October 1, 2012
I guess I need to apologize for not updating this blog sooner, but we have been away for the last 2 weeks on an Epic Baltic Adventure! I promise, I am working on compiling the interesting bits into a blog post for your viewing pleasure.
The weather is starting to turn cool, and more people are scolding me on the street for not wearing a scarf. The leaves on the trees are still hanging on, and still mostly green. In Munich, the leaves were beginning to turn gold and red, and I feel like I've almost returned to summer up here on the sea.
The brisk fall air made me yearn for some good home cooked Southern food. Something like....chili and cornbread. Yeah. That will do the trick.
We like to experiment with our chili recipe depending on where we live, and in DC, it depended on what the meat guys had at the market every Saturday. Sometimes it was ground pork, Mexican chorizo, beef, lamb, or even tempeh when there was nothing else. Here in Gdansk, we live in the Land of Pork. There are tons of types of sausage (kiełbasa) but none that are as perfect as the Mexican chorizo. You can find the cured Spanish style chorizo in restaurants, but we prefer the fresh Mexican for most things.
I went to the butcher and told her that I wanted to make kiełbasa at home. She did not blink an eye, and gave me a kilo of pork pieces that she assured me was in "perfect ratio of lean to fat." These ladies are awesome, and their small farm provides the beef, pork and chicken at their little stand in the Halla Targowa.
Doug took it from here. He made a perfect ground sausage mixture with our KitchenAid mixer attachment and fresh ground spices. We brought a bunch of bulk spices and dried chilies from the States, since we like to make our own Indian, Asian and Latin American style spice mixes. An old coffee grinder fits the bill when dealing with things like whole coriander.
Doug's Oxacan-style Chorizo
Ingredients and Method
Get some pork. Your butcher ladies know how to give you just the right amount of fat and lean. Trust them.
- We did not use any casings. We just ground it up and put it into Ziploc bags for freezing in 1-pound portions.
- If your meat is not in little chunks from the butcher, cut it up and put it in the fridge. The meat needs to be nice and cold before you put it through your grinder.
Check out my ramblings about the delicious Southern cornbread that makes this meal complete on my other blog, the Lowcountry Local Foodie - Cornbread
Replace the meat in your favorite chili recipe with this oxacan-style chorizo, and you will have an entirely different dish! Some might say, significantly improved!
Smacznego!
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