The entire month of January is known as National Soup Month. It is a perfect time of year for warm comfort foods. As it turns out, January also is National Menudo Month, a soup-type ethnic specialty.
Possibly, celebrate soup month with a hearty oxtail soup. My father developed a soup recipe with a surprisingly rich, fulfilling taste.
Use oxtail, available at local butcher shops, or regular soup bones. First, sprinkle the bones with an all-purpose seasoning and roast at 350 degrees for about two hours. Turn to brown all sides.
At this point some cooks use the roasted bones meat and all, but I prefer soup without bones. Reserve the pan drippings. When the bones are cool enough, shred the meat off of the bones. Retain the meat with the drippings to add to the soup later.
Place the roasted bones in a stock pot. Cover with water. Add garlic cloves, onion chunks, salt, and pepper. Simmer up to eight hours. The longer the bones simmer, the more nutrition is leached from the bones. Strain the tasty broth.
Cool, and if desired, remove fat that settles on top. Broth may be stored in containers in a freezer.
In a pot, sauté chopped vegetables such as carrots, celery, mushrooms and onion. Combine the pan drippings, shredded meat and the vegetables. Simmer all in the broth. Add Italian seasonings and pasta shells. Cook until pasta is tender.
A traditional Mexican soup, menudo is made from beef tripe. Adding hominy and additional ingredients varies by regional custom.
Menudo is considered a prized specialty served at weddings and other celebrations. It also is a culinary favorite for weekend meals.
While the internet gives recipes that call for ten hours to cook tripe, modern Hispanics consider that length of time to be the old-fashioned way. Local stores, such as State Foods in Dos Palos, sell prepared tripe. This dish cooks in only about two hours or a little longer for larger amounts.
Many butcher shops sell tripe prepared by removing the yellow color. A pre-washing results in a creamy white appearance. The process reduces cooking time and improves texture.
The dish prepared with processed white tripe is called Menudo de Res. It is convenient for those who do not want to start from scratch with “right off the cow” yellow tripe. Cooking a large batch for a group, about ten pounds, takes about four hours.
Menudo de Casita, also called Honeycomb, is the deluxe type of menudo. The tripe has a honeycomb appearance with a smooth texture. It is tender and soft, very easy to cook and considered pleasant to eat.
Some folks add cows’ or pigs’ feet. This is considered “Texan-style menudo.” Adding red chili creates a chipotle or California-style menudo.
Locally, hominy is considered an essential menudo ingredient. Chefs prefer to start with dry hominy which requires soaking and cooking a day ahead to soften. Baking soda is used in this part of the process. Others are quite satisfied to use canned hominy available in various sizes at State Foods Supermarket and local grocery stores.
When serving, many cooks offer dried oregano on the table instead of seasoning the whole pot. Those enjoying the meal grab the oregano and rub palms together, as if anticipating a tasty delight. Bowls of lemon and chopped onions are offered, not added to the pot.
Also, remember, the Jiggs Graham Memorial All You Can Eat Crab Feed on Jan. 25. Internationally known as Burns Night, it is the poet Robert Burns birthdate. For more than 200 years friends have gathered to share poems and supper in his memory. Memorize a favorite poem to share with friends while enjoying a crab fest.
(Janet Miller is a freelance writer specializing in family faith. She offers Family Prayers and Activities: Weekly Guides on compact disc for families to explore the Bible jmiller@dospalos.org.)
