diy chorizo from scratch!

Did you know you can make sausage from scratch without casings or any special equipment? I already posted recipes for two different breakfast sausages: sweet maple sausage, and savory sage sausage. But what if you want something fiery and super flavorful? Something to go perfectly with black beans, or paella, or chili, or breakfast tacos? Something to sprinkle on nachos, or queso fundido?

This chorizo, fried up with black beans, eggs over easy, and leftover garlic rice, is a perfect hearty breakfast!

•1/4 pound chiles guajillos (about 14), stems, seeds, and membranes removed
•3/4 cup mild vinegar such as vinagre de pina or diluted unseasoned rice vinegar, or more if needed
•2 pounds coarsely ground pork shoulder
•1/2 pound medium-ground pork fat
•4 large cloves garlic, minced
•1 tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
•2 teaspoons sea salt
•1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
•1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
•1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
•1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

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Soak the chilis in hot water until soft, maybe 15 mins. Drain and puree. Mix all ingredients together.

Here’s the hardest part: you have to wait at least 24 hours before frying and eating them.

I know. It’s cruel. I tried frying up a few bites of it right away, and it just didn’t taste right. 24 hours later, though, the sausage was perfect. If you have the patience to let this cure, you can just fry it right up, in patties or crumbles. No need to buy casings! Amazing with everything from simple gallo pinto to fancy seafood. To be honest, I am watching my budget this month after overspending last month, so I didn’t buy chilis. I used the dried red pepper that my last housemate left behind, and some powdered chili. Surprisingly, the spice blend still made it taste just like chorizo!

recipe by Marilyn Tausend & Ricardo Muñoz Zurita from La Cocina Mexicana

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Thanks for being patient with experimental mixed meat-ea.

Added to the “rotation” tag because this is an amazing way to use the other half-pound of pork when I make mapo tofu!

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chipotle lime chicken

throw chicken thighs in a casserole dish
sprinkle powdered chipotle pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, coriander, cumin, salt, a pinch of cinnamon, and a pinch of turmeric on top.

drench in lime juice and marinate anywhere from a few minutes to overnight.

bake at 325 for a half-hour and then transfer to charcoal grill, or just bake for an hour.

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delicious!

chochoyotes de canela (gf dumplings)

gluten-free dumplings for soup, or simmered in mole

‘canela’ is cinnamon – and i think i’ll be tripling the amount that is called for.

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CINNAMON AND CORN MASA DUMPLINGS
Chochoyotes de Canela

1 cup masa harina (corn flour)
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 tbsp lard / shortening
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp kosher or sea salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp sugar

Mix the corn masa flour with water and knead until the dough is smooth and has no lumps, about a minute. Add the lard, cinnamon, sugar and salt and mix until it is well incorporated.

Make little balls of about 1 inch with your hands. Using your little finger, make a dip in the middle of the dumpling. One by one add them to the simmering sauce, mole or soup that they will be cooked in. It will take about 10 to 15 minutes for the chochoyotes to be fully cooked.

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edit
it seemed to take forever for them to boil in the mole, but they did cook! they weren’t bad, but definitely had a dumpling-like consistency. i wonder if a pinch of baking soda, although not authentically pre-columbian, would fluff them up a bit. i’ll tweak this a bit next time i make it with a little more seasoning and a little bit of a leavening agent and see what happens!

tlacoyos (pupusas) (gf stuffed corn dough pockets)

on the hunt for quick masa recipes, i found these – a mexican version of salvadorean pupusas

these fried corn cakes are stuffed with whatever you like.

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tlacoyos

1 cup masa harina (corn flour; much more finely ground than cornmeal. very inexpensive.)
3/4 cup water, more if needed
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lard, bacon fat, or oil

filling (try simple beans with just salt and a pinch of cumin and oregano, garlic, onion, cheese, veggies, meat, hot peppers, or any combination)

salt
oil
garnish (ideas? lacto-fermented condiments like giardinera or salsa, chopped onion, cilantro, mexican-style sour cream…?)

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1

In a bowl, combine the masa, water, and salt. Form into a ball so that all the flour is incorporated. Add more water if needed to make a moist dough. Set aside.

2

In a skillet, heat the lard, bacon fat, or oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until soft, then add the garlic. Cook for an additional 3 to 4 minutes until starting to color. Add the beans/veggies/meat and raise the heat to high. Cook for a couple minutes, then mash roughly with a spatula and remove from the heat.

3

Divide the masa dough into 4 pieces and flatten them between two pieces of plastic wrap using a heavy skillet or tortilla press. Lay them on a cutting board and divide the beans and cheese among them, then carefully fold over and pinch to create a half-moon shaped pocket.

4

Heat the frying oil in a large skillet over high heat and add the pockets (cook them in two batches to avoid crowding). cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side, until golden, then drain on paper towels. Serve with the salsa and garnishes.

pork and poblano tamale pie (with diy green enchilada sauce)

a good old-fashioned american recipe. by “american”, i mean, does tamale pie really count as mexican? neither tamale nor pie, i told my friend we’d have to call it something different. nothing quite sounds right, though. rice-and-beans cornbread pie? poblano-pork cornbread-lasagna con salsa verde? who cares; it’s good. not quick, but very easy.

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i miss the tamale guy. i no longer live in a city. i am not going to simmer pork cheeks all day. a tamale craving out in the country? this will have to do.

here’s what i actually did:

PORK AND POBLANO TAMALE PIE___
(my version)

==green enchilada sauce:

a can of mild green chiles
half-can of hot jalapenos
a carrot
a head of roasted garlic
a roasted poblano
a raw yellow pepper (any bell pepper is fine)
cilantro (key, but i’m somehow out – used it all for kofta curry meatballs last night. used some raw mixed greens like arugala instead.)
a great deal of onion (houseguest refuses, so we’re going without, and it still smells wonderful)
cumin
coriander
oregano
a kiwi (wait, what? well, no tomatillos; why not?)
salt
a splash of lime juice
two drops of fish sauce

stick all that in the food processor and grind it up.

fix up some stock or bouillon and dump the ground-up veg matter (which should smell and taste amazing) into the stock. add a pat of lard if you have a greasy bacon-juice jar in the back of your fridge.

boil a while. some say an hour. you can stick it in a slow cooker if you have one – i don’t. really i’m guessing any amount of time is fine – even raw if you really wanted to. why not?

==pork

salt and brown a few pork steaks and chop em up into little bite-sized pieces.

next, you want to boil the pork steaks in the green sauce. i added a half-cup rice, a half-cup black lentils, and two cups water to the pork and green sauce and cooked it all together. i don’t know how long. until they are cooked? a while.

==cornbread topping

3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal (preferably whole-grain stone-ground)
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
cumin
coriander
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
1 tablespoon honey
a bunch of cheese
half a can of corn

= the process

butter a pan and line it with pork-and-rice-and-chile-sauce mixture.

crack a few eggs on top.

you are layering these, by the way.

pour cornbread mixture on top of that.

grate tons of cheese on top of that.

bake at 400 until cornbread’s done.

tweaked a recipe i originally found here

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8:24pm
smell-wise:
so far, so good.

green sauce is bubbling on the stove and smells wonderful. i’ll add meat in another moment or two.

10:15pm
the whole thing’s in the oven. smells wonderful in here.

3/11
we finished it for breakfast. awesome, although i don’t know how much more special it is than rice and beans with cheesy cornbread on the side. will make this again.

ristra hot-sauce

RISTRA – n – an arrangement of drying chile pepper pods

i think it’s finally time to cut down one of the beautiful ristras i made last summer with garden jalapenos and thai chilis!

process:

cut down chiles
rinse dried chiles
toast twice as many as you’ll need at 250 for 10 mins or pan-fry until puffy (EASILY BURNED! TURN OFTEN! BURNING RUINS HOT SAUCE!)

grind half into chile powder; keep in an airproof container for later use. you’ll thank me later. come on, you have your food processor out already!

then take 10 pods and simmer in a cup or two of water for about ten minutes.

taste chile water. if bitter, replace with 1-2 c fresh water.

puree. strain out seeds for a milder version.

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what i actually did:

hot chile puree
roasted carrots
roasted bell pepper
roasted summer squash
roasted garlic
fresh parsley
lime juice
roasted coriander
lime pickles
ginger juice
salt
brine from lacto-fermented green tomatoes and garlic
mango juice

awesome. super-sweet. could be sourer. next time, i might add some live vinegar.

elotes

authentic chicago street-cart elotes:

– fresh corn (slice off kernels with a huge knife) (canned or frozen works, too)
– a huge pat of butter, margarine, grease, or oil (butter!)
– mayo (just a squirt)
– parmesan or other sharp cheese (just a touch sprinkled on top)
– cayenne

cinco de mayo recipes

CHURROS!

sopa de lima

rick bayless, give me a break.

the damn soup was phenomenal, but… seriously? pour the soup into warm bowls? yeah, i’m going to warm the bowls. by pouring soup into them. so glad we got that straightened out.

Sopa de Lima Clasica

Makes about 2 quarts of soup, serving 8

Recipe from Season 5 of Mexico – One Plate at a Time
Ingredients

Salt and Pepper Broth
2 medium white onions, cut in half across the middle (rather from top to bottom)
2 heads of garlic, cut in half across the middle
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
3 whole cloves
One 1 1/2-inch cinnamon stick, preferably Mexican cinnamon
1 teaspoon crumbled dried Mexican oregano
2 pounds of chicken wings (you can include backs and necks too)
2 pounds of pork bones (neck bones are most commonly available)
2 large Yucatecan limas agrias
OR 4 key limes
OR 2 grocery-store (Persian) limes
Salt
3 hot banana peppers

Finishing
Vegetable oil to a depth of 1/2-inch for frying
8 corn tortillas
1 large white onion, chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1 pound ripe tomatoes (2 medium-large round or 5 to 6 plum tomatoes), cored and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1/2 large green pepper, stemmed, seeded and chopped into 1/4-inch pieces
1 large (1 to 1 1/4-pound) whole chicken breast (with skin and bones)
Directions

1. Prepare the “salt-and-pepper” broth. Set an 8- to 12-quart soup pot over medium to medium-low heat. Lay the onions and garlic heads, cut-side down, in the pot. Cover and roast without turning until dark brown and quite soft, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, pulverize the peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and oregano in a spice mill or mortar.

When the onion and garlic are ready, add 4 quarts of water to the pot, along with the chicken and pork. Raise the heat to high. Skim off the grayish foam that rises as the liquid comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to maintain a slow, steady simmer, then add the spices. Cut the ends off the limes and add the ends to the pot, along with 1 teaspoon salt. Slice the limes about 1/4-inch thick and set aside for serving.

Roast the banana peppers over an open flame or close up under a preheated broiler until blackened and blistered all over, about 6 minutes. Cut about a 1/2-inch slit in the side of each one and add to the pot.

Set the lid on the pot slightly askew and simmer for 2 hours. Strain the broth and measure 2 quarts. (Which is about what you should have, if you’re short, add water to bring the broth to that quantity.)

2. Fry the tortilla strips. Cut the tortillas crosswise into 1/4-inch strips. (I find it easiest to roll up 2 tortillas at a time and cut them.) In large (4-quart) saucepan, heat 1/2-inch of oil over medium-high. When quite hot but not smoking (test if it’s hot enough by adding a tortilla strip: it should sizzle vigorously), fry the tortilla strips in two batches, stirring them around in the oil nearly constantly, until they are golden brown and crispy. With a slotted spoon, scoop them out onto paper towels to drain.

3. Prepare the soup. Pour off all but a generous coating of the oil from the saucepan and return to medium-heat. Add the onion, tomato and pepper to the pan and cook, stirring regularly, until soft and just beginning to color slightly. Add the broth and chicken breast. Cook 30 minutes, just until the chicken is done. Remove the chicken, cool slightly, then pull off and discard the skin. Pull the meat from the bones in large shreds; discard the bones. Taste and season the broth with salt, usually about 2 teaspoons.

4. Serve the soup. Divide the tortilla strips and chicken between 8 large warm soup bowls. Ladle a portion of soup into each bowl and serve right away, passing the lime separately.