Pretty sure by now, you know my proclivity towards breakfast, as evidenced by these recent posts. Mornings are so alluring to me– a clean slate, fresh starts, unknown challenges.
A BIG, HOT, CUP OF COFFEE.
Once again, I fall under the spell of the savory side. Warm, spicy, comforting. Chorizo is all this and more. For me, it’s very much a familial thing because my dad would always make homemade chorizo when I was still living at the house out West. He made his more traditionally, of course, utilizing pork instead of turkey, but conceptually they are the same with a few spice similarities.
Two key ingredients in any chorizo: chili and vinegar. You have free reign to experiment with different kinds and combinations here. In this particular recipe, I use New Mexico chile powder and red wine vinegar– two ingredients commonly found in Peruvian cooking.
I tell you what: there is something extraordinary that happens when you mix chili with garlic and acid. Together they create a menage trois of aromas so enticing that it makes it incredibly difficult having to wait until the next day to taste. And yes, you have to wait. At least 24 hours so the meat and spices can flavorize each other and get drunk happy.
But that next morning when you open your fridge, you will be greeted so delightfully by the heady, pungent smell of spicy, garlicky chorizo beckoning to be fried up and scrambled with eggs, that you will forget the hardship you suffered overnight waiting.
Turkey Chorizo
Ingredients
- 2 pounds ground turkey, preferably dark meat
- 3 fat cloves garlic, pushed through garlic press
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons new mexico chile powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- olive oil, for frying
- eggs, optional
Instructions
- mix all ingredients into a large bowl with your hands. separate into two portions, and dump each one onto sheets of plastic wrap to form into logs. secure tight and stash in fridge to marinate at least 24 hours.
- grab a frying pan and drizzle in a touch of olive oil. when it shimmers, dump in one portion of turkey chorizo and crumble with wooden spoon. fry until cooked through and golden. if you’re adding eggs, crack them in now directly into the pan and scramble with chorizo until pale yellow and just barely cooked through. overcooked eggs is a tragedy and a crime– don’t commit it. eat as is, or, as my dad always served it– in between two slices of white bread.
// Other savory breakfast things:Â
