Homemade Chorizo

Well, now that the issue of what REAL machaca is has (not) been settled would anyone like a recipe for homemade chorizo?



The deep red color comes mostly from the paprika... And note that this time I had the presence of mind to post a photo of the finished product.

Quoting from Wikipedia: "Chorizo can be made from a variety of meat cuts, including lips, lymph nodes, and salivary glands." Well, call me prissy but that bothers me. So I learned to make it myself so I know EXACTLY what's in it, and it turned out to be a very simple process. Follow me below to find out just how easy it is, and you may never want the store-bought kind again!

SONORAN STYLE PORK CHORIZO

Ingredients:

* 2 Pounds lean ground pork (not TOO lean, though)
* 3 teaspoons kosher or sea salt
* 3 Tablespoons chili powder
* 6 small ancho chiles
* 6 guajillo chiles
* 2 Tablespoons paprika
* 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 Tablespoons dry leaf Mexican oregano, crushed
* 1/2 Tablespoon ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
* 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
* 4 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
* 3 Tablespoons water


Directions:

TIP: Refrigerate the pork to keep it cool while dealing with the other ingredients. It's easier to work with when it's cold.

Wipe the chiles clean. Remove stems, cut them lengthwise and remove seeds. Place in a bowl, cover with hot water and let soak for at least 30 minutes. When chiles are soft, discard water and place the chiles in a blender. Add the vinegar, water and garlic cloves and puree until smooth; set aside. NOTE that you can use fewer or more dried chiles according to your taste.

Break up the meat in a large bowl. Sprinkle evenly with the rest of the ingredients, EXCEPT for the blended chile sauce, and mix it all up well. Your hands work best for this; think meatloaf . Add the blended chile sauce. Mix well again.

Now you can fry up a small patty to test for taste. Adjust seasoning if needed. When you've got it how you like it, let it season for at least a day in your refrigerator to enhance the flavors. Then mix it one more time, and it's ready to use or freeze. It will last a couple of weeks in the refrigerator, or you can wrap it in small packages (about 4 oz. is good for two people) and it will freeze well for months.

It can also be stuffed into casings and smoked like any other pork sausage. But I haven't gotten that energetic yet. If you do, let me know how it turns out.

A bit more info is available at my blog, but nothing important has been left out here. I generally (but not always) post a new recipe on Thursdays. I wonder how long it will take me to run out of recipes?

[Edited on 4-24-2009 by tigerdog]

tigerdog, Thanks for the recipe. Gonna have to make a batch.

Yeah, the Spanish chorizo (and Portuguese and other regional European varieties) are completely different from Mexican chorizo. I love it, too. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to put fresh Mexican chorizo in casings and smoke it, and see how that compares. But not today.

Quote:

Originally posted by Cypress tigerdog, Thanks for the recipe. Gonna have to make a batch.

Tigerdog,
Love chorizo and surely are going to give your recipe a try.
I found that if you keep the encased store bought chorizo above 50 to 60 pesos a kilo, they are pretty good. The cheap stuff is mainly grease though. Here again, you get what you pay for.