Getting Cold in Buenos Aires

The cold weather is here and with it comes the tripe stew!

My mother, a great cook even if not dedicated to the art, has 3 excellent dishes. One of them is the tripe stew made with cream "Mondongo a la crema". This is a dish that I have always loved. When I was 10 years old my friends could not understand how I could love it so much, obviously they had never tried my mother's tripe stew. Here's the recipe, which nowadays I enjoy every winter with my friends (every year I have more addicts to the cause), with minor modifications to my mother's recipe, which I consider my personal touch to this amazing winter dish.

Beef Tripe & Garbanzo Bean Stew

Ingredients:
150 gr. smoked bacon, chopped.
2 beef tripes, fat removed.
1 pork sausage, cut into 2 cm. pieces.
3 large spanish onions, halved and in 1 cm slices.
1 cup cream.
1-1/2 cups whole milk.
1 tsp. cayenne pepper.
1 tbs. sugar.
4 cups (1 liter) beef broth.
1 cup cooked garbanzo beans.
2 tbs. cognac.
1 tbs. dried oregano, chopped.
2 tbs. unsalted butter.
Freshly ground white pepper to taste.

Method:
1. Using a sharp knife remove all the fat of the tripe no matter how hard it might be (the fat is white, the tripe is yellowish). In a large sauce pan at medium-high heat, boil the tripe in the beef broth until very tender, about an hour. Let cool enough to handle with your hands, then cut into 1 by 5 cm strips. Do not discard the broth.
2. In a large heavy bottomed sauce pot at medium-high heat, melt the butter. Add the sausage and fry until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the onions and fry until translucent and tender, another 5 minutes. Add the bacon and cook until crisp but not dry, 3 to 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium, add the tripe and cook for 10 minutes mixing once in a while. Add the cream and continue cooking for 10 more minutes.
3. Add the spices and sugar and mix. Start adding the broth 1/2 a cup at a time, then the milk and last the garbanzo beans and cognac. Cook for 10 more minutes, adjust the seasoning adding white pepper and if it appears to be to dry in consistency, add 2 cups more beef broth. Let cool completely.
4. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (48 hs recommended).
To serve: Remover the top layer of fat and reheat in a bain marie.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I have enjoyed it all my life.
Greets, The Fat Guy!