Monday, January 3, 2011

Food of the Gods!

Me and my wife are from far south Texas, McAllen to be exact, just a stone's throw from the Rio Grande River. Interestingly we are both half Mexican and half Irish (what a combo). My wife's parents still live in McAllen. Every year during the holiday season, they'll make the nine hour drive to Fort Worth hauling an ice chest packed full of tamales (of the highest quality), and fixings for menudo. Cooking menudo is a New Years Eve tradition, at least it is in south Texas.

There are several regional variations of menudo. This south Texas version calls for hominy and.......

...beef tripe (stomach and intestines), pigs feet, peppers, and a variety of spices. Menudo has a special smell when it's cooking. To be honest it smells terrible, at least until the spices are mixed in.

This is my father-in-law scraping the seeds out of the peppers. Excuse the mess in the kitchen, we had about sixteen people in our little house. It's hard to keep things orderly with that kind of crowd.


Almost ready. I forgot to snap a photo of the finished product.

After a few days of eating tamales, my mother-in law changes things up by making a kind of tamale casserole by adding chili and cheese. Please note; if you are planning to try tamales for the first time, remove the corn husk wrapper before eating. They are much better that way.

The tamale casserole. It's probably not the healthiest meal but, darn it's good!

16 comments:

  1. Yum. If both you and your wife are 50/50, does that mean your children are one hundred percent Mexican and one hundred percent Irish? Is that even possible? =)

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  2. I don't know, we're all confused over here.

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  3. Wow, that looks delicious! I love tamales! Many years ago I learned about the corn husk the hard way.

    My wife is 1/2 Irish. We have vigorous debates!

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  4. Big Oak-You'd be surprised how many people don't realize that you're not supposed to eat the husk. On the plus side, it is high in fiber.

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  5. Its nice having certain meals as a tradition. You reminded me that my mom used to make Tamale Pie which looks a lot like your casserole. I'll have to find that recipe and give it a whirl, it was really good.

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  6. PaddyAnne-I wouldn't think you could get tamales in Canada. Interesting. Let me know if you find the recipe.

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  7. Menudo sounds interesting- I guess I would just have ti taste it. All the best for the year.

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  8. urbandon-It's a little different. You have to keep an open mind when eating anything with tripe in the ingredients.

    By the way Don, I've added a link to your blog in the Etsy section. Take care.

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  9. I've never been drunk enough to finish a serving of menudo. I eat everything that's in it but it just taste like crap soup to me but then I don't care for lentil soup either.
    I've eaten every kind of tamale there is including strawberry jelly tamales and I never met one I didn't like. SWMBO makes a mean spicy pork tamale but just not often enough. In so many the filling is good but the masa is bland but not hers.

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  10. My mom was American, growing up in Southern California and for a short time, Pennsylvania. Her recipe is from her Calif days, but I think it was her sister living in Texas who gave it to her, I believe... need to check up on that part!!

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  11. I love menudo. It's the good stuff. Especially the family-cooked version. Wow that looks good!

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  12. Menudo. I thought that was a cure for hangovers.

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  13. My brother was married to a Mexican woman. He died far too young, leaving a four year old daughter. Every Christmas after our family celebration I would drive her over to her grandparents for the Tovar Christmas celebration. The Tovars have been here in Minnesota for three generations and have lost their Spanish language and Mexican cooking .... except for the men, who twice a year prepare a large Mexican meal for the extended family. Thankfully they consider me part of that family.

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  14. @Myles,
    Although I don't eat meat, I can appreciate the hard work that goes into making the Menudo. So, enjoy cooking.

    I like Tamales too. Because we are vegetarians, my wife makes a kick-ass vegetarian version of the the Tamales. I like them.

    When I say I like'em, I am not saying they are healthy for me :)

    Peace :)

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  15. I've never had Menudo, but I am pretty adventurous. I'd try it. The tamale casserole looks great!

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