The Melting Pot 2.0/The Melting Pot 2.0.iso/food/soups/menudo03

Text File | 1995-09-27 | 6KB | 125 lines

Newsgroups: rec.food.recipes
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Menudo Blanco Sonorense
Message-ID: <3h06gm$[e-mail]>
Organization: University of Chicago -- Academic Information Technologies
Date: Wed, 8 Feb 1995 22:37:42 GMT


 Menudo Blanco Sonorense


This recipe and the techniques are from Diana Kennedy's "The Art of
Mexican Cooking". If you are at all serious about learning Mexican
cuisine and cooking you owe it to yourself to get this book as well as
her "The Cuisines of Mexico", "Mexican Regional Cooking" and "The
Tortilla Book". This woman is a treasure.

Serves 8 to 10

This menudo can be eaten the day after it is made; in fact it keeps
well for a few days in the refrigerator. It freezes remarkably well
for several weeks.

1 small (about 2 pounds) beef or calf's foot, split
horizontally and
     cut into 6 pieces
1 small head of garlic, unpeeled and cut in half horizontally
1 medium white onion, roughly sliced
1 scant tablespoon sea salt
2 pounds tripe
3/4 pound (4 1/2 to 5 cups) dried hominy, cooked and flowered
     (see directions below) plus cooking water

TOPPING
crumbled chile piquin
finely chopped white onion
roughly chopped cilantro
lime quarters

Put the calf's foot pieces, garlic, onion, and half the salt in a
large pan. Put the tripe on top with the remaining salt, cover the
pan, and cook over very low heat so that it simmers for about 3 hours.

Strain the meat, reserving the broth, and cut the tripe into small
squares--about 1 1/2 inches. Remove the bones from the calf's foot and
chop the flesh roughly. Return the meats to the pan with the broth,
the flowered hominy, and the hominy cooking water.  Taste for salt and
continue cooking over very low heat for 1 hour.  Serve in deep bowls
with flour tortillas, passing around the topping for each to serve al
gusto.

PREPARING HOMINY

The cooking and "flowering" of the corn is not complicated, but it's a
little time-consuming until you are practiced in it. You can prepare a
large batch up until the final cooking and freeze what you don't use.

While the corn is usually cooked with nothing but water, there are
some exceptions, where salt, onion, and garlic are added.

Eight ounces of dried whole hominy, or large white corn kernels,
measures about 1 1/2 cups and when cooked will yield between
 3 1/2 and 4 cups, depending on quality.

1/2 pound whole dried hominy, with pedicel (con cabeza) 1 1/2 rounded
teaspoons powdered lime (see below)

Put the whole hominy into an enamel or stainless-steel pot and add
enough cold water to come about 2 inches above the surface of the
corn. Set over medium heat. Dilute the powdered lime with about 1/2
cup cold water and add to the pot through a fine strainer, pressing
out the lumps with a wooden spoon. The water will become slightly
milky. Cook the corn until it comes to a simmer (the skins of the
kernels will now be bright yellow) and continue cooking, covered,
until the skin can easily be slipped off the kernels-- about 20
minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool off.  When the
corn is cool enough to handle, drain and put into cold water, rubbing
the kernels through your hands until the skins have been cleaned off.
Skim off the skins and discard; rinse the corn once more. With the tip
of a paring knife or a strong thumbnail, remove the pedicels.

When all the corn has been cleaned, add enough fresh water to come
about 3 inches above the surface of the corn, cover, and bring to a
fast simmer. Continue cooking until the corn is tender and has opened
up like a cupped flower--about 1 1/2 to 2 hours, depending on how old
the corn is. When cooked, always reserve the cooking water and add it
with the corn to the soup.

You may use a pressure cooker for this last step. Bring up to
pressure, lower the heat, and cook slowly for about 30
minutes.


LIME
(Cal)

This chemically pure lime, calcium oxide, is used in the preparation
of dried corn for making tortilla and tamale dough. It is generally
sold in rocklike lumps of varying sizes. To use it in this state,
break off a piece about as large as a golf ball (once you have some
experience you can estimate more accurately) and crush it down as much
as possible. Sprinkle well with cold water. It will then start to
slake, or burn as the Mexicans say, and it does just that. It starts
to crumble with a slight sizzling noise, sending off a vapor. If you
put your hand over the bowl you are using, you can feel the heat
emanating from it. When the action has subsided, it is now slaked;
stir again and pour the milky liquid through a strainer into the pot
with the corn and water. Take a taste of the water; it should have a
slightly acrid taste or, as the Mexican expression goes, "grab your
tongue." If the water is very strong and bitter, add more cold water
to dilute the corn water. If it is too weak, pour more water through
the strainer containing the lime residue and try again.

Since one usually buys lime by the pound at the very least, it can be
broken up into smaller pieces and stored in closed jars, but with time
it will naturally slake on its own with the natural moisture in the
air. It is still usable, although it will have broken down to a powder
containing some small lumps. When you add water to it for the
nixtamal, it will not burn.

Note: When handling lime, be careful not to get any near your eyes and
always use a non-corrodible container for diluting it.