Home-made Chorizo, Potatoes, Onion & Cilantro. Dinner in a Cast Iron Skillet!

 

Home-made Chorizo, potatoes, onion, cooked in a cast iron skillet.

 

If you like lots of flavor in your food, this home-made chorizo is a dish that will fill that desire. Something a little spicy, something really good and tasty.

 

Make the chorizo, freeze the patties and you can have something good to eat all the time. You can use it as I've shown here with Yukon gold potatoes and sweet onions, or with peppers and onions on a sandwich bun, in pasta sauce instead of meat balls, in tacos instead of ground beef and even in chile relleno. The ideas are endless.

 

See below for the finished recipe with the potatoes.

 

 

Chorizo

(original recipe for the chorizo from the late Ronald Johnson, The American Table)

 

1 pound ground lean pork

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons chili powder

A pinch each of ground cloves,

ground cinnamon, dried oregano,

dried thyme, ground cumin, freshly ground

pepper, ground ginger, nutmeg and coriander seeds

1 bay leaf

4 cloves garlic, minced to a paste

2 tablespoons vinegar

 

Place the pork in a bowl. Put all spices from the salt to the bay leaf into a blender, and whirl till the coriander seeds and bay leaf are powdered. Add to the pork along with the garlic and vinegar, mix well, and refrigerate for a day or more. (This can be made, divided, in 1/4 to 1/2 cup batches and frozen for future uses.)

 

When ready to cook, make patties. Heat a heavy or cast iron skillet to medium high heat. Add a small amount of fat to the skillet. Add the chorizo patties and cook until done. Drain the chorizo on paper towels. Remove any extra fat from the skillet, or if you want to add to the flavor, leave it in there. Don't wash the skillet but set it aside to reheat when the potatoes are ready. 

Cut the amount of potatoes and onions that you would like to use into large chunks, and place them in a bowl. Coat them with olive oil, good squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper and a dash of sweet paprika.(This is the time to add your favorite herb, like thyme, oregano or rosemary. If adding basil or cilantro, do it after the dish is finished). Then put the potatoes and onions on a baking pan, in a preheated 400 degree oven, and roast until tender. 

 

When the potatoes are cooked through, place the cooked potatoes, and onions into the heated iron skillet where the chorizo was cooked. Crumble as many patties as you would like into the potatoes, letting some of the drippings from the pan mix in with the vegetables. When ready, remove from the heat and add fresh cilantro leaves to the mixture. Serve with a  fresh salad and your favorite bread.