Dark Birria Recipes

BIRRIA

Steps:

• Place the dried chiles into a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until chiles are softened, 15 to 20 minutes.
• Pour chile sauce mixture into a blender. Add garlic, onion slice, pepper, oregano, cumin, and cinnamon. Blend until smooth.
• Layer chopped onions in the bottom of a slow cooker. Place chuck roast over onions and add bay leaves. Pour the chile sauce on top. Cook on High until beef is tender enough to shred with a fork, about 5 hours.
• Remove beef from the sauce. Continue cooking sauce until is reduced, 35 to 45 minutes. Add beef back in and season with salt.

BIRRIA RECIPE

Steps:

• Place Anaheim and guajillo peppers in a saucepan and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and cool for 5 minutes.
• Pour chiles and water into a blender; add onion, mixed spices, and salt. Blend until sauce is smooth.
• Mix stew meat, sauce, and bay leaves in a large pot; cook over medium-low heat until meat is very tender, 3 to 5 hours.

DARK BIRRIA

Steps:

• Start by rinsing and de-stemming the tomatoes. Roast them in a 400F oven for 20-25 minutes or until you need them.
• Wipe off any dusty crevasses on the dried chiles. De-stem and de-seed the chiles, but don't worry about getting rid of every last seed. Roast them in the oven for 1-2 minutes or until warm and fragrant. Add the chile pieces to a bowl and cover them with the hottest tap water you've got. Let them reconstitute for 20 minutes or so.
• Roughly chop 1 onion and peel 6 garlic cloves. Add a glug of oil to a skillet on medium heat and saute the onions and whole garlic cloves. Once the onion has softened and lightly browned you can add this mixture to the blender.
• Add a thin layer of oil to a skillet and preheat to medium-high. Chop up the chuck roast into 1-2" chunks and give it a good salting. Sear each side of the beef in the skillet for a few minutes or until it is browning. Add the seared meat pieces to the slow cooker. You can optionally deglaze the pan with the 2 cups of stock that's used to liquefy the sauce.
• Before draining the reconstituted chiles take a taste of the soaking liquid. If it tastes bitter to you then use stock for the sauce. If you like the flavor you are welcome to use the soaking liquid in place of the stock.
• Add the drained chiles, roasted tomatoes, and the onion-garlic mixture to a blender along with: 2 cups of stock (or what you used to deglaze the meat pan), 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 teaspoons Mexican oregano, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, pinch of ground clove, 2 teaspoons salt, and some freshly cracked black pepper. Note that you may not need to add as much salt as me if using store-bought stock. Combine well.
• Cover the seared meat pieces with the sauce. Slow cook on low for 4-6 hours. Alternatively, you can simmer the beef on the stovetop, covered, for 2-3 hours or until it is fall-apart tender.
• Once cooked you can optionally skim off any fat that has risen to the surface -- this fat can be used to crisp up the tacos. It's also a good time to take a taste of the sauce and adjust it to your liking. I like having a strong hint of clove and cinnamon in this recipe so I added another pinch of each.
• Shred the beef using two forks and discard any fatty chunks that you don't want to eat. Add the shredded beef (or as much as you are using for tonight's meal) to a separate bowl and add enough sauce to give it a thorough coating. Adding the sauce to the shredded beef is the key so don't skip this step!
• If you'd like to make traditional Birria tacos, the key is to start crisping up the corn tortillas in some fat BEFORE adding the Birria. I used lard, but you could also use olive oil or even the fat that has risen to the surface of your stewing pot. Simply add a thin layer of fat to a skillet over medium heat. Once the fat is heated you can add as many tortillas as the skillet will fit, giving them a minute or so to start crisping up. Then add Birria and cheese to each tortilla, fold them half, and crisp up each side of the tacos until brown spots are forming on the tortillas.
• Serve the tacos immediately with your choice of fixings. I added raw onion and freshly chopped cilantro to the insides of the tacos, and served them next to plenty of the Birria sauce for additional dipping and drizzling. And don't forget a final squeeze of lime!
• Store leftover Birria in an airtight container in the fridge where it will keep for a few days.

AUTHENTIC MEXICAN BIRRIA RECIPE

Steps:

• Season the meat with salt, pepper, and cumin
• Cut open the dried chiles with scissors and remove the seeds
• Fry the dried chiles with a small amount of oil in a frying pan for 2-3 minutes, moving constantly so they don't burn. Set aside
• Add the chiles from the previous step to a small pot with boiling water for about 10 minutes, or until softened.
• In the same frying pan where you fried the chiles, add 1 tablespoon of oil and cook the onions and tomatoes until they are browned. Add the garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, and all of the remaining spices except for the ground cumin and ginger. Continue cooking for about 5 minutes, moving it around often.
• Add the chiles (including the water), the ingredients from the previous step, and the ginger, cumin, apple cider vinegar and water to a blender and blend until smooth. It will still be pretty thick, but that is fine. Strain and set aside the resulting sauce for the next step.
• Pour the sauce over the meat in a large bowl and cover. If using the oven or stovetop methods, you will want to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight. If using the electric pressure cooker option, you can marinate it, but it isn't necessary.
• Follow the cooking instructions according to your preferred method below.
• Add the meat with the marinade to a large stockpot and cook over medium heat, covered, for about three hours, or until the meat falls off the bones and is easy to shred.
• Add the meat with the marinade to a large oven-safe dish and cover with aluminum foil and cook at 350 degrees fahrenheit for 2 hours or until the meat is easy to shred.
• Add the meat with the marinade (or just the meat and the marinade separately if you chose not to marinate it) to the pot of the electric pressure cooker.
• Follow instructions for your electric pressure cooker to bring it to high pressure and cook for 45 minutes. Release pressure naturally for 5 minutes and then use the quick pressure release option to release the rest of the pressure. Remove the lid per instructions and the meat will be tender and ready to shred.
• Remove the meat and shred it. You can then serve it over the soup made from the sauce that the meat cooked in or you can serve it with tortillas as tacos with cilantro, lime, onions, and salsa.

BIRRIA

Steps:

• The meat: Trim most of the fat from the meat (it is strong tasting); if it is a goat hindquarter, cut into 2 pieces with a cleaver, severing it through the joint at the top of the leg. Place in a large noncorrosive dish.
• The chile marinade: Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Tear the chiles into flat pieces and toast them a few at a time, pressing them against the hot surface with a metal spatula until they crackle and blister, then flipping them over and pressing them again. Cover with boiling water, weight with a plate to keep them submerged and soak 30 minutes. Roast the garlic on the hot griddle or skillet, turning frequently, until soft inside and blackened outside, about 15 minutes. Cool and peel.
• Drain the chiles and place in a blender jar with garlic, 1/4 teaspoon clove, 2 teaspoons lightly toasted sesame seeds and vinegar. Pulverize the cumin and peppercorns in a mortar or spice grinder, and add to the blender along with the salt and 3/4 cup water. Blend until smooth, then strain through a medium-mesh sieve. Remove 1/2 cup, stir in the sugar, cover and set aside for the final glazing. Spread the rest of the chile paste over the meat, cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 18 hours).
• Slow-steaming: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Set a roasting rack into a deep, wide kettle, a roasting pan with a rack or a stockpot. If it doesn=t sit at least 1-inch above the bottom of the pot, prop it up on custard cups, tin cans or the like. Measure in 4 cups of water, then lay the marinated meat on the rack and spread any remaining marinade over it.
• Add water to the masa (or masa harina mixture) to make a soft dough. Roll tennis ball-size pieces between your palms to make 3/4-inch ropes, then press them gently all around the top edge of your pot. Set the lid in place and press it into the masa to seal. Bake for 4 hours.
• Finishing the broth: Break the seal by tapping the hardened masa with the back of a cleaver or mallet, and take off the lid; then carefully remove the tender meat. Take out the rack, spoon the fat off the broth, then measure it. You need at least 1 quart, if necessary, add water to bring it to that level. Pour the broth into a small saucepan. Puree the tomato in a blender or food processor, add it to the broth along with the oregano, cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Season with salt.
• Glazing and serving the birria: Shortly before serving, remove the bones, large pieces of gristle and excess fat from the meat, keeping the pieces of meat as large as possible. Set the meat on a baking sheet, brush lightly with the reserved chile paste glaze, then bake for 10 minutes to set the glaze.
• Either present the meat on a large platter and pass the warm broth separately, or slice the meat across the grain and serve it in deep plates, awash in the broth. Mix the onion and fresh coriander, and pass it with the lime at the table.
• Suggested Drink: Triple Distilled Perfidia Plata Tequila Sol Beer Sangrita

MEXICAN STEW: BIRRIA

Steps:

• On hot griddle toast the ancho and gaujillo chile and submerge in hot water. Let chiles sit for 20 minutes. Remove from water and puree in blender with a cup of warm water. Set aside.
• In a deep Dutch oven, add the beef and ribs, water, onion, and garlic cloves. Bring to boil and cook for 1 hour. At this point add the bay leaves, thyme, chile puree, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper simmer for 30 minutes. To make sauce, puree the garlic, vinegar, and chile powder in a blender.
• Serve the stew in a big bowl with a sprinkle of onion and cilantro and a squeeze of lime on top. Serve with corn tortillas and some of the sauce on the side, as well.