Menudo By Patricia Hill

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