Yes to the craze of birria served in a multitude of ways. This recipe is a cross between a quesadilla and a birria. Traditional birria is served in a bowl with its seasoned juices that it’s been slowly cooking in for hours. Birria is a traditional dish reigning from Jalisco- where it claims the crown for having the best- hence their soccer team mascot being ‘las chivas’. If you don’t know by now birria is made with goat, but you can use beef- or mix both. Another note, this recipe may be a bit too much for a small family. You can divide it in half or thirds. You can add all of the chiles that I mention, or you can add your own favorite. There’s no wrong way only your way!
Ingredients:
5-7 lbs of goat meat- ribs, shank, loin, or if you prefer beef- chuck and leg shank would be great too.
15 chiles guajillo
2-3 chiles poblano
3-4 chiles mulatos
4 chiles morita
4 or more chiles de árbol (these are spicy)
2 chiles chipotle (dried not in the can)
10 cloves of garlic
Half a white onion
1 inch of Ceylon(Mexican) cinnamon stick
6 cloves
10 peppercorns
8 all spice peppercorns
1 Tbs Achiote paste
1 Tbs ground cumin
1 1/2 Tbs of oregano
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
4 Tbs salt
5 bayleaves
2-3 sprigs of epazote (optional)
For the consomé:
2 quarts of chicken or beef stock
6 roma tomatoes and half an onion, boiled and puréed
The rendered juices from from cooked goat
Salt if needed
For the Quesabirrias:
Tortillas
Shredded Oaxacan, Asadero or Monterrey cheese
Rendered Birria Fat
Toppings:
Chopped red onion
Cilantro
Radish
Limes
Place goat in a large roasting pan- or two. You don’t want to over crowd the meat. Remove the stems and seeds from all the chiles.
For the marinade- On an oiled griddle and on medium heat, brown the chiles for about 10 seconds each side and place in a large stockpot with hot water. You may need to do in batches. After your chiles are done, brown the garlic and onion. Add those to the pot as well. Let the ingredients soak for 20 mins. Meantime in a small pan, roast the cloves, peppercorns, Cinnamon stick, and the all spice on low until you see them release an oil about 30 seconds. Add those to a blender along with salt, oregano, vinegar and achiote paste. Blend for about one minute. Using a spider or tongs add the chiles, onion and garlic to the blended spices. Add some of the liquid your were soaking the chiles in. Blend until a smooth consistency- about 2 minutes. Add more liquid if needed. Your blender should be quite full, so if you need to divide into batches you should to avoid getting scalded. Taste the marinade for salt and let cool completely. Pour about 2 cups of the chile marinade into a bowl and save for later. Add the marinade to the meat. Along with the bay leaves. Cover with foil. Let the meat marinade anywhere from to couple hours to overnight in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 300. Roast meat for about 4-5 hours or until meat is fork tender. In meantime make your favorite hot sauce. Once meat is out of oven and cool enough to handle, gently remove meat and place in a dish. What you have left over is the meat juice infused marinade topped by the rendered fat sitting on top. Scoop out all the fat and save that for the quesabirrias.
For the consomé: In a large stock pot add the 2 cups of saved marinade, the stock and the puréed onion and tomatoes. Set a mesh strainer on top of the pot (or an extra set of hands to help) and strain the meat juice. Boil the consomé. Add more stock or water if too thick and seasoning if needed.
To construct the quesabirrias
Heat a griddle to medium high. Dip just a bit of two tortillas in the oil and place on the griddle. Next to the tortillas place a small handful of the cheese to get brown and melty. Place the tortillas on top of the cheese and flip over. The melted cheese adheres to the tortilla. On top of the cheese place some shredded meat, onion, radish, cilantro and drizzle a bit of the consomé. After the bottoms of the tortilla are slightly browned place them on a plate. Serve with a bowl of consomé that’s been dressed with onions, cilantro, lime and radishes. Add lime juice and chile to the quesabirrias, fold in half, dip in the consomé and thank me later!
Comments