Warm Chorizo and Cabbage Salad

I was at the laundromat with Justin when I came up with this idea.  I'm not sure where it came from... I knew we had a pound of chorizo in the freezer and I think I was just trying to come up with some sort of "different" salad idea.

It came out really tasty!  I'd describe it as a Mexican-style mushu... or a warm slaw?  One of Justin's coworkers had gifted us with a huge zucchini, so I just scooped that out (I actually sauteed the scooped zucchini filling with my onion and poblano), rubbed some olive oil on the inside and outside, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked in a preheated 425 oven for about 17 minutes, until tender.  Then stuffed it with the chorizo and cabbage salad.  Very good!  But the next day, I just ate it in a bowl by itself like a salad.

I don't think we've used any Good Riddance with our recipes yet - "There's No 'I' In Team".  -jen

WARM CHORIZO AND CABBAGE SALAD
Time:  about 30 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:   about 8 cups

• 1/2 pound chorizo sausage (the meaty kind, not the melty kind)
• 3/4 cup onion, julienned
• 1/2 cup poblano pepper, julienned
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 cup white wine
• 3/4 cup Restaurant Style Salsa
• 3 cups cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
• 8oz (half a 14oz can) corn, drained
• 8oz (half a 14oz can) garbanzo beans, drained
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 cup green onion, diced
• salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, brown chorizo until cooked through.  Remove with a slotted spoon, place in a large bowl and set aside.  Using 2 tablespoons of the sausage grease, saute onion, poblano and oregano until softened and onion is translucent.  Remove with slotted spoon and set aside in same bowl as sausage.

Delicious brown bits!

While pan is still hot, add white wine and salsa, scraping up the browned bits from the pan.  Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5-7 minutes, until reduced to half.  Add cabbage, carrots, corn and beans, stirring to coat with sauce.  Cook for just a few minutes so that cabbage is still crunchy and not cooked all the way through.  Toss with cilantro and green onion.  Add a little salt and pepper if necessary.

Can be served as just a salad.  Can be put into zucchini boats (I halved my large zucchini, scooped it out, salt, pepper and olive oil on inside and baked for 15-20 minutes at 425 on a greased cookie sheet until tender), then stuffed with cabbage salad.  Could be rolled into a burrito, served as a taco, rolled in an egg roll wrapper and fried.  Served with rice or pasta.  Whatever!

Chorizo and Jalapeño Deviled Eggs

These Chorizo and Jalapeño Deviled Eggs came out so freaking good!  Generally, I'm not even a hard boiled egg fan, but I really wanted to dye eggs during the Giant Purple Bunny holiday, and since I don't have kids I can use an excuse, I had to use cooking as my excuse.  We'd had a lot of Mexican food on the menu, so I was in that mindset and I really thought that chorizo and jalapeño deviled eggs was a completely original idea... but it wasn't.  I see there are other recipes out there.  However, I didn't even look at them because I didn't want my idea to be tainted by what they did!  (Mmm, tainted eggs.)  And in the end, these eggs were fantastic!!!  I just ate a leftover one this morning while typing up this recipe and they're one of those foods that's even better the next day.

I'd just like to note that I had to go to four different stores on Easter Sunday in order to find an egg dying kit.  Either the people were there at 7:00am to wipe out the store for candy, or the stores had already wiped out their own holiday displays to make way for summer barbecue crap!  We put some time, energy and gasoline into these eggs, man!

I heard the holiday was about dead people rising, so Strung Out's "Exhumation of Virginia Madison" seemed to fit the bill for tunes!  -jen

CHORIZO AND JALAPEÑO DEVILED EGGS
Time:  20-25 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  12 deviled eggs

• 6 hard boiled eggs (see how-to below)
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon sour cream (optional)
• 1 teaspoon yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon lime juice
• 1/4 cup cooked Spanish-style (chunky) chorizo, minced
• 2 tablespoons green onion, minced
• 2 tablespoons pickled jalapeños, minced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

Peel eggs and slice in half length-wise.  Gently scoop out the yolks and place into a small bowl.  Use a fork to break apart the cooked yolks and mash them.  Add mayonnaise, sour cream, yellow mustard and lime juice - mix until smooth and combined.  Stir in chorizo, green onion, jalapeño, and cilantro.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  (Some chorizo is more salty than others, that's why you have to taste it before you add salt!)

Evenly distribute the filling back into the egg whites using a spoon or piping bag.  (I just used a quart-size zip bag like a piping bag, cutting off the corner.)  Serve immediately or keep refrigerated.

How to Hard Boil Eggs:
Place eggs in single layer in a sauce pan or stock pot.  Cover with 1" of cold water.  Bring to a boil.  Then cover and remove from heat and set aside for 8 minutes.  Drain and cool in very cold water/ice water.  Hard boiled eggs can last for a week refrigerated if their peel is left on. 

Poppers Part I: Creamy Chorizo Poppers & Pepperoni with Mozzarella Poppers

A couple of days ago, I was messaging online with my older brother Chris, and he was telling me how he was going to make homemade jalapeño poppers on the grill whilst camping.  We started throwing a ton of ideas back and forth and it just made me crave poppers!  Since we're trying to eat a little more low-carb (but still make some good grub), we thought these would be great to incorporate into the weekly menu.  I took the list that my brother and I had come up with, wrote them all down, then Justin and I added some more ideas.  So we're on a popper kick and thought they'd be fun to share as we made them.

They were way good.  Surprisingly cheap, fast, and easy... three very awesome things to find all at once in a good food!  I highly recommend using gloves while you hollow out the jalapeños.  Sometimes I like to think I'm tough and don't need gloves, and then I take my contacts out with my oil-coated fingers.  When I go to put them back on my eyeballs the next morning, I end up looking like a stoned Popeye as my sockets burst into flames and have muscle seizures.  So gloves are good, that's all I'm sayin'.

Listening to a little Youth Brigade performing "Violence"  Warning - stage diving runs rampant.  -jen

CREAMY CHORIZO POPPERS
Time: 15 minutes prep, 15-20 minutes cook time
Difficulty: Super Mega Kinka Easy (but dangerous without gloves, ooooh danger!)
Makes:  30 poppers 

• 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup shredded Monterrey Jack or sharp Cheddar (I used a smokehouse onion cheddar!)
• 5 ounces chorizo (Mexican sausage) 
• 15 large jalapeños
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil.

In a medium bowl, combine softened cream cheese and shredded cheese.

In a small skillet, over medium-high heat, cook chorizo for about 5 minutes, or until done.  Using a slotted spoon so that the grease drains from it, transfer chorizo into cream cheese mix and combine.

Slice jalapeños in half length-wise to make "boats" and remove membrane and seeds.  Fill with  creamy chorizo mixture just until it reaches the edges.  Do not mound.  Place onto greased baking sheet.


In a small dish, toss the panko in the melted butter until evenly coated.  Sprinkle a generous layer over the tops of the peppers.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until panko is golden brown on top.

PEPPERONI WITH MOZZARELLA POPPERS
Time:  12 minutes prep, 15-20 minutes cook time
Difficulty:  Still Super Mega Kinka Easy
Makes:  30 poppers

• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 15 large jalapeños
• 1/4 cup finely diced pepperoni

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or olive oil.

Toss Italian seasoning with shredded mozzarella.  Slice jalapeños in half length-wise to make "boats" and remove membrane and seeds.  Sprinkle half of the pepperoni into the jalapeño halves.  Grab about 2 tablespoons of the cheese and form into a quenelle (like a long football-shape) with your palm and the quenelles should sit right in the jalapeño boat on top of the pepperoni.  Sprinkle the remaining pepperoni across the tops.  Place on greased baking sheet.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and peppers are cooked.