Spanish Chorizo

By RoketJSquerl

Please note that the amount of salt for each of the sausage recipes is rather reduced by current sausage making standards. You can always add salt to your mixture, but if it's too salty, there's nothing you can do other than add more ground meat — usually a lot more! That's why it's always a good idea to fry up a few sample patties first, before doing all the work of filling the casings.

Spanish Chorizo can really be made only in Spain, where entire villages are devoted to its manufacture,. The product is air-cured for up to four months in special high-ceilinged rooms. Some chorizo is smoked; some is not. This recipe does not call for smoking, but because the dominant flavoring is smoked paprika, the sausage has a refined smoky flavor that does not overpower. The Aleppo pepper adds a rich red pepper overtone as well as a mild (and delayed) piquancy that slowly fills the mouth with warmth rather than assaulting the tongue and palate in the more forthright manner of jalapeños or hot chili peppers.

Grind the pork coarsely (3/8" or larger plate). You may have difficulty finding Aleppo pepper, also known as Near East pepper, ground from a sweet, sharp chile grown in the Aleppo region of Syria. One source we know is World Spice Merchants, in Seattle, Washington. Smoked paprika, from Spain, comes in three varieties: sweet, bittersweet and hot. We use the sweet (dulce) variety.

Ingredients

• 2 Lbs Ground Pork
• 1 Tbsp Coarse Salt
• 3 Clove Garlic, crushed or finely chopped: 1.5 cloves
• 1 Tsp Ground Nutmeg, scant measure
• 2 Tbsps Brown Sugar, scant measure
• 2 Tbsps Smoked Paprika, scant measure
• 1 Tbsp Aleppo Pepper, scant measure

Preparation

Step 1

Mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for 24 hours. Stuff into medium hog casings.