I first tasted chorizo at a restaurant in San Diego when I was on vacation. Well, actually it was "soyrizo", but it was pretty good. A few of the Mexican restaurants in central Ohio offer chorizo as a taco filling, or use it to amp the flavor, but I haven't been able to find a Mexican style-chorizo in the stores that isn't bland or incredibly fatty. I did find the following recipe for spicing chorizo while googling, so I've been making my own.
For 1 lb of ground pork or ground turkey (85% or 93% lean) add
2 T chili powder (I use Penzey's Regular Chili Powder)
1 T sweet paprika
1 t ground cumin
1 t table salt
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t dried oregano, crushed
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/8 t ground cloves
1/8 t ground black pepper
1/4 c. cider vinegar
Mix everything together, and refrigerate overnight to let the flavors blend.
When you fry this, the meat will fall apart into tiny crumbles. I think that's the action of the vinegar -- and the secret behind the finely crumbled ground beef in Mexican restaurants.
I usually vacuum seal 4 oz. packages, which are perfect for making breakfast for 2 people.
A whole pound can be used to make great stuffed peppers. This morning I cooked 5 pounds for a Super Bowl party I'm attending. I'm going to reheat it in a small crock pot for a nacho bar.
