Sausage Ranchera
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- mgwerks
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Sausage Ranchera
Here’s a little piece of Tex-Mex cooking I haven’t seen or heard of outside South Texas. I adapted it from
an old Mexican cook that worked in the cafeteria kitchen at my place of employment. He was a little vague
on some things, but after much experimentation I think this is about a perfect copy of the dish. He tasted
it and thought it was great – that makes it good enough for me! It's a great option to regular old breakfast
tacos, but is good anytime. It is served especially at our New Year's Day cowboy breakfasts.
INGREDIENTS:
2 lb. smoked pork sausage, cut into 3/8” medallions, halved
1 T real lard or highly filtered bacon grease
1 lg. white onion (or 2 medium), cut into 2” strips
1 lg. green bell pepper, cut into 2” strips
1 lg. red bell pepper, cut into 2” strips
3 lg. Hatch chiles, , cut into 2” strips
1 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes, chopped
3 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 T tomato paste
SPICES:
2 T round chili powder
1 T round black pepper, coarse-ground
1 T round paprika
1 T round cumin
1 T round garlic powder
½ t level cayenne pepper
METHOD:
Place lard into a large skillet and melt over medium heat. Add cut-up sausage, stirring often and frying
until sausage develops a crust (some blackening is okay!).
Add onions and cook until translucent.
Add next 6 ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally until softened.
Add spices, stirring to incorporate. Mix in some water (about 8 oz or so) and reduce to a low simmer.
Cover and simmer (without boiling) for 2 hrs. This is really necessary to incorporate flavors and remove
the acidity of the tomatoes. Remove cover and cook to desired consistency. You don’t want it too liquid,
as it is served in tortillas and you don’t want it running down your arm!
I like to serve it with salt and more pepper, chopped white onion and cilantro, and maybe a dash of lime
juice. Feel free to adjust heat factors, but try it this way first as a baseline.
an old Mexican cook that worked in the cafeteria kitchen at my place of employment. He was a little vague
on some things, but after much experimentation I think this is about a perfect copy of the dish. He tasted
it and thought it was great – that makes it good enough for me! It's a great option to regular old breakfast
tacos, but is good anytime. It is served especially at our New Year's Day cowboy breakfasts.
INGREDIENTS:
2 lb. smoked pork sausage, cut into 3/8” medallions, halved
1 T real lard or highly filtered bacon grease
1 lg. white onion (or 2 medium), cut into 2” strips
1 lg. green bell pepper, cut into 2” strips
1 lg. red bell pepper, cut into 2” strips
3 lg. Hatch chiles, , cut into 2” strips
1 14.5 oz. can stewed tomatoes, chopped
3 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 T tomato paste
SPICES:
2 T round chili powder
1 T round black pepper, coarse-ground
1 T round paprika
1 T round cumin
1 T round garlic powder
½ t level cayenne pepper
METHOD:
Place lard into a large skillet and melt over medium heat. Add cut-up sausage, stirring often and frying
until sausage develops a crust (some blackening is okay!).
Add onions and cook until translucent.
Add next 6 ingredients and cook, stirring occasionally until softened.
Add spices, stirring to incorporate. Mix in some water (about 8 oz or so) and reduce to a low simmer.
Cover and simmer (without boiling) for 2 hrs. This is really necessary to incorporate flavors and remove
the acidity of the tomatoes. Remove cover and cook to desired consistency. You don’t want it too liquid,
as it is served in tortillas and you don’t want it running down your arm!
I like to serve it with salt and more pepper, chopped white onion and cilantro, and maybe a dash of lime
juice. Feel free to adjust heat factors, but try it this way first as a baseline.
Last edited by mgwerks on Sat Dec 19, 2009 12:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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That will certainly be on my list of "soon to do" meals. That sounds really good. Looks like I may have next Saturdays meals taken care of. Thanks for posting that!
Jack
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Thanks for all the kind words.
Yes, about 2 small cans of whole peeled Hatch chiles would work just fine. You could even use jarred roasted red peppers if you like.
Yes, about 2 small cans of whole peeled Hatch chiles would work just fine. You could even use jarred roasted red peppers if you like.
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The Armada:
22.5" WSM
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42"x24" & 36"x16" stick burners
1966 CharBroil charcoal grill
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The Armada:
22.5" WSM
MES 30" shorty
42"x24" & 36"x16" stick burners
1966 CharBroil charcoal grill
Weber 18 1/2" Silver
Sam's 32-inch Stainless gas grill (it was free!)
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I am looking forward to your review of the dish. Nothing wrong with tweaking a recipe to make it the way you like!
My favorite way to eat it is on a nice warm flour tortilla - to which I add a dash of salt, a LOT of black pepper, a dash of garlic powder, and either chopped onions and fresh cilantro or pico de gallo (recipe on my blog). Two of those make a great breakfast to start the day.
I don't add those seasonings during the cook so each diner can do it their way. However you have it, enjoy!
My favorite way to eat it is on a nice warm flour tortilla - to which I add a dash of salt, a LOT of black pepper, a dash of garlic powder, and either chopped onions and fresh cilantro or pico de gallo (recipe on my blog). Two of those make a great breakfast to start the day.
I don't add those seasonings during the cook so each diner can do it their way. However you have it, enjoy!
Visit my Cooking Blog.
The Armada:
22.5" WSM
MES 30" shorty
42"x24" & 36"x16" stick burners
1966 CharBroil charcoal grill
Weber 18 1/2" Silver
Sam's 32-inch Stainless gas grill (it was free!)
The Armada:
22.5" WSM
MES 30" shorty
42"x24" & 36"x16" stick burners
1966 CharBroil charcoal grill
Weber 18 1/2" Silver
Sam's 32-inch Stainless gas grill (it was free!)
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Like a said earlier, made up a half batch. Did drift off course a little in that I subbed chipotle for the cayanne. At the end of the simmer thought it tasted a little flat so I added some Kosher salt, maybe a tsp. The Mrs suggested that we put a can of corn in, which we did. It added a little crunch.
Heat level approached the Mrs's upper limit. I thought it had a bite but it didn't bring a sweat to the forehead. We served it with shredded cheddar on top, rice on the bottom with tortia chips and a flour tortia on the side.
The Mrs must have liked it, cause she broke out the fancy china bowls.
First time I've ever had this, so I don't have a point of reference to "judge" it. That said, the recipe has been added to our 3 ring binder of recipes.
A half batch made about 4 servings, so a full batch would be good to serve when there is a bunch of folks to feed.
Heat level approached the Mrs's upper limit. I thought it had a bite but it didn't bring a sweat to the forehead. We served it with shredded cheddar on top, rice on the bottom with tortia chips and a flour tortia on the side.
The Mrs must have liked it, cause she broke out the fancy china bowls.
First time I've ever had this, so I don't have a point of reference to "judge" it. That said, the recipe has been added to our 3 ring binder of recipes.
A half batch made about 4 servings, so a full batch would be good to serve when there is a bunch of folks to feed.
Deputy Dave
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."-Bruce Lee
“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."-Bruce Lee
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