Saturday 9 January 2010

Homemade Chorizo Sausages

I adore chorizo. I even thought about writing a blog dedicated to the joys of eating it. I don’t know what I see in its smoky, spicy, sweet, fatty, salty flavour profile that makes it impossible for me to resist.

My version of chorizo is a very homemade version. I thought long and hard about whether to even call it chorizo given that it is pretty ersatz. Whilst Brindisa shouldn’t be shaking in their boots, it still tastes pretty good!

Mingle your 60/40 pork belly and shoulder mince in a bowl and season heavily with salt. Then in a frying pan sauté a finely diced onion until it softens. Then add 3 cloves of garlic and 2 dessert spoons of the best picante smoked paprika you can get your hands on. The onions and garlic will instantly turn red and the air will transform into a hellish cacophony of chilli fumes with a hint of tapas bar. One the powder has been assimilated into the onions tip it out into the pork mixture. Then pour a small glass of wine into the pan and deglaze. Add this to the pork.

Next, finely chop as many chillies as you’d like and add them to the mixture. I then added a handful of finely chopped Pepperdew peppers, but this is optional. They add a lovely red colour that lingers throughout cooking as well as a sweet note to combat the abrasive spice.

Chorizo mix

Chorizo 2

Chorizo

Add a handful of breadcrumbs and then “sausagify” them. Leave to rest overnight.

Then serve for breakfast with spicy scrambled eggs as a take on huevos rancheros. You’ll love the way the spicy red oil mingles with the eggs. It’s one of the best ways to start the day I’ve ever come across.

Charred peppers

Super close chorzo

Alternatively, they would also be great in a classic butter bean, charred pepper, chorizo and passata stew, with some crusty bread and a bottle of Malbec or Rioja as suggested by both Gareth and Fiona. Although maybe not for breakfast!

You can see from our cat’s reaction that these are special sausages!

Cat

This is part of a series of posts about experimental sausages and a potential sausage-fest

8 comments:

Kavey said...

God, I really must make some sausages soon. At least we've now tested the mincer (see my latest post).

K

The Cooking Ninja said...

Now this is something my hub will lightly make. :)

Niamh said...

Fabulous! Great series of posts Jonathan. Sausage making is on my list of food resolutions for 2010. Looking forward to sausagefest!

Helen said...

I want a sausage maker! The sausagefest is now all I can think about. Well done on having a go with the chorizo - they look amazing. Loving the guest appearance from your cat!

The Ample Cook said...

A magnificent effort - well done!

Browners said...

@Kavey - Well done with the scotch eggs. Looking forward to seeing some real sausage making!

@The Cooking Ninja - Super stuff. Let me know how it goes.

@Niamh - Thanks! Really enjoying it too. Sausage making is a great resolution! And bring on Sausage Fest.

@Helen - Sausage Fest is at the top of my "to do" list. Will draw up a plan. And yes, the cat is a very discerning sausage connoisseur.

@The Ample Cook - My thanks. More to come...

Anonymous said...

Really want to try this recipe. Don't mind winging it - but would help to know how much pork you used for mingling your "60/40 pork belly and shoulder mince". About a kilo maybe?

Cheers

K

Paunchos said...

@Anonymous - A kilo should do the trick - I guess it depends how many sausages you want to make. It's all quite an effort so I'd suggest making more rather than less.

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