the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 18 January 2019: Older Bolder Chorizo No. 1

I know it might be considered to be out of fashion in some food circles, but we’ve been playing around with Southwestern and Tex-Mex inspired meatza preps lately.

We’ve dialed in our meatza / pizza sauce recipe (on the schedule to share in the next few weeks), and have been using both bulk pork sausage and seasoned ground beef as our meatza base. Last week I cobbled together a very good Tex-Mex meatza using this homemade Older Bolder Chorizo No. 1; it was amazing.

Having spent many a year growing up (and schooling) here in the Lone Star state, we’ve been fans of good chorizo around our camp for some time, having fiddled with chorizo recipes off and on now for well over a decade.

Sourcing good chorizo can be a challenge in that many if not most of the commercially prepared and marketed versions (of bulk chorizo, not the cured Spanish version) are incredibly greasy and contain parts of critters that you’d never ponder eating if you really knew they had been tossed in the grinder.

Speaking of grinder, hopefully you’re fresh grinding pasture-raised pork for your sausage at home; your homemade sausage game will never be the same with a grinder within easy reach.

And like most comfort foods prepared with care and attention, using the freshest ingredients, this version of chorizo is very likely nothing like you’ve tasted before and much more akin to the artisanal sausages (think Bruce Adell’s) you’ve thrown on the grill.  Even better, this one is child’s play simple, and you can tinker with spices to make you and your clan happy.

Finally, we’ve taken to adding in just a few whole cumin seeds too; they add some interesting texture much like fennel seeds in good handmade Italian sausage.

Best made a day in advance to fully develop the flavors, you can cook this crumbled, in patties, and even stuffed into casings for the grill. And oh yea, it’s a masterpiece meatza base…

2 lb fresh ground pork or turkey (mix of white and dark meat)
1 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves and small stems, chopped
2 serrano chile peppers, seeded and finely diced
1-2 tbsp red chile powder
1 tbsp sweet paprika (though smoked would work great here too)
1-2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chipotle chile powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste)
Scant 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

This is another one of those recipes that couldn’t be easier.

Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl (using your hands if you’re of the mind to) until well combined. I like to let it rest in the fridge overnight before use, and I’d suggest taking a tablespoon or two of the mixture, cooking it, and adjusting spices to your taste.

Use and store as you would any fresh sausage.

Enjoy.