Menudo By Patricia Hill Recipe

2 pounds tripe

1 calf s foot

1 pound posole -- frozen

1 large onion -- chopped

3 cloves garlic

Dried mild red chile 1/2 tsp oregano

salt -- to taste pepper -- to taste

Cut the tripe into bite-sized pieces. Soften the chile in hot water. Remove the stem and seeds (if desired) and mince. Throw everything into the crock pot and cook all day.

Note: The calf s foot is to add additional richness to the broth. The calves feet I buy are big so I use only one. You can also use pig s feet or a marrow bone. Since all of these ingredients will not fit into my crock pot I make this in two days. On the first day I cook the bone/feet in water to cover. This makes the broth. I remove the bone/feet and strain the broth. You could easily throw a carrot and a few stalks of celery in for more flavor but this is not commonly done.

The second day I make the menudo. I like the tripe cut up into tiny pieces (real men like big chunks.) Often tripe is pre-cooked to some amount of doneness before you purchase it. It helps if you know how long it was cooked. If you don t know, cook it all day on the low setting. You can use canned hominy if you wish.

I use a mild red chile and use a lot of it. It gives a nice color. Since my husband does t like seeds I must be carful about picking them out. But many cooks just snap off the stem of the dried chile and grind the pod in a mortar.

Some people add coriander. Many people add some green chile