Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Fire Roasted Chorizo and Green Chile Rice Casserole

This is just a quickie - in fact, I didn't even intend to make a post about this but it was too good not to.  We have made the Chile Rellenos Rice from Tyler Florence's book, Family Table, a few times now.  Each time has been a little different but this has easily been our favorite version.


I know that I have been doing a lot of Tex-Mex dishes on here lately but I'm almost out of green chiles so I'll be getting back to more traditional grilling and BBQ.  In the mean time I have been loving eating green chiles on just about everything.  One of the best pairings for green chiles, in my opinion, is raw or Mexican chorizo.  Brown a little chorizo with some scrambled eggs and cheese, top that with a little diced green chile and you have yourself an amazing breakfast.

This casserole is super easy to make and is one of my new favorite comfort foods.  This would be good for tailgating since you could either assemble it ahead of time and then cook on the grill at the game.  Or you could cook it at home and carry it in an insulated package and it would stay warm for a good while.  It reheats well too.  You can change the colby-jack cheese out with any other cheese you like and can substitute sour cream for the crema. 

Fire Roasted Chorizo and Green Chile Rice Casserole
adapted from Chile Rellenos Rice in Tyler Florence's Family Table

Ingredients
  • 3 links Johnsonville Chorizo sausage
  • 2 cups of long grain rice, cooked according to direction
  • 12 ounces colby-jack cheese, cubed
  • 2 cups Mexican crema
  • 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • 1 cup diced fire roasted green chiles
  • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • handful of sliced black olives 
  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Instructions
  1. Set up your grill for indirect heat and preheat grill to 375°F
  2. Remove sausage from its casing, brown the sausage in a skillet, and drain.
  3. Mix all ingredients, except for the olives and bread crumbs, in a large bowl.  Spoon into a greased half steam pan or casserole dish and tightly cover with foil.
  4. Place on the grill, close, and roast for 20 minutes.
  5. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the olives and panko bread crumbs, and cook until the top is golden brown and bubbly - about another 20 minutes.
  6. Garnish with green onions and cilantro and serve. 
Just to clarify, you take 2 cups of uncooked rice and then cook it for this recipe.  You aren't using 2 cups of cooked rice.

Craycort cast iron grate BGE
I'm using a kamado grill so my indirect set up this time involves using a pizza stone and a Raiser rig from Innovations by Chance.  You could also use a plate setter.  You would set up a gas grill like this or a basic charcoal grill like this.

I love Mexican chorizo sausage and Johnsonville is my preferred brand because they only use premium cuts of pork. Mexican chorizo is raw ground pork and seasonings compared to Spanish chorizo which is a cured, hard sausage.  Always know which type a recipe calls for, big difference.

I didn't think this was all going to fit into one steam pan but Alexis was right, it fit.

I go through a shameful amount of steam pans and lids each year but at least they are recyclable.

The cheese will bubble up through the top as it cooks during the uncovered portion. One tip for getting the top brown is to get the pan as high up in your grill as possible.  This keeps it closer to the reflective heat coming down off of your grill lid.

Alexis and I both agreed that our favorite parts were the crispy edges.

It makes a lot but warms up great in the micro-nuker-thingy. 

Competition-ish Chicken
My post for the Char-Broil All Stars over at Char-Broil live this month is about taking tricks that competition cooks use and adapting them to use at home.   Hop over there to check out my Competition-ish Chicken.


On a related note, since I am one of their All Stars, I can get you a 25% discount on a Char-Broil grill through their website. It's not a "friends and family discount" so you don't have to act like you are my crazy uncle, just use the discount code C14NT4.   (Again, it has to be through their website.  If you go to a store to buy a Char-Broil grill and say, "I know Chris and C14NT4." they will probably just give you a blank stare.) 

[Standard Disclaimer] I am a member of the Char-Broil All Star team but I don't get any commission or anything. I paid full price for my Johnsonville sausages which is crazy since I have free product coupons from them that I can't ever seem to remember until I'm at the store.