamales on the outer perimeter to make sure no water drips back down onto them while steaming.
  
• Wrap a towel around the lid of the pot to collect water so it doesn't drip down the sides onto the tamales. Make sure the towel is securely tied at the top. I also put a weight on top of the lid so less steam escapes.

  Bring the water to a boil over high heat. Do NOT walk away from the tamales at this point! Wait for it to start boiling, then reduce the heat to medium-low to maintain a gentle steam.
  
• Let the tamales steam for 50 minutes to 1½ hours , or until the masa pulls away from the corn husks easily. The time depends on how many you are steaming. I would start checking at the 50 minute mark.

  Every 20–30 minutes, carefully check the water level to ensure the pot doesn’t boil dry. I do this by listening closely to the pot- you can hear if there is water simmering.
  
• The tamales are done when the masa easily pulls away from the corn husks. They masa may look undercooked, this is because you MUST let them rest for 10-15 minutes so the masa can set.
  
• That's it! I like my tamales with sour cream and lettuce. You may use some of the reserved salsa as well, but these tamales typically do not need extra salsa.