* Garlic Puree - peel 8 whole heads of garlic by smashing the cloves with the side of a wide knife; the peel will slip off easily then. Put the peeled garlic in a blender with about 2 cups of water, and puree. Drain, if necessary, and store in a tightly closed glass jar in the refrigerator.

** See Salsa De Chile Colorado recipe

This recipe is from my husband Ray's mother, Maria Flores. We adapted it for the restaurant. Although she had a perfectly fine kitchen, Dona Flores had Ray's dad build for her a wood stove in a back room where she would be content turning out not only chorizo, but tamales, and tortillas so large and fine they would drape the entire length of her arm.

Chorizo is usually not stuffed into sausage casings, but is used like ground beef. We like to saute it and then scramble eggs into it and roll the mixture in flour tortillas for breakfast burritos.

Combine ground meat, wine and vinegar thoroughly. Add salt, oregano and garlic puree. Add ground red chile gradually, kneading it in with our hands. Gradually knead in the chile paste. Place in large ceramic bowl, cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight. Drain any liquid. Use in a day or two, or divide into individual portions and freeze.