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Mother-in-Law Sandwich

This Chicago street food is a unique regional dish. The Mother-in-law sandwich is made with a Chicago-style tamale in a bun topped with cheese, chili, and onions. The combination may be adapted from the Mexican torta de tamal, a tamale on a bolillo roll, with roots in Chicago's large Hispanic community. Chicago-style tamales are also unique, made of machine-extruded cornmeal and wrapped in paper rather than the more traditional corn husk. Typically cooked in a hot-dog steamer, Chicago-style tamales can be purchased frozen around the country.

Recipe Servings: 4

Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
50 minutes
Total Time
1 hour 10 minutes
Vegetarian
Vegan
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Kosher
Halal

Ingredients

Chili:
Sandwich:
  • 4 chicago-style tamales (or 4 prepared pork, chicken, or beef tamales)
  • 12 sport peppers, deseeded and chopped
  • ¼ white onion, chopped
  • 4 hot dog buns
  • 1½ cups shredded manchego cheese
  • 2 small bags corn chips, crushed

Directions

  1. In a large Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.
  2. Add the beef and chorizo, cooking about 5 minutes and breaking up clumps with a wooden spoon, until the beef is no longer pink.
  3. Remove the meat from the pot, leaving the fat.
  4. Add the onions, chili powder, cumin, and paprika and season with salt and pepper.
  5. Cook for 7–8 minutes, until the onions become soft.
  6. Deglaze the pan with the beer and cook about 3–4 minutes.
  7. Add the hot sauce, tomatoes, stock, and reserved meat, and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the consistency has thickened. Adjust seasoning to taste.
  8. With a steamer basket set over a pot of simmering water, heat the tamales for about 10 minutes, until warmed through.
  9. In a small bowl, combine the sport peppers with the chopped onion.
  10. Open the buns and sprinkle some onions and peppers in the bottom over the crease.
  11. Remove the paper or husks from the tamales and place in the center of the buns.
  12. Sprinkle with Manchego cheese, then ladle chili over top.
  13. Top with the remaining sport peppers and onions and sprinkle with crushed corn chips.

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