Chorizo-Northern-Style

Papas con Chorizo- Amaru Uballez

My apartment smells of canela. cloves and red chile.  I just sauteed the chorizo I made on Friday after letting the mixture rest in the refrigerator to let the flavors ripen  but you don’t have to leave it so many days. Overnight is fine. To tell you the truth, I had made one with pork and another with beef and forgot all about the one made with beef.   I love pork chorizo but wanted to test the recipe using beef . At least we know that it does not go bad! By the way, you can also make chorizo using turkey. It won’t be quite as good because it won’t have as much fat which gives it a lot of flavor.

I don’t recommend trying to reduce the proportion of fat in chorizo mixture. Ask the butcher to give you a mixture of 3 parts lean meat (preferably butt) to l part fat. This recipe is for a large amount which is meant to be lightly cooked as soon as the mixture has rested overnight, then frozen in convenient-sized batches for later use.  It has dozens of uses. Chorizo mixture is cooked with potatoes, scrambled eggs, or cheese for queso fundido. In Mexico it is also filled into casings and aged to make wonderful air-dried sausages. I think the fresh sausage mixture is a more practical option for most U.S. cooks.  Recipe can easily be halved.

This is my mother’s recipe and she used the wonderful  Santa Cruz powdered chile (not to be confused with chile powder) but I order New Mexico dried red chiles from the Chile Guy  or buy them at Kalustyan’s and use 6 ounces medium-spicy dried red New Mexico chiles, tops and seeds removed, washed and lightly dried on a comal until their aroma is released.  DO NOT LET THEM BURN or the entire mixture will be ruined. I then soak them in very hot water; drain them and puree thoroughly in my Vita Mix with the spices, vinegar and sherry.  However, if you have a regular blender you need to pass it through a medium mesh sieve and it’s a pain which is why I suggested the powder in the first place!

5                      pounds ground pork (3 : l ratio of lean to fat)

3                      teaspoons salt, or more to taste

l                       teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (coarse grind)

l                       teaspoon ground cloves

2                      teaspoons ground true (Ceylon) cinnamon, preferably freshly

ground in spice grinder, or  l/2 – 3/4 teaspoon ground U.S.

“cinnamon”

2                      tablespoons Mexican oregano, crumbled

l/4                    cup cider vinegar

l/4                    cup red wine or sherry

l                       teaspoon sugar

4                      ounces pure red chile powder stirred to a paste with l/2 – 3/4

cup boiling water or use

2                      tablespoons minced garlic

Lard for sauteing

In large mixing bowl, combine ground pork and all other ingredients except lard. Mix with your hands to distribute all seasonings evenly. Let rest, covered, overnight in refrigerator.

The next day, prepare to cook the mixture. Melt 2 – 3 tablespoons of lard in a large skillet over medium heat. (This is to get the cooking started; meat will provide its own cooking fat as you proceed.) Working in batches and being careful not to crowd skillet, saute the chorizo mixture about 5 minutes, stirring often to cook evenly. Remove each batch to a bowl as it is done. When all the mixture has been sauteed, drain as much fat as you can from the cooked meat.  Let cool to room temperature.

Plee

Place cooled mixture in heavy-duty plastic bags (it’s probably smart to use several different sizes). Unless planning to use within a day or two, freeze at once. Can be stored up to 2 months in freezer.

Yield: about 5  l/2 pounds.