Not pictured: Instant Ramen, Annie's Easy Mac, string cheese, peanut butter.
Living with my parents, the food in the kitchen was routinely used and restocked, something I took for granted. This week, I opened my mini-fridge to peer at the Brie and chorizo, then closed it to gaze at the wheatberries and French lentils sitting prettily on my shelf. As silly as it sounds, it was only then that I had the epiphany that I can’t just let this food sit around and leisurely cook it when I please. Duh – it expires. I find myself now in an utter cooking frenzy, and hanging near my desk is a sticky note with a list of groceries I need to use and dishes I want to make:
- grilled cheese à la Stella! with Brie and dark chocolate on brioche
- curried wheatberries with feta and raisins
- braised lentils with winter greens or pancetta
- pumpkin spice cake with cinnamon crème fraîche
- LOTS OF OMELETS! (Brie/spinach/mushroom, chorizo/goat cheese/peppers…)
- Spanish tortilla – I need, I need, I need
- praline bacon chocolate chip cookies
- cornbread
- risotto
But I still desperately need ideas as to what do with with my chorizo! My mind is reeling with ideas but I want to really maximize the potential of this sublime stuff. Chorizo scrambled eggs, for example, sound yummy but feel like a cop-out. Paella came up as a possibility, but I’ve got zero background in that area and I don’t know how successfully I could pull off my maiden attempt with the very basic cookware I’ve got. Please, send me your ideas! I’ll blog about my creation and if I use your idea, worry not, you’ll get all due credit. Just help me out of this rut!
if you can steam stuff, you could try making dumplings (or maybe gyoza?) with a mixture of minced pork and chorizo? layered sliced chorizo with baked potato skin and something else? a braised stew given Keller treatment (like ratatouille –> confit byaldi)?
looking forward to see what you come up with
Is the chorizo raw or dry? I would probably just make yummy tacos if it’s raw.
I think the grilled cheese at Stella! uses a triple creme like St. Andre or Pierre Robert rather than a brie. At least, that’s how it’s been the times I’ve had it.
UL, you’re absolutely right about Stella!’s grilled cheese; they use a triple-creme Brie whose name escapes me. Not Brillat-Savarin, but… Hrm. The name is on the tip of my tongue. In any case, as long as I don’t have a triple-cream, I still might experiment with just a plain Brie, and maybe make a few tweaks to compensate for the less buttery flavor.
Are you sure it’s not Brillat-Savarin? Now that you mention it that sounds correct. It’s definitely one of those cakey, sort of moderately chalky at the center triple cremes rather than a smoother Brie.
But I think it would be fine with a relatively mild, non-mushroomy or garlicky Brie.
I definitely know it’s not Brillat-Savarin because that’s my personal favorite triple-creme and I remember noting that it wasn’t that one. I will do some further investigation and report back.
The lightbulb just went off. It’s Delice de Bourgogne. So glad I finally figured it out; it was driving me crazy not to remember the name.
Oh yeah it totally is. Good call. One of my faves, so versatile and a real crowd pleaser.
You could probably swing a paella without too many problems. I’ve made similar dishes in the past before I knew what it was actually called. Trying using this recipe as a template for food order and cooking times:
http://www.spain-recipes.com/paella-clams-ham-chorizo.html
Obviously put in whatever meats and veggies you have. I’ve always thought of paella as the precursor to jambalaya, so add/remove whatever you have/don’t have. Just make sure you have a suitable pan — something nice and wide that retains heat fairly well.
Thanks for the suggestion. I’ve always thought the same about paella. Sadly, I really don’t have a suitable pan to make it at this point; I was able to convince my family to buy me a full set of cookware, but it’s VERY basic cookware since I think they were a bit hesitant to believe I’d be cooking as much as I am here at college. I’ll definitely give it a shot when I’m home, though…!
Meatloaf with the chorizo in the center
This is a little late, but you could make a chorizo hash. Sub out the corned beef with chorizo and modify seasonings to your likings, it is a local NE favorite!
My Eta (my friend’s very spanish grandmother that i have adopted) makes an amaaazing tortilla. She uses some secret yellow onions that she won’t tell us where to get that are incredible. Oh my god, we used to take it to the beach, pull it out of the cooler and cry with happiness. I’m going to have to get her recipe and tell you how it turns out!