Recipe - Menudo Rojo

2 One half pound Tripe
One half Calf's foot
1/3 cup Vinegar
Cold water
2 Cloves garlic
One half small Onion
3 qt Water (approx.)
Salt
1 One half cup Hominy
Red Chile Puree (see below)
OR 1 cup canned red chile
Sauce
Finely chopped green onions
Chopped cilantro leaves
Lemon wedges
Corn tortillas, heated
Red Chile Puree:
8 California chiles (One fourth lb)
2/3 cup Water

Scrape off any fat from tripe. Cut tripe into 1inch squares. Place tripe
and calf's foot in a large bowl. Add vinegar and cold water to cover
generously. Let stand 3 hours. Drain. Rinse tripe and calf's foot
thoroughly. Place in a large pot. Add garlic and onion. Pour in water to
cover ingredients plus 1 to 1 One half inches, about 3 quarts. Add salt to
taste. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 6 hours or
until tripe is tender. After 1 hour, skim foam from surface of soup. Skim
again as needed. Add more water if liquid evaporates.

Prepare Red Chile Puree. Add hominy and Red Chile Puree during last hour of
cooking. Ladle into large bowls. Serve chopped green onions, cilantro,
lemon wedges and hot corn tortillas separately.

Makes 10 to 15 servings.

Red Chile Puree: Remove stems from chiles. Break chiles open and rinse out
seeds. Place in a saucepan with water to cover. Bring to a boil. Continue
to boil until chiles are softened, about 5 minutes. Drain; discard water.
Place chiles in blender; puree. Add enough water to make puree the
consistency of tomato sauce. Press pureed chiles through a sieve to remove
bits of peel. Makes about 1 cup.

Variation: Substitute 1 One half cups nixtamal (cooked dried corn) for canned
hominy. Combine with soaked tripe and calf's foot, garlic, onion and
water. Cook as directed above.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini