Beef Chorizo and A Winner!

Where do I begin.

It's been one of "those" weeks. And it started when I killed my computer. I won't tell ya how.....just confessing to the crime is enough. (can you say.....I NEED A MARG!!!)

Guilty as charged.

It turned into a growing experience though. I now know how to change an internal hard drive in a MacBook and I have all the proper tools if I ever have to do it again. (please God...don't let me have to do that again). Good news....my little laptop has a new brain....bigger, faster and clean.

Which brings me to another point. Some of you may have noticed that in the "leaving comments on your blog" arena I've just about dropped off the radar. There's a reason for that. My computer would freeze constantly or my browser would flat out crash. I'd open a blog and the curser would never stop spinning. I'd walk away, do the dishes or fold a load of laundry...come back and theres the little rainbow wheel of a curser just spinning away. Sooooo frustrating. (this very well may have been the cause and affect that lead to the death of my laptop but that's all I'm saying). It would sometimes take an hour just to view 2 or 3 blog posts.

I just couldn't deal with that level of frustration.

Good news....It's no longer an issue. You will see me leaving my "mark" all over the place once again.

And boy does it feel good!

Ooook....I'm going to share a recipe with you that I got from Heather over at Girlichef.com

If I can make something from scratch that I'd normally buy at the grocery store, I'm all for it. At least once. Then I decide if it's worth it. Just so you know....this is totally worth it! And it's really easy. I think the most challenging part for some people will be finding the peppers.

Left to right: Pasilla Chiles, California Chiles, Chiles de Arbol

I'm also going to announce the winner of my $75.00 CSNstores.com Gift Certificate Giveaway. I had originally planned on making the announcement on Tuesday but with my computer issues...well, let's just say it was not possible. I apologize for being late folks. But in most instances, better late than never.

And with that said....here's Heather's Chorizo recipe with a few minor adjustments....which is what I love about this recipe. At allows for your personal touch and tastes.

Beef Chorizo (Heather's is pork but I have a child who decided she won't eat pork)
Printable Version

3 chilies de arbol
7 pasilla chiles 4 pasilla chiles and 3 California chiles (I didn't have enough pasillas so I subbed the california ones)
1/2 cup chopped onion
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 bay leaf (actually I totally forgot to add this to mine)
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried oregano (preferably Mexican oregano)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 pound ground beef, 80% lean (you need the fat...sorry folks)

Combine the chiles, onion, garlic, bay leaf and vinegar

You can combine them in a glass bowl if you'd like (not metal) but I found that the vinegar didn't do it's thing with everything cuz it was in the bottom of the bowl, so I put it all in a zip lock baggy and turned it every so often for about an hour at room temperature.

If you remembered to add the bay leaf, remove it.

If your chilies have stems

....and you didn't think about removing them before hand...now is the time. Easiest way....snip 'em off with a pair of scissors.

Place the chile mix in a blender. Process until you have rough paste. If it gets too thick to blend, just add a tablespoon of water at a time until it moves around all free and happy like.

Pour this lovely rich paste into a medium bowl

Add the salt, cumin, oregano and pepper. Stir well to combine then add in the beef. Mix well so that everything is evenly distributed. I tried doing it with a spatula, then a spoon...and said "screw it" and dug in full force with the best mixer of all.....My hands!

I got all down and dirty with the stuff. I'm not embarrassed to say that it felt good. I felt like I was in touch with my...umm....chorizo.

Now transfer this hunk of meat to an airtight container or zip lock bag and store it in the fridge for at least 12 hours before using.....allowing the meat and chilies and spices to get all close and personal and happy with each other.

And that's it. Use however you want. Whatever you're not going to use within a few days, just freeze it for later.

My next post will show you what I did with mine.

And now.....for the moment we've all been waiting for!!

The lucky WINNER for the $75.00 CSNstores.com Gift Certificate. Just in time for your holiday shopping if you so choose to do so.

Normally I write everyones name down on a piece of paper and draw a name out of the hat margarita glass. This time there were so many entries (yay!!! Thank you all for participating. This was my most successful giveaway yet!) I decided to enlist Sir Sportsalots assistance. And he didn't even know it. I walked up to him and said....pick a number.

And he did....25! His lucky number and apparently it is now Christy's (Frugality and Crunchiness with Christy) lucky number as well.

YAY!!! Congrats Christy!! I'll be contacting you (or you can contact me at peacefulcooking @gmail dot com) with the gift certificate code.

Have a fantastical day (or night...whichever applies) everyone!