Chorizo soup

Ingredients:

• Dried spices: oregano, cumin, sweet and smoked paprika, chili powder

• Garlic and cilantro

• 2 yellow onions

• 2 lb ground pork

• 2 x 7 oz cans chopped green chiles

• Dried ancho and guajillo chiles

• 8 oz of pepperjack cheese

• Chicken stock

• Yellow cornmeal

Mise en place:

1. Use a can opener.

2. Dice onions, garlic, and cilantro. Keep separately.

3. Remove stems and seeds from dried chiles. Steep in hot water (1), then blend into a paste with a food processor.

4. Mix dry spices with chili paste with pork sausage to create homemade chorizo (2).

5. Grate cheese (not pictured because I forgot about it).

Steps:

1. In a large pot, sauté onions in oil until translucent. Throw in garlic and cook til fragrant.

2. Toss in chorizo and cook til browned.

3. Add cornmeal and cook until the chorizo grease is absorbed.

4. Add green chiles and cook until no liquid remains.

5. Add chicken broth and get it to a simmer. Cook until the soup loses ~20% of its volume, which is where it meets my desired consistency.

6. Let cool a bit, then serve with chopped cilantro and cheese.

Cheese not 100% necessary, but I like it.

Soup thickness is up to you.

Preface

This is a soup my Nanita (grandmother) would make when I would visit during the winter. I thought it was a recipe passed down from her mother, but no. It was taken from some food magazine a long time ago. This is a photocopy of the recipe with her notes making adjustments.

Photocopied in November '94

Footnotes:

1. Rehydrating chiles.

2. Homemade chorizo. They use ground guajillo and ancho chile powders, but I prefer the whole chiles.