Chorizo Sausage (Mexican)

Dad turned me on to chorizo when we lived in Southern California. We bought the links in the store, squeezed it out of the casing into a fry pan and cooked it for 10 minutes or so and poured off a good amount of grease. We then scrambled in some eggs for a delicious breakfast. I don't remember reading the label at that time but was later kind of surprised to see pig organs, glands and nodes. I stopped eating it for a long while until I found this recipe more to my liking. It is a spicy (not hot) sausage and I advise to go lightly until you decide how much you like. One of these bags is good for 4 eggs. Watch for the Chorizo breakfast tacos next.

Chorizo de Toluca

• 2 Ancho Chiles & 3 Pasilla Chiles warmed over a hot pan or grill.

• Cool and break them up and discard seeds and stems.

• Soak them in 1/2 cup hot water & 1/4 cup tequila for at least an hour or overnight.

• Blend the following in a food processor:
1 tspn ground coriander seeds
1/2 tspn ground cloves
1 tspn ground cumin
1 tspn dried oregano or Mexican oregano
4 cloves garlic
3 TBspns sweet paprika
2-1/2 tspns salt
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/2 cup vinegar
and the softened chiles with liquid.

• Cube a 3 lb. pork roast (this is a shoulder roast) to fit through a grinder and grind into a large bowl - do not trim the fat rind. You may substitute ground pork which I could not find at 3 grocery stores. I have also tried this with ground turkey which was somewhat satisfactory in flavor but otherwise disappointing.

• Mix the spice/liquid mixture into the ground pork and marinate overnight in refrigerator.

• Measure 1/4 lb into each snack sized zip top bag and freeze.

Adapted from "Savoring Mexico" a great book by Sharon Cadwallader (Chronicle books)