"Tastes Kinda Like a Chili Dog"

Good evening everyone!  The work week has finally descended on Thursday and my turn to take over the kitchen.  As I was perusing the various recipes I have dog eared in magazines and I came across this little number.  We first tabbled into chorizo last summer and it was pretty darn tasty in a soup.  Finding the "exotic food" was a breeze.  Fast forward to this week and something must have changed in the chorizo stocking options.  We went to four different stores within the Des Moines metro all but one had chorizo...and technically it wasn't really authentic.  


Hindsight, we should have just stopped at an Hispanic store to grab some, but trying to locate chorizo should have been easier than we thought.  We ended up locating a soy chorizo at Trader Joe's.  By the looks of it, I didn't know if it was going to be chopped in slices.  But would the whole "no meat" factor prove to be fatal to our recipe?

The Recipe:  Melted Cheese and Chorizo with Grilled Bread
Original Recipe Found In:  Bon Appetit, March 2011

What You'll Need:
2 1/2 Tablespoons Grapeseed Oil, or other Neutral Oil
2 Cups Chopped White Onions
1 Cup (packed) Thinly Sliced Leeks (about two small; white and pale green parts only)
1/2 Cup Dry White Wine
8 Ounces Smoked Spanish Chorizo (cut into 1/16 inch rounds)
3 Cups Coarsely Grated Petit Basque Cheese or Gruyere Cheese
Grilled Sourdough Bread Slices

Begin by heating 1 1/2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over a medium high heat.  Add onions; saute until deep golden brown, stirring often and adjusting heat as needing to prevent burning, 25-30 minutes.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  


Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in medium skillet over medium heat.  Add leaks; saute for 3-4 minutes.  Add 3/4 cup water; cover and cook until leeks are tender, stirring often and adding more water by tablespoonsful to moisten as needed, 10 to 15 minutes.  Add wine; cook uncovered until leeks are very soft, about five minutes longer.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Combine onions and leeks in a small bowl.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Pour onion-leek mixture in a large gratin dish.  Top mixture with chorizo slices and then cheese.  Bake until cheese melts and bubbles, about 15 minutes, serve with grilled bread, and enjoy!

The End Result:

I will admit, I was VERY nervous about this dish.  Not that it wouldn't turn out good, but if it would work.  Typically, chorizo is shaped like sausage, but the fact that it came out kinda looking like sloppy joes deterred me a little.  Also, having soy chorizo would run the risk of it not taking like regular chorizo. But, to my surprise, the flavors went really well together and it didn't taste too bad.  The chorizo was very, very spicy and we both only had a small bowl full.  If it wasn't for the bread, our mouths would still be on fire. In the end, the final flavor was very similar to a chili dog - it's funny how the cheese and chorizo blended to make a all around flavor similar to an american classic. If you can handle the heat - it's a good dish. 


That's all we have for you this week. Thanks for stopping by and following along at home. We're back on Monday with another 'Around The Culinary World' Until then,

~Cheers