Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Some ideas...

I almost forgot that my aunt asked me for suggestions on what to do with chorizo, until I spotted this at the store the other day.

Spanish chorizo named Texas, made in California, and purchased and consumed in Washington...photo by Kristin
This is chorizo that's not in a casing, so it's nice to cook up and use a sprinkling of it to flavor things. I used a little this past weekend for our "eggs and toast". That's what we call "should i make something here" as opposed to going out for brunch. I started with really just an ounce or so of the chorizo and saved the rest in the freezer. I may have been a little more heavy handed with it, but we had plans for a 4th of July BBQ that I knew would be a lot of food, so I used the sausage as more of a flavoring. Anyway, I cooked the sausage through and removed it from the pan to some paper towels. With what was left in the pan, I sauteed some chopped onion and, to up the veggie quotient a little, two hand fulls of coleslaw mix(cabbage x2 and carrots). You could use bell peppers or leftover potatoes(roasted, mashed...) or really any veggie, or none at all. I then added 6 eggs whisked with a little half and half, salt and pepper and the cooked chorizo. At this point you can make a scramble by stirring everything around until the eggs are cooked through, or you can make more of a fritatta and let it set up and finish off the top under the broiler for a few minutes until cooked through. I garnished it with cheddar cheese rather than put it in the scramble/fritatta. That way, using just a little looks like more to have it all melty on top.(Again, trying to keep it a little lighter here). Cilantro, sour cream, and salsa all would be good garnishes too.

Chorizo egg scramble with corn tortillas...photo by Kristin
With a side of warm corn tortillas, this would be great for brunch or dinner.

I looked in a few of my cookbooks for other recipes for my aunt and the common thread was potatoes. Mix chorizo in mashed potatoes, top a baked potato with it, make a hash with chorizo and hash browns and top it with an egg. Use an apple corer to hollow out new potatoes, stuff the tunnel with chorizo and roast them in the oven. All of these would work with chorizo in the casing as well. Just dice it up!

2 comments:

Janice La Verne said...

i was surprised to read on the label that there were no preservatives in the chorizo.

it looks sooooo good.

uuummmm. that is my main comment.

Janice La Verne said...

could you make a meatloaf with chorizo?