I have to agree this is a very vibrant color.

I just divided several babies of this one started by leaf in September ...nice to see what it will look like!

Well, this is my favorite tamale recipe. I first had it when a friend of mine "volunteered" me to join the assembly line. The recipe came from his great-uncle Ibrahim. Uncle Ib's Tamales (makes a ton so be prepared) The first step is to make sure you have enough volunteers to man the assembly line. I'm serious about this, really. The first dozen or so can be fun to make on your own, but by the 10th dozen you may need medication. 5-7 lb Pork Shoulder 3 tbl paprika 1 tbl salt 1.5-2 heads garlic hot chilies to taste (I use 2-3 but I'm a wuss) 2.5 tbl chili powder 1.5 tbl cumin 1 tbl paprika 1 tsp red pepper 1 tsp black pepper 4-5 lbs white corn meal lard or shortening corn husks Rub pork with paprika and salt, wrap in foil and place in an oven proof pot. Fill the pot with water about half the way up the meat and cover pot tightly. Slow roast pork in low oven for 4-5 hours or until it's falling apart. When done remove from pot and let cool. (Pop the broth in the fridge to cool so you can degrease it, you'll be using it later in the recipe.) Put husks in warm water to soak. While meat is cooling, very finely chop the chilies and garlic. You can use the pulse option on a processor but be careful not to make a paste. When the meat is cool enough to handle, shred it. It should pretty much fall apart. Chop the shreds and add the chilies, garlic, and spices. Mix to combine well. Add enough water to the pork broth to make about 12-14 cups of liquid. In batches, heat 3 cups of broth to boiling. Pour boiling broth into a large bowl and add cornmeal until you get a slightly stiff batter. Season with salt to taste. Beat in enough lard/shortening until it becomes light and spreadable. (I usually use a combo of shortening and hot broth to cut down on the fat a bit.) Assemble the tamales and steam or simmer until done. Freeze the rest. To save time rather than tie each tamale separately I tie them in bundles of 4-6 together seam side in. I've also been known to make the meat and freeze it in batches for use later. It's great for lots of recipes.

You can fill it with whatever you like. Just make something that tastes good to you. I'd begin with some shredded beef or pork rather than ground and spice it up the way you want. I think the texture is better in a tamale. I made turkey en mole tamales from the remains of my Thanksgiving bird using a prepared mole to which I added broth, green chilies, garlic, tomato paste and shredded turkey. I like the masa recipe above because it has some seasonings in it. Most of them are plain, lard, salt, and water or broth. I see that the recipe is missing the baking powder for some reason. Add 3 teaspoons baking powder to the above recipe. You might want to halve or quarter the recipe, it makes a LOT. Here is a good jumping off recipe (linked below), the seasonings look good to me. You could add chorizo and additional heat like chipotle peppers or jalapeños to taste. I like to toast and crush my own cumin seeds. I also like toasted and crushed coriander seeds. The toasting in a medium hot pan really adds a lovely flavor. It took me a few tries to get a wrapping technique that worked for me. The photo tutorials all showed the masa being spread in the middle of the corn husk. You really need to spread it on the edge from which you begin rolling closest to you, leaving an empty area on the other side. Roll up, top will be left open. Fold up the end. Don't bother tying, too tedious! Once you stand them, open end up, in the steamer close together, they will stay put. Crude drawing: Here is a link that might be useful: Beef tamale recipe.