“You have to live life to its full chorizo,” – Mario Batali
I’ve talked a lot about my great love affair with cheese. As a matter of fact of the three blog posts I’ve put up (excluding the one you’re currently reading) 2/3 of them have been including one, if not multiple types of cheeses. So, this week I thought I would do something a little different. In this week’s post, the cheese is, [pause for dramatic effect]….. OPTIONAL!~
Ok on a more serious note, this week the cheese is not the star of the show, nor is a main herb. This week I want to focus on a Texas staple, something so delicious and flavorful that the fast food chain that practically defines Texas added it to their menu. That’s right, I want to talk chorizo. What is chorizo? Let me pull you out from the non-Texas shaped rock that you may have been living under.
Chorizo (Cho-ree-zoe) is a deliciously seasoned ground meat, traditionally pork (but I have seen beef chorizo and chicken chorizo at my local health food stores), that comes to us from central America. You can usually buy it in the meat department prepacked like Italian Sausage. Sometimes it’s in a casing, but more times than not it’s just ground in a package with the rest of your meats. If you can buy it fresh at the meat counter, or if you can find a recipe that you like, I strongly encourage it! One of the best things about chorizo is that while the flavors tend to be the same, no two chorizo recipes are the same, so I would also encourage you to experiment, shop around and check out different brands and different recipes. If your grandma or mom makes it fresh though, email me, we may have to talk.
I have said many times that I’m a Cajun girl from Louisiana, which is true, but I moved to Texas right before I was a teenager, and have kind of moved back and forth since. When I started one of my first big cooking jobs, I worked at a popular health foods store in their deli, and we would make chorizo for breakfast tacos and breakfast casseroles. It’s not always the cheapest ingredient to buy, but it is definitely worth the price.
One of the main benefits for it in Keto is that it’s a full-fat meat, you won’t usually find chorizo to be of the lean variety, and that is special. When you’re doing Keto, or trying to eat cleaner anyway, you find that it’s all about getting the right ratio of carbs, fats, and protein. A common misconception about keto is that if you cut down on carbs you are doing it right. It’s about training your body to use fats as fuel instead of carbs, meaning if you don’t get enough fats, you’re not doing yourself any favors. That’s where the heroes come in! Full fat meats like pork, beef and dark meat chicken are a source of protein and fats, not enough to sustain your diet alone, but they definitely help.
Enough yakking though, let’s reveal this week’s recipe:
Baked Chorizo Portobello Burgers
You mean I can have a delicious, protein packed, chorizo stacked burger without the carb-loaded bread bun?! Why yes you can and so much more!! These burgers were a delicious way to celebrate the Fourth of July this week. However, if you live in an apartment complex, and it only has one good grill, and the neighbors used it all day even though it was horribly raining, like myself, then you are somewhat limited as to what you can do with these. Say it with me, my oven is my friend. My cookie sheet is good enough. Parchment paper is my life saver.
There’s a few things I would recommend with this recipe before we get into it. The first tip and trick is about your garlic. Garlic is… indescribable. In the words of the late great Anthony Bourdain, “Garlic is divine,” (I hope that wasn’t too soon). And it’s true, I have always believed garlic is one of the few of life’s pleasures that we can enjoy in so many ways. My recommendation? Stay away from the jarred crap. Fresh garlic is relatively inexpensive in most places. At my local grocery store, for example, garlic is 3/$1. Three. Heads. For. A. DOLLA? And in each head of garlic, you could get between a dozen or two cloves, depending on their size. What I like to do is peel a head of garlic, and blitz it in my food processor, and save the “minced” garlic in a container one head at a time to use when I would like, within 3-5 days of mincing it. This keeps the fresh garlic taste, something that is unrivaled in my opinion, without adding the extra time to mince it for every recipe.
While we’re on the subject, don’t waste your money on a garlic press. Another belief Anthony Bourdain had was that the goop that squeezed out of the other end of the garlic press was not garlic, and I have to say I agree. I have one, I practically begged my husband for one, and I find I prefer not to use it unless I’m in a serious rush and I’m making a marinade for steaks or something. You end up wasting a lot of garlic, if I’m honest, and it’s just not worth the $5-$10. But that’s just my opinion, feel free to come to your own conclusions. Without further ado, let’s get it!
Baked Chorizo Portobello Burgers
![](https://spoonfullive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/received_2055440607799535.jpeg?w=660)
Credit: marksdailyapple.com
Ingredients
- 1 lb Chorizo
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 2 Garlic cloves, minced
- 4 tbsp chopped cilantro (note: if you don’t like cilantro you can substitute flat leaf parsley, but I think cilantro works best with the Chorizo)
- Salt
- Pepper
- 6 Large Portobello Mushrooms, stemmed and cleaned
- (Optional) 6 slices of sliced cheese of your choice
Directions
- In a large bowl, combine Chorizo, beef, garlic, cilantro, and about a tablespoon each of salt and pepper. Preheat the oven to 375.
- Lightly salt and pepper the cleaned mushrooms and place bottom side up on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Form meat mixture into large patties and stuff them into the mushroom caps. Bake for 25 minutes or until cooked through, garnish with Cilantro.
I was really wary about this recipe at first, but the flavors just come together so well in the end. The ground beef really tones down the Chorizo flavor so it’s not too overpowering, and the cilantro adds a nice herb flavor to cool the spice. It’s simple, it’s easy and most of all it’s delicious.
Now I know some of you may be Boudé-ing because I didn’t post last week. I have a good reason though, or at least I consider it good. Honestly, last week I was pretty sick with a wicked Summer Sinus Infection, and it was gah-ross. I didn’t cook anything worth photographing and posting, and between constant sneezing, coughing, leaking, and… other things, I wasn’t really up to writing a post. I’ll try to make it up to you though, maybe by fulfilling a request… Who knows? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z…. I mean, see you next week!
Em