cooking with chorizo?

all_smilz

hey i have a cured chorizo from gubbeen meats in west cork (gift), i am not a fan of such meats usually and heard you can cook it but its not Raw so would i be making a meal of things if i cubed it and cooked it to say, put in a warm pasta salad dish or a soup topping?

JIZZLORD

cube it up and use away. i've used chorizo in quiches and in a sauce for fish

foodaholic

its more than okay to cook with already cooked chorizo.
here is a few recipes ( I love the stew myself)

Chickpea, sweet potato and chorizo stew
Few knobs butter
3-4 sweet potatoes, sliced into 2cm thick pieces
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and pepper
Splash olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1-2 chorizo sausage, roughly chopped
Good squeeze tomato puree 1 tin chopped tomatoes
Pinch sugar
2 tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed
100g baby spinach
Handful coriander
Feeds four. Heat the butter in a large frying pan. Fry the sweet potatoes on each side until starting to caramelise. Add about 500ml water and the honey. Season well and cook over a medium heat until the potatoes are starting to get tender (about 20 minutes). You may have to add more water if it cooks off too quickly, but when they're done, most of the water should be cooked off. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the olive oil and fry the onion along with the cumin and coriander seed for a few minutes. Add the chorizo and let it cook and start to brown at the edges for a good five minutes. Add the tomato purée, tinned tomatoes, the sugar and the chickpeas. Cook out for another 5-10 minutes, then add the spinach and stir so that the spinach wilts. Add the sweet potatoes and any juices left in the pan, carefully mix so that the potatoes don't break up. Serve in bowls along with good bread and fresh coriander leaves.


Cauliflower soup with chorizo
Ingredients
2 heads Cauliflower
50g Butter
600ml Milk
600ml chicken stock
1 spicy chorizo sausage, firm, cooked
1 handful flat-leaf parsley

Method

1. Break the cauliflower florets apart and gently fry the cauliflower in a large saucepan with some melted butter until cooked through.

2. Heat the stock and milk and add both to the cauliflower – bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of minutes.

3. Blend the soup with either a stick blender in the pan or by ladling the soup into a blender.

4. Dice the chorizo and gently fry in a hot pan until crisp then add the chopped parsley and stir fry for a few seconds.

5. Pour the soup into bowls, sprinkle chorizo/parsley mix on top and drizzle over some oil from the pan.

all_smilz

thanks keep em coming! i actually detest cauliflower so i dont think i'd like the soup.... but the stew i just might try.... em any hints on how best to prep dried chickpeas? i just have a jar here of them.... i know you soak em but what about cooking?

foodaholic

sorry the soaking thing is too much hassel for me I alway buy tinned ones.
But I think you soak them over night and boil till tender, then I would add to the stew as the recipes suggest

all_smilz

foodaholic wrote: »

sorry the soaking thing is too much hassel for me I alway buy tinned ones.
But I think you soak them over night and boil till tender, then I would add to the stew as the recipes suggest

cheer*s*izo

foodaholic

very cheezy but good

Thumpette

I loooooove Chorizo. My favorite thing to do with it is to make a pasta sauce- rich and delish....

1 medium red onion ( I like it chopped into chunky enough slices)
1 red pepper (diced fairly small)
3 birdseye chillis (I like it spicey so alter this according to taste)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped or grated)
1 bendy yoke of Chorizo (Dunnes actually do a nice own brand one now for €2 which is really tastey) ( I like to chop this into different sized bits for texture- some really thin slices, other little cubes, some chunky bits- whatever you fancy)
4-5 sun dried tomatoes (optional)
1 large glass red wine
1 tin tomatoes (or if im feeling bad some lloyd grossman tomato and chilli sauce)
12 or so cherry tomatoes

I start by frying off the chorizo with a tiny bit of olive oiluntil it starts releasing some of its oil.
I then add the onions, chillis, garlic, peppers and sun dried tomatoes and cook off until they are softened
Throw in the glass of wine and leave for 5 mins or so until the wine had reduced to a syrupy consistancy
When the wine is reduced add the tinned tomatoes or sauce
Turn down and allow to simmer for 5 mins or so
Add the cherry tomatoes whole and allow to cook for another 5 mins
Season with black pepper (usually salty enough)

I serve with Penne pasta and a good sprinkle of parmasan, and some garlic bread if i feel like it.

Yom Yom....

rubadub

Lovely stuff. I dry fry it so all the oil falls out, then I cook other stuff in the spicy oil.

Any tips on cutting it up? I was thinking of stripping the outside layer off and going at it with a potato peeler.

olaola

rubadub wrote: »

Lovely stuff. I dry fry it so all the oil falls out, then I cook other stuff in the spicy oil.

Any tips on cutting it up? I was thinking of stripping the outside layer off and going at it with a potato peeler.

I dry fry it too - works a charm. I usually just chop it and I don't remove the skin. Are you buying it raw or cooked?

the beer revolu

The gubbeen chirizo is fantastic.
I think it's the best of their salami type products - their venison saliami is good too - in fact all their salami is good most of the time.

For eating straight, I like to let it hang for a week or two to dry out a bit more - gorgeous and chewy with an amazing subtle smoky flavour.

Why not cook with half of it and keep the other half for snacking on.

It's really good, sliced thinly, in a tortilla (Spanish omelette).

Gubbeen also do a fresh version but it works out very expensive.

rubadub

olaola wrote: »

I dry fry it too - works a charm. I usually just chop it and I don't remove the skin. Are you buying it raw or cooked?

I thought all chorizo would be the same, i.e. just cured and ready to eat.

I see now there is raw stuff
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorizo

Chorizo can be a fresh sausage, in which case it must be cooked, but in Europe it is more frequently a fermented cured smoked sausage, in which case it is usually sliced and eaten without cooking

I presume all mine is cooked since it has a distant use by date, and the fact that I have been eating it "raw" and am still alive

I get both types, the sausage and the ready sliced. It is the sausage I am thinking of stripping the skin and using the peeler. I have used a scissors to cut up the ready sliced discs before.

It is high in fat & calories, but a little goes a long way.

This places sells kits & seasoning, I would love to have a go.
http://www.sausagemaking.org/acatalog/Cures.html

all_smilz

the beer revolu wrote: »

The gubbeen chirizo is fantastic.
I think it's the best of their salami type products - their venison saliami is good too - in fact all their salami is good most of the time.

For eating straight, I like to let it hang for a week or two to dry out a bit more - gorgeous and chewy with an amazing subtle smoky flavour.

Why not cook with half of it and keep the other half for snacking on.

It's really good, sliced thinly, in a tortilla (Spanish omelette).

Gubbeen also do a fresh version but it works out very expensive.

its cooked i was told. I get LOADS of gubbeen stuff as my dads partner works for them. Their sausages are incredible and their bacon and eggs and cheese biscuits....
as for just snacking on it i am not a HUGE fan of that kind of sausage/meaty stuff... i ate a lot of it in spain recently simply cos it was going around but i dont care for the chewiness so i wanted to cook it.... in an omelette might be good or definitely in pasta....
it occured to me maybe to add it in to a mediteranean style risotto.... with lots of basil and tomatoes and garlic and vino.... i am sure i'll use it up some how....

Thanks folks....

Auvers

Another lovely way to eat Chorizo is cover it well in tinfoil and then throw it next to the embers in a BBQ and leave it there for 15-20 mins and then eat

hhhhhmmmmmm

all_smilz

Auvers wrote: »

Another lovely way to eat Chorizo is cover it well in tinfoil and then throw it next to the embers in a BBQ and leave it there for 15-20 mins and then eat

hhhhhmmmmmm

who's a clever trever auver?

glaston

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXD1sW2pOME

the beer revolu

all_smilz wrote: »

its cooked i was told. I get LOADS of gubbeen stuff as my dads partner works for them. Their sausages are incredible and their bacon and eggs and cheese biscuits....
as for just snacking on it i am not a HUGE fan of that kind of sausage/meaty stuff... i ate a lot of it in spain recently simply cos it was going around but i dont care for the chewiness so i wanted to cook it.... in an omelette might be good or definitely in pasta....
it occured to me maybe to add it in to a mediteranean style risotto.... with lots of basil and tomatoes and garlic and vino.... i am sure i'll use it up some how....

Thanks folks....

Oh yeah, a chirizo,pea and mint risotto is great.
Use chicken stock and ad the mint at the very end with the juice of a lemon.
Sounds strange but it's REALLY tasty.

3House

hugh's Chilli Con Carne (serves 8-10)
1kg coarsely minced beef
500g shoulder of pork (cut into 1cm cubes) [or pork chops] 250g spicy chorizo (cut into 1cm cubes) 2x400g tins kidney beans or 500g dried kidney beans (soaked overnight) 4tablesp olive oil
2 large onions
1 to 5 fresh green chillies de-seeded and finely chopped 2tablesp malt, wine or cider vinegar 2teasp dark brown sugar 2x400g tins of plum tomatoes (ideally made into hugh's tomato sauce) 250ml (approx) beef or pork stock and/or cooking liquid from beans
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
0.5 teasp dried oregano or marjoram
1 to 5 tablesp chilli powder [or substitute some Tabasco for the chilli total] salt pepper
If using dried kidney beans, drain and rinse them after soaking and put them in large pan of fresh water, bring to boil and boil vigorously for 10 minutes, then simmer gently for up to 2 hours until completely tender.
Reserve some of the cooking liquid, especially if you don't have any stock.
Heat about half the oil in a large frying pan and brown all the meat in batches, then transfer to a large casserole or stockpot.
Add the rest of the oil to the frying pan and sweat the onions, on a slightly lower heat, until soft and translucent.
Add onions to the meat, along with all the other ingredients except the beans (and salt/pepper).
Bring to the boil and simmer gently, stirring regularly and adding a little extra stock/water[/beer] if it looks dry.
Cook for at least 1 hour, maybe 1.5, until the pork is tender and the sauce is nicely amalgamated.
Add the beans for the last 20 minutes or so and adjust the spiciness and seasoning towards the end of cooking
Serve with tortillas/tacos/rice, guacamole and soured cream. Or, of course, with buttered baked potatoes.
[Or with chips+mayo+chilli+cheese & beer.]

Carawaystick

I was in a bar in Sevilla, I got Chorizo al diablo as a media racion.

About 3 inch long pieces on a metal skewer over a clay dish, they then poured some spirit in the dish and lit it, the fat rendered and juices flowed for a minute or so til the flames went out and you have ready made sauce to mop up also.

iMax

Chopped with scrambled eggs - that'll wake your tastebuds !

CJhaughey

This is a good recipe for Chorizo

rubadub

CJhaughey wrote: »

This is a good recipe for Chorizo

Has anybody got a good recipe for the actual chorizo itself? doesn't have to be authentic with curing etc, I would like just a blend of spices to use on pork steak or chops, or mix in with sausage meat for BBQ chorizo burgers.

CJhaughey

Chorizo
A highly seasoned, coarsely ground pork sausage flavored with garlic, chili powder and other spices. It's widely used in both Mexican and Spanish cookery. Mexican chorizo is made with fresh pork, while the Spanish version uses smoked pork. The casing should be removed and the sausage crumbled before cooking. Chorizo makes a tasty addition to many dishes including casseroles, soups, stews and enchiladas.
· 20 Sausage casings (pork casings for authentic links)
· Vinegar
· 2 lb. lean pork trimmings
· 8 oz beef or pork fat
· 2 medium onions, quartered
· 8 cloves garlic, pressed
· 1/2 cup cider vinegar
· 1/4 cup Tequila (optional)
· 1/4 cup ground red chile I think this is either Pimenton Dulce(sweet) agridulce(bittersweet) or Picante (hot)
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
· 1 teaspoon ground Mexican oregano
· 1 tablespoon salt
Clean the casings, rinse well with water, and then pour vinegar through them. Set aside.
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, and chile to taste.
First cut the casings into 3-ft lengths and tie one end.
Stuff each length of casing, tying 4-inch intervals with heavy thread.
Place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and refrigerate.
After a day, freeze what you will not use within a week or two.
You should allow the flavors in the meat to develop for at least 8 hours before using.

rubadub

I looked on wikipedia and it seems it is the spanish one I am used to.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chorizo#Spanish_chorizo

CJhaughey wrote: »

1/4 cup ground red chile I think this is either Pimenton Dulce(sweet) agridulce(bittersweet) or Picante (hot)

This pimenton is a smoked type of paprika, it sounded a bit much for chilli powder, I never knew paprika was dried bell peppers. I love peppers and never thought chorizo tasted like them.

In Spain, pimentón or sweet Spanish paprika, is a key ingredient of several sausage products, such as chorizo or sobrasada. It is also used as condiment in several Spanish stews. Unlike Hungarian paprika, pimentón is not spicy hot.

Minder

A quick mid week meal, quite robust - shred some savoy cabbage, chop some chorizo and open a can of cannellini beans. Stir fry the meat, add the cabbage and cook it until it wilts, before adding the beans. Warm through.

the beer revolu

Minder wrote: »

A quick mid week meal, quite robust - shred some savoy cabbage, chop some chorizo and open a can of cannellini beans. Stir fry the meat, add the cabbage and cook it until it wilts, before adding the beans. Warm through.

Mmmm that does sound good!

Keith in cork

seems as its gubeen from west cork why not, Steamed mussels in a fennel and chorizo broth?

1 medium onion roughly chopped, same amount of fresh fennel.
heat a deep pot, sweat onion, fennel and diced chorizo.

throw in the cleaned mussels.
cover. As they open give them a shake. keep the heat on full whack.
when half the mussels are open, add a glass of dry white wine. and 3 whole black peppercorns.
a cup of chopped tomatoes,
And a good handful of chopped fresh mint.

Heap them high in the serving bowl, pour the broth over from the top and let them sit in the juices.
Into the middle of the table, beers out, match on, sorted!



Bay leafs a good idea too but i don't bother, as their not cooking long, so wasted bay leaf imo.

the beer revolu

Keith in cork wrote: »

seems as its gubeen from west cork why not, Steamed mussels in a fennel and chorizo broth?

1 medium onion roughly chopped, same amount of fresh fennel.
heat a deep pot, sweat onion, fennel and diced chorizo.

throw in the cleaned mussels.
cover. As they open give them a shake. keep the heat on full whack.
when half the mussels are open, add a glass of dry white wine. and 3 whole black peppercorns.
a cup of chopped tomatoes,
And a good handful of chopped fresh mint.

Heap them high in the serving bowl, pour the broth over from the top and let them sit in the juices.
Into the middle of the table, beers out, match on, sorted!



Bay leafs a good idea too but i don't bother, as their not cooking long, so wasted bay leaf imo.

YUMMMMMMM:P

all_smilz

i am thinking of making a risotto with chorizo tomorrow and am wondering about adding in some feta cheese but should i make it melt in with the risotto in the last few mins OR add the chunks at the pre serving stage?

the beer revolu

all_smilz wrote: »

i am thinking of making a risotto with chorizo tomorrow and am wondering about adding in some feta cheese but should i make it melt in with the risotto in the last few mins OR add the chunks at the pre serving stage?

I'd highly recommend the Chorizo, pea and mint risotto I mentioned earlier.
It's surprisingly good:)

all_smilz

the beer revolu wrote: »

I'd highly recommend the Chorizo, pea and mint risotto I mentioned earlier.
It's surprisingly good:)

yeah im gonna try to do a variation of that, the mint kind of puts me off tbh... i dont use it in my cooking much and the smell of mint sauce makes me ILL.... i do put it in juices or a bottle of water....