Originally posted by Gypsy Jan
Diana Kennedy's Recipe from one of her first books, given to me by a friend.
"Diana Kennedy's Chorizos Méxicanos" (makes the equivalent of 21-24 links or one large “log if you don't want to bother stuffing them into links).
2 pounds pork tenderloin*
½ pound pork fat*
5 chiles ancho
2 chiles pasilla**
½ teaspoon coriander seeds, toasted
3 whole cloves
½ teaspoon peppercorns
½ teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
2½ teaspoons salt
2/3 cup mild white vinegar
2 ounces vodka (That's right, vodka--not tequila!)
Finely grind (or chop) the pork and the pork fat.
Toast the chiles well. Turn them every now and then to prevent burning. While they're warm and still pliable, slit them open and remove and discard
the seeds and the veins. (The toasted chiles become quite brittle as they cool off.)
Grind all the chiles and the spices together (easiest way is to use a blender).
Mix the ground spices and chiles with the rest of the ingredients.
In a large bowl thoroughly mix the pork and everything else (the spice rub) with your hands (your hands will wind up being very yellow and greasy).
Cover the bowl and let the chorizo mix season in the refrigerator for 3 days, stirring/mixing the chorizo thoroughly at least once a day.
After 3 days, fry a little bit of the chorizo to check to see if it has enough salt and seasoning.
If stuffing the chorizo mix, prick the resulting links all over to allow moisture to drip out. Hang the link "chain" in a cool, airy place for three
days. (The chorizo links should be about 1 inch thick and 3 or so inches in length.) Store the links in the refrigerator or freeze them.
If not stuffing the chorizo mixture into links, manually shape it into a "log," tightly wrap it in wax paper (or plastic wrap) and store it in the
refrigerator or freeze it. (I HIGHLY recommend this option.)
To cook the links, skin and crumble them and cook in a frying pan over low heat for about ten minutes until they are cooked through and the fat has
rendered out. Stir the chorizo from time to time as it cooks.
To cook the "log," slice off the amount you want to use and cook it using the directions in the step above.
*DK recommends using pork tenderloin because, well, it's very tender. And the chorizo is cooked very briefly; using a cheaper cut of pork may mean you
wind up with tough, hard to digest sausage. And the pork fat is necessary because pork tenderloin is very lean. Without the addition of pork fat the
meat would be dried out when cooked. Sausages should be tender and juicy.
** Chile pasilla is a long (6 inches mas o menos), slender, dark brownish/black dried chile (a dried chile chilaca). Its name can vary from region to
region in Mexico and the US southwest. I don't know what it's called in Mazatlán. It's sometimes called chile negro. In my neck of the woods (SF Bay
Area) Mexican tiendas usually correctly call a pasilla a pasilla. In Baja California, New Mexico, and in the Oaxaca area a very different chile is
sold as chile pasilla.
"I hope you'll try to make it; you'll like it and will know immediately that it's "the real thing."
GJ's ENDNOTE: Yes I did and yes, it is wonderful! |
