Chorizo Stew and Cornmeal Crunch

Ingredients:

• Forest Fed pork chorizo (www.forestfed.com)
• Turkey stock
• Tomatoes
• Quinoa
• Celery
• Black Eyed Peas
• Hominy
• Carrots
• Blackberries
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Cilantro
• Apple Cider
• Garlic salt
• Celery salt
• Black pepper
• Cane sugar
• Honey

• Cornmeal Crunch : http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/cornmeal-crunch-recipe.html

Procedure

    The cornmeal crunch is a recipe I got from another cooking blog, www.101cookbooks.com that I thought would go well with this stew.  The stew started with some cider and frozen turkey stock that I made a while back.  To that I added the quinoa, black eyed peas, tomatoes, blackberries, and all of the seasonings.  That simmered while I worked on the cornmeal crunch and preparing the chorizo.  The chorizo was coming out of its casings, so I just ditched the casings and browned the sausage with some celery and added that to the stew.  When the cornmeal was about half an hour from being done, I added the hominy.  Total, the stew simmered for about an hour.  Near the end, I picked out the rosemary, sage, and cilantro stalks, and skimmed off the fat that had risen to the top.

Resulting Deliciousness

    This stew was great.  The cornmeal crunch was much more flavorful that I thought it would be, and it complimented the stew perfectly.  The stew has a variety of textures and the flavors blended perfectly.  It is a nicely balanced, filling dish.  My only regret is the blackberries.  They simmered long enough to fall apart and become part of the blend, so you can't really taste them on their own, and their seeds are a distracting texture.  But, overall, a fantastic dinner!