From dtwright@texas.net.nospam Fri Mar 5 15:41:02 1999 Date: Fri, 26 Feb 1999 18:00:08 GMT From: David Wright Newsgroups: alt.food.mexican-cooking Subject: Tamales con chorizo I'll post just the filling for these tamales from Toluca, west of Mexico City. This is from _A Cook's Tour of Mexico_ by Nancy Zaslavsky. This looks like a recipe for "picadillo sausage," which is why I like the looks of it. It's not at all like the fat-with-spices chorizo I can get locally. 4 ancho chiles 1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds 4 garlic cloves 1, one-inch canela* stick, or 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground Mexican oregano 2 tablespoons sweet paprika 1/4 teaspoon powdered cloves 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup cider vinegar 1 pound lean pork loin or leg meat 6 ounces pork fat 1/4 cup toasted and chopped blanched almonds or pine nts 1/4 cup raisins, chopped Stem, skeed and taost the chiles, opening them out flat and pressing them down with a metal spatula until they change color. Crumble them into a blender container or processor. Toast the coriander seeds and garlic cloves (the seeds take only seconds). Put into the blender and blend. Add the canela, oregano, paprika, cloves, and salt. Add the vinegar and puree until smooth. Coarsely chop the pork and pork fat together. Put the meat into a mixing bowl and add the spice mixture. Add the chopped nuts and raisins and blend everything with your hands. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for three days, stirring each day. *true Ceylon cinnamon, or Mexican soft cinnamon. Different from, and milder than, the harder stick variety in the U.S. (from the book's glossary) David