Chorizo Eggs

Back when I worked at a Mexican restaurant in the mid-90s, I learned that I really like chorizo sausage and eggs cooked up together. The chorizo is so sassy and I just love what it does for the common scrambled egg. There was just one itsy-bitsy little problem... the stuff was always so greasy that, without fail, the end result was a wicked case of heartburn. It didn't matter which Mexican restaurant I went to; every time I would end up in misery for hours afterwards. It got to the point where the misery just wasn't worth the enjoyment.

I guess because it happened regardless of the restaurant I went to, I came to work under the assumption that the greasiness was just a part of chorizo. So, to be honest, I'm not really sure what came over me when I was at the grocery store last weekend. Perhaps it was that I hadn't had a ripping good case of heartburn for a while and was feeling nostalgic, but I decided I would try some home-cooked chorizo and eggs. While I can't say that it wasn't completely grease free (it is sausage, after all), it was nothing like what I experienced at all those restaurants. And after? Nothing! I enjoyed my breakfast and then continued on my merry way. And it was so easy and delicious. What a great change of pace from bacon, sausage, or corned beef hash (our three staple breakfast meats). This is definitely getting added to the rotation!

This was the sausage that I purchased. For my husband and me, I used one of the sausages and froze the other for later. To be honest, I think that this is a great breakfast meat; maybe because it is so flavorful, it goes a long way and makes you believe you've had more meat than you have (not a bad thing when you're married to a carnivore like my husband). Please note that the chorizo is not pre-cooked.

The other thing about this chorizo is that the casing needs to be removed. As far as I know (but I'm certainly not a chorizo expert!!), chorizo is usually used as a loose sausage. Simply heat up a skillet, remove the sausage from the casing and it throw in the pan. Let it get mostly cooked and add your scrambled eggs. For the 7.5 ounces of sausage, I used four large eggs and the proportions seemed to be perfect.

Serve immediately for the best flavor and texture. I served it with home fries for breakfast, but it's also really good as a main dish with rice and refried beans. Oh, and in case you've never had chorizo and are worried, in my experience it isn't spicy hot - and I have a very low tolerance for that kind of heat - it just has a darn good, peppy flavor!