I cranked out two batches of spanish chorizo this weekend -- one cured and one fresh.  Here they both are after stuffing (the batch of small links are the fresh, and the group of two large and one pair are for curing):

Eager to jump at my wife's suggestion to make a batch of fabada, I took a few of the fresh links, some cured pork belly, and a big smoked hock, and made a very tasty pot of fabada (albeit lacking in the morcilla (blood sausage)).  In honor of Duncan & Elsa and Joaquin & Coro and Aitana:

And now, just out of the fermentation chamber and into the curing chamber, are the cured chorizo. I decided to inoculate them with the m-600 white mold before going into the fermentation chamber, to foster the growth of the good stuff and avoid the growth of the bad stuff.  Seems like it worked like a charm:

So far so good!  More later.....

I'm reluctant to post as I'll catch family flak from across the bay. But here goes...

The sweet italian Argentine swirl rested quietly in the freezer. Since July. Why so long? No good reason. It's November. Weather is good. Time to Q the swirl!

Jamie & family brought the white beans and chard. I busted out a v tasty brunello. What could go wrong?

Nothing. Perfectly cooked and super juicy. I'll make another swirl this week as I do another Bertolli sausage recipe. It's an awesome presentation. And easier to cook!

The evening continued late into the night with an impromptu dance party fueled by housemade Limoncello. Pretty good.

One last pic.

Just posted my latest effort over on my blog, Just Pigs. Recipe included. 

This is the second time I've made Merguez and both times I have had great success! This time I made about 3 lbs and used the Ruhlman/Polcyn recipe as a guide. I did not use lamb shoulder, but rather some pieces I had left from my last whole lamb purchase from Mel at Sierra Farms. I bought uncut lamb shoulder the last time I made merguez and it was SOOOO expensive. Not going to do that again. In any case I also prefer to use lamb fat, rather than pork fat as the recipe in the book calls for. I had enough fat from the trimmings on the pieces I used. The ratio was pretty much perfect.

I remember from my last experience that we liked the spices slightly ramped up, so I kinda of did heaping measurements of everything. I used both sweet paprika and hot paprika (a little more of the hot than sweet). We ate a few sausages right away, but I'm letting the rest sit in the fridge for a couple of days to really get the full effect of the spices.

My daughter helped me yesterday and we had a lot of fun. It's pretty great having a six-year old who likes to grind and stuff sausage.  

Just a note that over at justpigs we're going to make Longaniza this month. Join us!

For Thanksgiving this year I decided to forego the turkey, primarily because I thought I would have a whole lamb-- and lamb for thanksgiving sounded great! Alas, the lamb delivery date was moved back and I was stuck. When David said he had rabbits, I jumped! I could do something rabbit-y. As it turns out we're having 25 people so the rabbits alone would not do it--I also bought a half dozen guinea hens--but I could use them for some awesome apps and a first course.