Recipe - Chorizo (Mexican Sausage)

20 Sausage casings (pork
casings for authentic
links)
Vinegar
2 pound Lean pork trimmings
8 ounce Beef OR pork fat
2 md Onions, quartered
8 Cloves garlic, pressed
One half cup Cider vinegar
One fourth cup Tequila (optional)
One fourth cup Ground red chile, mild OR
hot
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 One half teaspoon Ground comino
1 teaspoon Ground Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon Salt

..I [=Jane Butel] have generally made bulk sausage, as it is much easier.
Sausage has to be taken out of the casing for most uses anyway.

1. Clean the casings, rinse well with water, then pour vinegar through
them. Set aside.

2. Use a food processor or the coarse blade of a meat grinder, grind the
meat and fat. Add the onions, garlic, vinegar, tequila and seasonings,
using the hotness of chile powder your family and guests will prefer.

3. Stuff the casings. First cut the casings into 3ft lengths and tie one
end together. Use either a funnel or filling tube to fill the lengths. Tie
at about 4inch intervals with heavy thread.

4. Place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Set on the counter for
about 2 hours, then refrigerate.

5. After a day, freeze what you will not use within a week or two. Mixture
should ripen for at least 8 hours before using.

Notes: If you have no food processor or grinder, buy triple ground pork.
Prepare the recipe once and taste for the mildness or hotness of the ground
red chile. Adjust to suit your taste for the next time you make sausage.

Freezing hints: Mold the sausage into 1/2pound lumps and freeze between
pieces of foil inside a heavy plastic bag.

Maximum recommended freezer storage: 3 months.

Makes 20 sausages or 2 2/3 pounds bulk sausage.

From: JANE BUTEL'S TEXMEX COOKBOOK by Jane Butel, Harmony Books, New
York. 1980. ISBN 0517539861 Shared by: Karin Brewer, Cooking Echo, 7/93

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini