Tripe (Yes Tripe) So Good!

If you ever want to see funny expressions come from your friends and family, mention to them you are making Tripe. So many people have a negative response, and for some rightfully so. Let's clear up one thing, the origins of Tripe usually bother people. It is of course a cow's stomach. But ask yourself, anything from a cow is pretty much the eating of an animal corpse. Right? The hamburger itself is pretty much a ground-up cow and fillers depending on what you buy at the supermarket.

The secret to Tripe is the cleaning process. You can buy Tripe cleaned by the butcher, but trust me, you have to boil it for many reasons. I boil each round around 10-minute increments 3 - 6 times. Each time, I give the Tripe a cold water bath, then reboil. There are 2 reasons for doing this. The first obviously is the cleanliness. The second is I am trying to increase the tenderness of the Tripe. This allows for the Tripe to be cut into small pieces and cook in the sauce. The way I make my tripe, it resembles pinwheel pasta and has the consistency of pasta. 

Your sauce should be either thick for Tripe on its own, or soupy if you make Tripe with other items to compliment the dish. For example, in this recipe, I will add onions, garlic, and potatoes. Despite what people might tell you, I love vegetables as an add-on including celery and carrots at times. The other secret is the sauce. You can use the sauce recipe on the blog on the sauce recipe I include for this recipe.

Ingredients

Sauce

1 32 oz can of Organic Tomato Sauce

1 32 oz can of diced tomatoes

1-3 oz of butter

1 tsp of cinnamon 

3-5 cloves of garlic

Italian seasonings (Parsley and Basil)

Salt and Pepper (Cracked) to taste

Garlic and Onion Powder - 1 tsp each

Cherry Pepper Flakes - 1 tsp

Cherry (Hot) or Long Hot peppers (One long hot or a few Cherry Pepper Slices. You can also do both) 

Sweet Pepper - 1 -5 slices 

1 White Onion (Diced and Sauteed or right in the sauce) 

Directions - I make the sauce in a Crockpot. I add everything at once. Let the sauce cook for about an hour and a half - 2 hours on low. Stir the sauce periodically and season to your personal taste. 

Once the Tripe is prepared via the boiling process (as described above) You will cut the tripe vertically into smaller pieces. You want the shapes to be the size of a larger pasta like a pinwheel or bowtie. (Try not to cut too small.) Once cut, add the Tripe to your sauce. Leave at least 1 - 1.5hrs for the Tripe to simmer in the sauce. Similar to Pasta, you want to check for tenderness prior to finishing. 

Potatoes - Dice your potatoes into cubes. Only use 1 -3 small potatoes. You don't want to overwhelm your sauce. The diced potatoes, as with all vegetables is a compliment to your dish. What makes the potato unique is you have to pre-boil them for about 6 mins. You want them to be firm, not squishy. The reason for the pre-boil is to get the starch out of the potato. I set them aside and put them in at about 5-10 mins prior the Tripe being finished.

As with all recipes on Cooking it Up with Dad, try different variations. Involve the kids. A cow's
stomach when they are younger is like a science experiment. They might complain in the beginning, however by the end of your recipe they will think it is pretty cool.