Tacos with Eggs & Chorizo (Mexican)

• Prep your taco toppings such as Salsa, Shredded Cheese, Avocado & Sour Cream.

• Warm some corn tortillas on a grill pan. I brush or spray them with a tiny bit of oil and cover to remain warm. Be careful not to let them get hard.

• In a large fry pan fry about 4 ounces chorizo until fully cooked (about 10 minutes) then remove to a temporary container. Wipe or wash pan clean.

• Add a 1-2 TBspn of butter or margarine to coat the pan especially if not using a non-stick pan and set burner to medium.

• Crack 4 large eggs into a bowl, add about 2 tablespoons water and whisk.
Pour the eggs into the pan and wait (do not stir) until bubbly but still wet (about 2 minutes).

• Drop the cooked chorizo all over the eggs and gently turn over several times to cook throughout. I prefer not to chop at it.

Done! load the chorizo and eggs, the toppings and dig in.

This will make 4-6 large tacos.

We all agreed these were fantastic!

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)