Madison was camping in the Smokies with her new puppy Clover (a Samoyed breed – Spitz family) so she swung by here from Gatlinburg to visit with us for a couple of days and as always it was great to see her. Hard to believe she will be 29 in December – our oldest grandchild. Here are a couple of shots of her with her Meme, Aunt Pat, and Grandpop.
When Chef Lea Ann posted her recipe Chorizo Breakfast Burrito with Potatoes and Eggs I knew I had to make it for my favorite meal of the day. The chorizo I had in the freezer was too old so rather than make a store trip I decided to make my own (pics here and recipe below), I left out the spicy items, used the recently made fresh tomato salsa in lieu of the red chile sauce and doubled the recipe. Rather than reproduce Lea Ann's recipe here, you can get it by clicking on the first link above. It made four well stuffed burritos.
Homemade Chorizo
I had planned to use the package of chorizo that had been
in the freezer for a while, but after thawing, I discovered it was no longer
useable. Since I had a package of ground
pork in the freezer and didn’t want to make a store trip, I decided to try
making my own chorizo. I went on line
and found the recipe for Best Mexican Chorizo on “The Daring Gourmet” blog that looked good so I opted to give it a try. I omitted the extra fat and anything with
heat to get the recipe below and rather than mix the spice into the meat it a
bowl, I just added them to it in the pan as it cooked.
Best Mexican Chorizo Recipe
Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork
6 oz coarsely ground pork fat (ask your
butcher)
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ancho chile powder
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
4 tablespoons cider vinegar
Instructions:
I didn’t do the below.
Place the meat in a large bowl and all remaining
ingredients. Use your hands to thoroughly combine the mixture. Place the it in
a colander or sieve over a bowl, cover the top with plastic wrap, and
refrigerate for 3 days, daily squeezing out and discarding any liquid (this
isn't absolutely necessary but it will more closely resemble the texture of
store-bought chorizo). After 3 days, divide the meat up into 6 little 4 oz
loaves, wrap each one in plastic wrap and place the loaves in a freezer bag or
wrap again in aluminum foil. You can also use wax or freezer paper.
The chorizo will keep in the freezer for up to
4 months. Storing it longer doesn't really pose a safety concern, but the taste
will suffer.
The Verdict:
The burritos were very good but a little salty so I’ll one
use just one tsp. next time if I make my own chorizo. Making the chorizo (sorta) worked well but
without a few days for the meat to marry with the spices, I could pick out
individual flavors, such as the cinnamon.
Since it’s hard to find no-heat chorizo in a store, making the meat this
way worked well for Cindy and Bev. I will
definitely make this dish again but with purchased chorizo.
Easy Pork Pozole Verde Recipe
This recipe for Easy Pork Pozole Verde came from Capri on her “Good Food Baddie” blog and since I’ve used it before, I’ll just provide a link to my previous post rather than reproducing the recipe on here. I used a 2½ lb. Iberico pork roast and pork broth from the freezer and could not get small cans of hominy at either Walmart or the Mexican store and we had to buy a 110oz one – sent the extra home with Madison.
Look at all of the fat on the right.
The Verdict:
The posole turned out very good and Madison said it was one
of the best soups she’s ever eaten – we sent the leftovers home with her. It is frequently said that fat is flavor and
so this pork should be the best meat on the planet - can't imagine why the Spanish want all of that fat. After removing the fat before and after
cooking it, I had about half the meat that the soup needed – this is a pic
from a previous version.
Photos can be slightly enlarged by
clicking on them and the blue words are links.
Have a great day and thanks for
stopping by Almost Heaven South.
Larry
10/15/26 event date
