Chorizo Tradicional

If you don't know about chorizo, you need to. It is a spicy fresh Mexican sausage, unlike the dried Spanish chorizo or similar sausages from other Latin cultures. A great chorizo, without fillers, cereal added or made from strange animal parts can sometimes be tough to find. Solution? Make it yourself!

INGREDIENTS
4 ancho chiles
4 New Mexico chiles
1 3/4 lb pork butt, 20-30% fat, fine ground
1/2 cup onion, minced
3 T white vinegar
10 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 t cumin seeds, toasted and ground
3 t dried Mexican oregano
2 t salt
2 t fresh ground black pepper
1 t ground coriander
1 pinch of canela

METHOD
Turn on your oven and set it to 300 degrees. Discard the stems and most of the seeds from the peppers.

Put the pepper pods on a baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes. Watch them so they don't blacken. Put all the softened chiles in a blender, and spin 'em until they are evenly ground.

In a large bowl, mix together the chiles with all of the other ingredients, then mix well into the meat. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least a day. You can use it as it is, or stuff it into casings. It'll be good for about a week in the fridge, or a long time if sealed well frozen.

Here's a quick shot of the test sample being cooked for taste-testing: