MENUDO
Take three
pounds of tripe, (menudo), wash it off well, trim out most of the fat, cut it
into one inch squares. Drop into a pot of boiling water, simmer a few minutes
and drain. Put back into pot, and add one calf foot, or two pigs feet, cut up a
bit. Cover well with water, and add:
½ head
garlic, whacked
several
small hot red chiles
2 onions,
sliced
3-4 bay
leaves
1 tsp salt
tsp black
peppercorns, broken
2 Tbl dry
leaf oregano
2 tsp
cuminos seed, crushed
Put this on
a very slow fire for several hours until very tender. Drain, saving liquid.
Wash tripe. Remove bones from feet, or can leave feet whole until served.
Return feet and tripe to liquid, cool and reserve. Refrigerated, this keeps
well, and freezes fairly well.
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Posole
While the
menudo is simmering, cook the posole. This is the corn part, the Nixtamal, the
magic. For the best, you started a couple days before with a good, native white
corn. You soaked it in lime water, rubbed the skins off and washed it well, and
it is ready to work with. This is a lot of work.
Frozen
posole corn is also good, and canned posole/ hominy corn also will do. For this
much of a recipe, you want several handfuls of dry white corn to start with, or
a kilo (2 lb) package of frozen posole corn, or a gallon can of posole/ hominy
corn. Drain the corn and wash well. Cover with water. Bring to simmer and add a
half head of garlic, whacked up a bit. Simmer gently till tender. Drain, and if
you are not going to finish the Menudo immediately, cool the corn quickly and
refrigerate it. Warm posole corn by itself ferments quickly, and should be kept
either very hot or very cold until cooked in with the menudo. It will keep 3-4
days in the refrigerator, but freezes poorly.
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Chile
Take one
half pound of whole dry red large chiles. (The Mexican chiles are good, but the
ones from Northern New Mexico, particularly from around Chimayo, are the best
in the world. For this reason, the Menudo done here in the central part of New
Mexico, using the Sonora recipe, is the best there is.) Put the whole dry
chiles on a hot dry grill or frying pan and toss around a bit until just barely
beginning to color. Be careful, they scorch easily. Remove, let cool, remove
stems and most of the seeds. Cover with boiling water and let steep 15-20
minutes. Run through a food mill or a food processor, discard skins.
To chile
pulp add:
2 clove
garlic, minced
pinch cumin
seed
Tbl vinegar
tsp oregano
pinch of
salt
tsp sugar
Simmer up
gently for a few minutes. Cool and refrigerate. If you have any chile eaters
around, this will be nowhere near enough chile for the amount of menudo made
above, but will give you the idea. This is the basic Mexican Red Chile sauce,
and is good with everything.
The Finish
Now you
have all the parts together. To finish the Menudo, take a nice heavy dutch oven
or saucepan, and add:
4 Cups
Menudo tripe and liquid, divide it out evenly.
3 Cups
drained Posole Corn
1 to 2 Cups
Red Chile Sauce
Enough water,
stock or even a bit of beer if needed to make a fair bit of juice.
These
proportions are, of course, strictly to taste. Bring all gently to simmer,
while adding:
2 cloves
garlic, fine chop
1 Tbl
vinegar
1 Tbl leaf
oregano
1 tsp cumin
seed
grind of
black pepper
dash of
salt
Simmer for
a few minutes. Serve with hot tortillas, and a small plate with a pile of dry
oregano, some lime slices, piles of chopped cilantro, chopped onion, salt and
some hot chiles.
Recipe
from:
TAMALES
Ingredients:
Preparing
the meat.
4 pounds of
lean beef ... as stew beef.
2 pounds of
fresh pork (leg or fresh ham)
1 bay leaf
1 clove of
fresh garlic
1 medium
onion (whole)
Put meat
and other ingredients in a large pot (or pressure cooker) with three quarts of
water. Cook until the meat pulls apart easily. (About two hours). Remove from
heat and drain all water. Shred the beef.
To make the
red chili sauce:
1 cup of
red chili powder (This is chili colorado or sarta ... the kind you see hanging
in large bunches ... it is not chiltipin or hot chili).
1. Clove of
garlic
1/2 medium
onion.
Combine the
above in 1 and 1/2 quarts of water and boil for 30 minutes. Cool and liquify in
a blender. Put aside 1/4 cup for the masa. Mix the rest in with the shredded
beef.
Directions:
Making the
Masa ( for 150 tamales ... adjust ingredients for the number you want)
1 1/2
pounds of lard (beef)
1 1/2
vegetable shortening (as Crisco)
2
tablespoons baking powder
Stir the
lard and shortening until it is soft. Add the baking powder, 1/4 cup of the red
chili sauce, and some salt (your call). Stir in 4 1/2 to 5 lbs of yellow corn
meal. Beat the masa (dough) until all ingredients are evenly mixed. Make a
small ball and place it on top of a small amount of water in a cup. The dough
ball should float. If it does not, beat the dough some more and then test it
again.
The corn
husks should be soaked in warm water for about two hours or until soft and
pliable. Remove a husk from the water and let it drain. Lay it out on a flat
surface. Place about two or three tablespoons of the masa in the middle of the
husk. Flatten the massa a bit. Leave an inch or more of the husk at the sides
and top for folding. Place the red beef mixture in the middle of the masa. Add
one or two green olives (traditionally with seeds). Alternatively you can add a
few raisins or a strip of uncooked white potato.
Roll the
massa and meat up from one of the long edges and then fold the top and bottom
to completely enclose the mixture.
The tamales
need to be steamed. If you do not have a tamale steamer, use an appropriate
sized pot with a colander inside to keep the tomales at least an inch above the
boiling water. Place the tamales above the water. Put the lid on the pot and
steam for about one hour or until the dough peels away from the husks easily.
Serve and store in the husks.
Recipe
from:
COYOTAS
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups
crushed panocha (or brown sugar)
3 cups
flour
½
tablespoon salt
½ cup
shortening
¾ cup of
cold water
Directions
1. Preheat
the oven to 375 degrees
2. Combine
and mix dry ingredients (flour and salt)
3. Cut in
the shortening, using either a fork or a knife. Cutting in the shortening means
using a utensil and dropping the ingredient into the bowl in parts. This makes
it easier to mix and assures it doesn’t end up making a huge ball of shortening
with the flour.
4. Slowly
add water to the mixture, using a small amount at a time. Knead the dough
together with your hands.
5. When the
dough is fully mixed, divide it into 20 balls, each about the size of a golf
ball.
6. Create a
surface to work on, and cover that area with flour. Roll each ball of dough out
with a rolling pin to where it makes about a 5-inch diameter circle. Ten of
these pieces of dough will function as the base of the coyotas, and ten of them
will function as the top layer.
Each
circular piece of dough will be covered with sugar and closed with another
piece of dough, like an empanada, so try to make the pieces about the same
size.
7. Sprinkle
about 2 tablespoons of panocha (or brown sugar) on top of the 10 bottom pieces
of dough. (This step can also be done to complete each coyota one-by-one)
8. Wet the
edges of the base circular piece of dough with water. Then, place one of the
top pieces of dough over the sugar covered base. Seal the edges of the pastry.
9. Place
the coyotas on a lightly greased pan and bake for 15 minutes or until
golden-brown.
Recipe
from:
It's easier when you are doing it
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