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I promised on Facebook I would bring you a homemade chorizo recipe, did I not? Surely, I can't be the only one out there with a freezer of pork shoulders, a meat grinder, and a mission to eat chorizo. Right? Hello?

Anyone?

Ah yes, I see at least one of you in the back raising your hand. See! I'm not alone in the world after all.

We've been enjoying this year's pork harvest thoroughly and in many forms. Bacon. Proscuitto. Rillet. Killer pork tacos (as featured in The Family Table!). And of course, sausage. Chorizo is sausage. Spanish sausage. Mexican sausage? "Red" sausage? I can't recall. There are as many variations of it as there are stars in the sky. So at least, like, five or six.

But this is mine. An adaptation of half a dozen recipes that I've tried over the last few years. If you don't have pork shoulders to grind up, you can substitute in plain sausage meat. This is simply ground pork that has additional ground fat added. To create that luxurious sausage texture, the mixture needs to be at least 30% fat. But truthfully, ground pork will do in a pinch. Use what you've got!

For those of us that raise pigs for meat, grinding the shoulder is a great way to enjoy it! Shoulders tend to be tough... it's a part of the animal that gets worked a lot. Muscles that get worked a lot are more tough but also a lot more flavorful. Hence the grinding. Hence the sausage. Hence the deliciousness.

Homemade Chorizo Recipe

You will need:

- 3 pounds ground pork, at least 30% fat (aka: sausage meat)

- 1 large onion

- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

- 1 tablespoon cumin

- 1 tablespoon coriander

- 2 bay leaves

- 5 cloves

- 2 allspice berries

- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano

- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley

- 1 teaspoon salt

- 1 dried chili (or 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes)

- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika

- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika

- 5 cloves garlic

- Red wine

1. Put the ground pork in a large bowl. Set aside. Ignore the pork. Let the pork be.

2. Combine the onion, vinegar, cumin, coriander, bay leaves, cloves, all spice berries, cinnamon, oregano, parsley, salt, chili, pepper, paprikas, and garlic together in a food processor or high powered blender.

Balsamic vinegar in chorizo - say what?!

Lots of ingredients, but not a lot of time. Thank you, beautiful Vitamix, for making my life easier once again.

3. Blend the ingredients until smooth, adding red wine as necessary to ensure it all gets blended well together. I just add the wine through the hole at the top of the blender until there's enough liquid in the mixture to really make it 'blend'...

It should look like this when it's all said and done. Not the most aesthetically pleasing of dishes... yet...

4. Combine the sauce and pork. Like so:

When one is combining pork and sauce "like so" it's absolutely essential to take a picture of one's hand getting all-up-in-that-biznass. It's also essential to pose the hand as freaky-deaky as possible, ya know. Just to make one feel good about themselves.

Like a gigantic white claw going in for a bite.

5. Oh, by the way, that's it! You've now made chorizo. All that's left is to fry it up. I do this on high heat because I love it when the chorizo gets little crispy, browned bits. That's my kryptonite right there.

6. Chorizo, like an sausage, can be enjoyed a zillion different ways. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Eggs, soups, salads, casseroles. You name it.

Here. I'll name it. Chorizo and Greens Skillet Bake:

Homemade Chorizo! Ya baby! | The Elliott Homestead

Throw in a few small potatoes to cook alongside the chorizo, toss in some greens and radishes right before serving. And that's it. Culinary salvation in a skillet.

Homemade Chorizo Recipe | The Elliott Homestead (.com)

Victory! Homemade chorizo, y'all.

And Amen.