| Although jalapenos are very popular in Texas cooking | | | | 1/2 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano |
| these days, they are not considered a traditional | | | | 1/2 teaspoon dried cayenne pepper |
| Tex-Mex. Ancho chiles, used in this chorizo sausage | | | | 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander |
| recipe, were the original favorite chile of the state. | | | | 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon |
| Ancho peppers are usually the main ingredient in any | | | | Directions: |
| chile powder. | | | | Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Break |
| Mexican settlers flavored their sausages with chile | | | | off the stems on the chile pods and discard. Remove |
| peppers and other seasonings. German settlers in | | | | most of the seeds and discard them also. |
| Texas flavored theirs with smoke. With this chipotle | | | | Place the chile pods in a single layer on a cookie sheet. |
| chorizo recipe you get the best of both flavors. It is | | | | Roast them in the oven for about 5 minutes. Keep an |
| made with smoky chopotle chile. | | | | eye on the chile pods, as they can scorch easily. |
| Ingredients: | | | | Break each chile into fairly small pieces. Transfer them |
| 4 dried red ancho or New Mexican chiles, or both | | | | to a blender, and blend until they are ground evenly. |
| 1 1/2 pounds ground pork | | | | In a medium bowl, mix together the ground chile and all |
| 1/2 cup minced onion | | | | the other ingredients. Cover the bowl, and refrigerate |
| 1/3 cup cider vinegar | | | | for 8 to 24 hours to give the meat time to soak in the |
| 5 garlic cloves, chopped fine | | | | flavors. |
| 2 canned chipotle chiles, chopped fine | | | | You can now use the chorizo sausage as needed, by |
| 2 teaspoons adope sauce from the canned chipotle | | | | forming the meat mixture into patties and frying, or |
| chiles | | | | frying the whole amount until browned. This chorizo |
| 1 teaspoon ground cumin | | | | sausage makes a great breakfast sausage, but can |
| 1 teaspoon salt | | | | be eaten for any meal. It will keep in the refrigerator |
| 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper | | | | for at least a week. |