No Way Jose on the stuffing! Half of it is going into a leg of lamb for Christmas. The rest I am going to freeze per your suggestion above. Happy Holidays and thanks for all of the advice!

Pretty close to it. If I remember correctly, my neighborhood market had only about 25 on hand. It looks and seems like a lot at first, but once you've put everything through the sieve, there isn't much left. The heat is mostly warm, almost hot, but nice. And I remember that I considered adding some poblanos from my garden, but decided not to this first time.

Are you going to stuff them?

Wow! Great advice. Love the pickle.

Betteirene - Did you use all 35 guajillos? Seems like a lot but if you did, I will give it a whirl.

Abbie - The kitchen aid grinder was a gift from my husband last year and I am finally going to use it! I was positive I was going to make all of my burgers and sausages when I got it last year but you know how that goes . . .I'll try harder in 2011. And it is never too late to ask for a christmas present. . .or just buy it for yourself. You deserve it, I'm sure! The lamb recipe is from sunday suppers at lucques. If it turns out yummy, I'll send you the recipe!

Bettereine_ I beleive charcuterie was always a man's domain in in early european times. The Americans have it wrong when it comes to cooking. All the best Chefs until late were men.

YUM on ALLA that! Melissa if you do the chorizo lamb thing I demand that you share the recipe! It sounds fabulous! I need to go see if I have the grinder thingy for my Kitchen Aid, I wonder if it's too late to ask for one for christmas?

I took a notion for migas one morning, and discovered I had no chorizo. It was Sunday, so my favorite bodega was closed. I did, however, have a huge defrosted pork butt I was preparing to roast later, so I whacked off about a pound of it, ground it in the food processor, added about 2 tbsp ancho chile powder, 2 tsp cumin, some finely minced and sauteed onion and garlic (maybe 1/2 cup onion and 3-4 cloves of garlic), and a minced chipotle in adobo, with a tablespoon of the adobo. It made a very respectable substitute!

Hurray! Another one for the ladies! It used to be women who developed all the recipes and made all the sausage, but lately, this craft has been dominated by men. Which is probably how the butt bits got into the mix--men, sausage, a piece of. . .nope, not gonna go there.

I've only made this one time, more than a year ago. I don't know why I haven't made it since because it was very good.

http://thepauperedchef.com/2008/09/fresh-mexican-c.html

I think it was because I was going to try Ruhlman's recipe from "Ratio," which I never got around to doing, which will be added to my list of resolutions for 2011. Hmmm. . .maybe I'll resolve to make all my sausage and to grind all my own burgers from now on. It sure is satisfying work to make a meal from start to finish like that.

I have an old-fashioned grinder that clamps onto a table or counter, so I don't get as fine a grind as I've seen with the KitchenAid attachment, but I like my chorizo a little chunky. I was thinking about asking for the grinder attachment, but decided to hold off because there's nothing wrong with the old one.

I stuffed Italian sausage into casings the first few times I made it, then quit doing it because 95% of the time, I take sausage out of the casing to cook. Now, I pack any sausage I've made into zipper sandwich bags in one-pound squares, freeze them flat, then put those bags into gallon-size zipper bags made for long-term freezer storage.

No matter which recipe you use, and especially if you develop one of your own, always fry up a spoonful of the sausage a few hours after you're done making it and adjust the seasoning at that time, before you use or freeze it. After making and tasting your first batch, I promise you'll be in hog heaven, melissav.

aargersi has it sooo... right!

Thanks Abbie. Here in South Florida, fresh chorizo is hard to come by. We're not as lucky as you Texans. :-) They make it at the Whole Foods by me but it just lacks oomph. . .probably missing all the butt bits.

I am wavering between making a rib roast or leg of lamb stuffed with chorizo and served with romesco (from Suzanne Goin) for Christmas. I'm leaning towards the lamb but was trying to figure out what to do for the chorizo. If I have time, I am going to try whipping up a batch.

Similar:

Ingredients:
•2 pounds finely ground pork
•4 tablespoons chile powder
•2 tablespoons paprika
•2 tablespoons dried oregano
•1 pinch ground cinnamon
•1 pinch ground cloves
•1 teaspoon ground cumin
•1 teaspoon salt

Oh my goodness - I have never made it and I try not to read the ingredients on the package - I think you get all the leftover from everything else bits, add LOTS of garlic and onion and chilis and cumin, and grind that all up and stuff it in the casing ...

here are some that call for pork butt (as opposed to lips and butt-bits - hee hee)

http://www.mexican-barbecue-recipes.com/chorizo-recipe.html#Mexican-Chorizo-Recipe