Quick and Easy Menudo

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How I found this Menudo

Menudo I’m told, is traditionally prepared on Sunday morning’s for breakfast.  I haven’t researched it, I’m just going by the word of a friend of mine that’s inspired some of my authentic Mexican recipes.  It might not be a Sunday morning delicacy for most but apparently it is at his house.  Regardless,  this is a dish I’ve grown to love.

It was first introduced to me by a coworker in a Denver Refinery I was working in. The company that had the maintenance contract at the time employed several Mexican men that ate excellent authentic Mexican food from day to day, thanks to the preparation of their Mexican wives(go figure).  Anyway, one specific gentleman made a little extra money on the side selling burritos at work that his wife prepared every morning before he’d leave.  Those of us that usually skipped breakfast in the morning, knew that we could rely on him vending out burritos from the big blue cooler he toted in day after day.  Burrito’s filled with eggs, chorizo and chili’s, or potatoes and pork with beans.  Thursday’s were my favorite day to buy because those days she made Chili Relleno’s with beans, rice and goat cheese wrapped in a tortilla!  Mmm Mmmm, those were the goods.  So, getting back to the point, this same guy’s wife dropped off a huge grocery paper bag full of Bolillo’s (bread) and a pot full of Menudo.

He invited me to try it, but I really had no idea what I was getting into and with a name like Menudo, I had to ask what it was.  Well, a chili base soup with Tripe and Hominy didn’t sound too bad but honestly, I don’t think at the time I realized what Tripe was.  He told me to get a bowl and make sure I grabbed some bread.  So I did, and at first glance I was really skeptical.  Then at first chew I thought, rubbery not dreamy.  Then the after taste kicked in and I wanted more, end of story.  I’ve been getting it at restaurants ever since.  I believe Menudo is one of those recipes.  It’s a hit and miss and you either like it or you don’t.

I guess the moral of the story is, don’t be so quick to judge and give everything a chance at least once.  Also make your decisions based on the experience of the cook.  I have found that most of my “bad experiences” came from cooks that didn’t know how to prepare a dish even half as well as they thought they did.  And when I was willing to give the recipe a second chance with someone else cooking that absolutely without a doubt knew their recipe, I usually found the light.

MenudoMaking Menudo

Now as far as this dish goes, the easiest and fastest way I know how to whip out Menudo the very moment I’m craving it, without any preparation or the 6 plus hours of cooking time is to have it already to go on the shelf.  Now you can purchase this fine recipe in a can these days and it’s pretty comparable to a fresh batch made from scratch.  To be clear this is NOT a recipe video, just a Quick and Easy way to knock out a 6 hour soup, Menudo, in 10 minutes.

I’m a Pasta Fanatic… Aren’t You?

61VnBAoAoWL._SL1000_How Hard Can It Be

If you’re not eating fresh pasta YOU ARE CRAZY!  Especially for the simple reason that it’s incredibly easy to make; not to mention the, “I can’t get enough fresh pasta” taste it leaves in your mouth after you’ve tossed the noodles in your favorite sauce.  I had someone comment on my homemade pasta video a while back.  They were so thankful for my simple little recipe.  This person even went out and bought a little hand churned Pasta maker for like $20 or $30 bucks and mentioned that they were going to start cranking’ that dough out so they could even stalk up the freezer and have it ready to go down the road.

So let’s talk about it shall we?  As you can see in this photo, I’ve got a pasta maker.  It’s been sitting in my storage unit for a while because I’ve been on the road working lately, BUT, was able to pull it out recently and grace my family with a few dishes that involved some freshly made egg noodles.  It doesn’t matter what you decide to make, whether it be Italian, Greek or some twist of your favorite Asian noodle dish, but one thing is for certain, if you’re pasta isn’t the right consistency, you are going to make a mess!  Now this isn’t a contradiction to my theory that pasta is incredibly easy to make, NO!  All I’m saying is, like anything else, you’ve just got to do it right!

You don’t have to follow my recipe by any means but I’ve laid out a basic instructional video for those of you that aren’t too familiar with making your own noodles and in fact don’t have any fancy gadgets or gizmos to “Get’R done”!  The most important thing to know are two simple steps for the final outcome.  ONE, make the dough Dense.  TWO, when the dough is rolled out for the slicing of the noodles, make absolutely sure the dough is dusted with flour and dry enough to separate; otherwise you’ll have a sticky mess.   Easy enough right?  Now watch this video and you’ll see just how easy it really is from any Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen!

The Full written original recipe can be found here http://poormansgourmetkitchen.com/making-fresh-pasta-from-scratch.html

A Low Budget Wonder!

Budget Santolla Red Crab LegsBudget & Find Those Deals

This is what The Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen is all about!  Eating well and not paying out the A-R-S doing it!  I always get comments about the photo’s my wife and I post on all the top sharing sites.  It seems that some think my recipes contradict the very idea I preach about; gourmet meals at a low budget wonder.  But, I’m telling you folks it can be done very easily, and you don’t have to store up all of your coupons like all of those super moms that Groupon all the time.

Take these crab legs for example.  These are called Santolla Reds, and most days they’re cheaper than Jumbo Shrimp.  Here’s the really crazy thing… they are the size of King Crab legs!  And, they look and taste just like them.  To be completely honest, just a little bit saltier is all.  So what… use unsalted butter and they are fantastic.  I usually buy 4 to 5 lbs of these Santolla Red Crab Legs for under $40 bucks and it feeds my whole family, with left over’s.  Try getting ½ a pound of King Crab Legs and a Baked Potato at any restaurant for under $26 dollars!
Budget Craw Fish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Budget those Threats

How about these Crawfish?  Do you see the Budget price listed on the front of the carts in the pic above?  It even got down to 99 cents a lbs shortly after I took this photo.  Ironically, some guy on my Crawfish video freaked out on me, the other day, about it.  He called me a liar and proclaimed in his well educated text, “no where is america its sold for 99 Cent per pound”.  Shortly there after he threatened to come after me and get me evicted from my house when I proved to him they are.  See for your self in the comment thread.

Budget and Save

Anyway, if you don’t budget and you’re paying top dollar for everything you are trying to cook at home, then you are either stuck on the wrong website or you are severely trying to learn.  So if you haven’t closed out this blog yet and your still reading,  and you truly want to know the trade secret to paying less, then whip out your note pad app and write this down:  start talking to the chefs, start talking to the butchers, start talking to anybody and everyone that handles the service behind the refrigerated counters, AND(wait for it), MAKE NICE!  Get in good with them; shit, flirt a little.  It’s not going to hurt you. I’m telling you from experience and matter of factually, if you get in good with them, you’ll get in good with the prices and you will Budget and Save big!