Tom's Homemade Chorizo Poppers

Categories: Peppers, Appetizers
Yield: 1 Recipe

----------------------------------CHORIZO----------------------------------
1 lb Turkey sausage
1 ts Coriander seed
Salt
1 tb Paprika
1 tb Garlic; finely chopped
1/4 ts Black pepper; freshly ground
1/4 ts Dried habanero pepper; or
-3/4 ts Cayenne
1/4 ts Cumin
1 ts Oregano
1/8 ts Ground cloves
1 tb Red wine vinegar

----------------------------------POPPERS----------------------------------
1 cn 26 oz pickled whole
-jalapenos
8 oz Fat free cream cheese
3 tb Low-fat Mayonnaise

Chorizo: Put sausage in mixing bowl. Heat coriander seeds in small skillet
until lightly toasted. Grind them in a mortar or spice mill. Add all
ingredients to meat. Blend well with hands.

To test seasoning, flatten a small bit of mixture and fry until cooked
through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.

NOTES : This is excellent mixed with scrambled eggs.
Poppers: Bring the cream cheese to room temperature.

Fry and drain the chorizo. Take extra effort to crumble the sausage as
much as possible while cooking.

Slice the jalapenos in half lengthways being careful to cut through the
stem so that each half retains part of the stem to use as a handle later.
Remove the seeds (I use a tomato seeder for this).

Mix the chorizo, cream cheese and mayo. Stuff one jalapeno with as much
filling as you can get in it. Eat this popper and reflect on the heat.
Note, if using smoked habanero flakes, the heat is a little delayed, so
give it a few seconds. If not enough heat, add some more pepper flakes or
cayenne.

When satisfied with the heat, stuff the remaining poppers and arrange on
serving plate. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate a few hours or
overnight.

Great stuff.

An original recipe from Tom Greaves. The store bought chorizo is usually
too high in fat and doesn't retain the texture as this homemade recipe. The
chorizo recipe ideas came from a blend of several recipes and the popper
content I remembered from some TV show.

Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST by tgreaves@primeco.com on Feb 3, 1999

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