Chorizo en Casa

Food is perhaps the most effective memory trigger for me. For others it might be a smell, or a sound, or a color combination. For me it is food. One of the food items that makes my tongue wag at mere mention is chorizo.

Chorizo is, for me, a guilty pleasure. Yeah, it is just pork and spices, but somehow something that tastes that good must be bad. Several memories spring up immediately. I used to love having chorizo in my burritos at Hacienda del Sol. I remember some great chorizo tapas at a bar outside the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. I regularly enjoy chorizo in my breakfast burritos today.

There are two kinds of chorizo: Spanish (made from chopped pork and smoked paprika) and Mexican (using ground pork and red chiles). Usually the Spanish version can be found cured or smoked and can be sliced and eaten straight away. Mexican chorizo is usually sold raw in bulk or links (the Spanish would call this chorizo fresco). Generally it is the Mexican style that we find in the grocery stores in the states and usually cut it out of the casings and cook it up.

My friend Julie on time asked me "Have you ever read the ingredients list?" I admitted that yes, I had, but I like it and therefore I just eat it and ignore the label. It did get me thinking that perhaps in my quest for making things myself and controlling the ingredients lists I should give chorizo a shot. I present to you here the results of my efforts. As always, I would appreciate your feedback.

The obvious way to use chorizo is to brown it and add to tacos or burritos or salads. But why not try:

• add browned chorizo to cottage cheese (perfect if you are on one of the caveman diets)
• substitute chorizo for Italian sausage in your regular spaghetti sauce
• add one pound raw chorizo to one pound buffalo or lamb for some fantastic burgers
• make it with beef and use in Sloppy Jose's

So, for those of you without easy access to Mexican groceries or good carnicerias:

Chorizo
1 pound ground pork (or beef, lamb, yak)
2 T.  cider vinegar
1 T.  olive oil
1 T.  water or red wine
Mix these together in bowl


2.5 T.  New Mexico red chile powder (or smoked Spanish paprika)
1 T.  oregano
1 t.  garlic powder
1 t.  cumin
1 t.  sugar
2 t.  kosher salt
1/2 t.  black pepper
1/2 t.  ground corriander
1/2 t.  cayenne
Mix the dry ingredients in a small dish the mix everything together.
Leave the mixture in the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap and stick in the fridge overnight if you have the patience to let the flavors all mix.

Italian Sausage

I have said it many times: I am a dedicated carnivore.

I especially like when meat comes in the form of sausage. The spices, the portability, the variety of things you can do with it. One of the most adaptable is Italian. Hot or sweet, it works as a link with peppers and onions or browned on your pizza. Growing up, I remember getting really good sausage from the local butcher, cutting the casings off, and browning to add to spaghetti sauce. At college there was a fantastic sandwich shop that made their own hot and sweet italian sausage for their offerings (Primanti's I miss you).

Our local coop has been supplying some wonderful pork from Iowa that started me thinking again about making my own bulk sausage. I found a variety of recipes that use 10 or more pounds of pork to stuff your own. I am not into making that much, but rather prefer to mix my batches a pound at a time.

Italian Sausage
1 lb. ground pork
Mix in
3 T. red wine
Dry Mix
3 T. Italian spices (combo of parsley, oregano, basil, thyme, cilantro, margoram)
1 T. fennel seed
1 T. paprika
1 t. salt
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. black pepper
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/2 t. cayenne

Mix the wine with the  pork. Control the heat with the cayenne and make it as hot as you want.Mix the dry ingredients together then with the pork-wine. Use as you would any bulk Italian sausage--pizzas, tomato sauces, garlic soup.