QUESATACOS DE BIRRIA RECIPES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350º F. In a large, heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven, over medium heat add guajillo, morita and pasilla chiles. Toast the chiles for 1 to 2 minutes, moving frequently to ensure they don’t scorch. Remove to a medium bowl and cover with enough boiling water to cover the chiles, about 3 cups. Use a small plate or bowl to completely submerge the chiles. Let sit for 20 minutes or until rehydrated and pliable. Remove the chiles and reserve the liquid. While the chiles soak, season beef with salt and pepper. Increase the heat in the dutch oven to medium high and add vegetable oil. Working in batches, sear the beef thoroughly (6 to 7 minutes per side for the brisket/roast, 4 to 5 minutes for the bone-in parts). Remove seared beef to a plate or cutting board. In a blender add the dehydrated chiles, garlic, cloves, cinnamon stick, oregano, cumin seeds, tomatoes, vinegar and 1 ½ cups of the chile liquid. Blend for about a minute or until the mixture becomes a pourable paste. Return the beef to the Dutch oven over medium heat and add the quartered onion and bay leaves. Add the chile paste and enough water to just cover the beef (for us this was 3 to 4 cups of water). Bring the birria to a simmer. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat, cover and move it to the preheated oven. Braise the birria for 4 to 4 ½ hours or until all of the beef is fork tender. Discard the bay leaves and onion and move the beef to a cutting board. Reserve all of the broth (or consomé). Shred the beef and set aside. Taste the consomé and season with salt and pepper. Depending on your preference of the style of birria you want, you may want a thinner consomé. If you want to thin it out, add your desired amount of water, chicken or beef stock. Bring to a simmer and taste/season again. Birria can be stored in the fridge, in airtight containers, meat and consomé separated, for up to 5 days. In a saucepan, over medium low heat, bring the consomé to a bare simmer (there should be a layer of dark red looking fat/oil on the top). Construct a taco station that includes: the consomé simmering on one burner, a cast-iron pan or plancha heated over medium heat, a plate of shredded beef from the birria, and corn tortillas to the side, as well as small bowls filled with shredded Oaxaca cheese, cilantro and chopped onions. Working in batches, take about ? cup of beef and add to the pan or plancha and begin to reheat and sear the beef, tossing occasionally to ensure even browning. Take one corn tortilla and dip it shallowly into the consomé, coating both sides with the dark red fat. Place the tortilla on the pan or plancha and cover with Oaxaca cheese. Fry the tortilla for 3 minutes or until the cheese has mostly melted and the underside has browned and started to crisp. Place the now seared meat on one half of the tortilla and top with cilantro and white onion. Fold the tortilla into a taco, sear each side for an additional 30 seconds and remove. Repeat this process until you have run out of beef. Serve the tacos topped with cilantro and onion, with lime wedges on the side, and small bowls of consomé for dipping.

Steps:

• Prepare & Soak the Dried Chiles. With a pair of kitchen scissors, snip the chiles in half and remove the seeds. Then snip off the stem. Repeat with all the remaining chiles you've selected. Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and then take it off the heat, add the chiles to the pan and soak the dried peppers for about 5 minutes.
• Prepare the meat. While you wait for the peppers to soak, trim up any excess fat and add the chicken to a 6-Qt Stockpot or Dutch Oven. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaves and set the pan aside.
• Make the Adobo Sauce. Into a blender, add all the adobo ingredients plus the softened chilis with liquid. Do not worry about any residual seeds. Blend until smooth, about 40 seconds. Intermittent pulsing helps blend the ingredients up smoothly. Straining this step with a fine-mesh sieve (strainer) is optional. For a true consomé, strain. If you do not mind a thicker sauce, add the adobo to the chicken as is. I left mine as is. I have a Ninja Blender, so the sauce was very smooth like tomato sauce.
• Simmer. After you've added the adobo sauce to the chicken, set it over medium heat and bring it to a low boil. It will just begin to bubble and splatter along the outside edge. Cover and reduce to a simmer over low heat. Simmer for about 40 minutes or until the chicken is tender and the internal temperature reaches 165° F.
• Cool & Shred. Once the meat is cooked through, remove it from the heat and set aside. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl and allow it to cool. Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred it with your hands, or two forks. Remove any excess fat and discard. At this point, you can return the meat to the pan and toss to coat or add the meat to the bottom of a bowl and add sauce. Top with optional garnishes and serve with warm corn tortilla shells.
• Prepare Birria Tacos. Bringing the meal one step further, make the birria de pollo (Chicken Birria stew) into a taco by first warming a corn tortilla on both sides in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat. This will give the tortilla some structure to hold the sauce without tearing. Next, dip the tortilla in the consomé and place it back into the hot pan. Allow it to cook for about 30 seconds to one minute before flipping to the second side. On one-half, fill the shell with meat, fresh onions, cilantro, pico de gallo con nopalitos, and diced jalapenos or your other favorite toppings. Fold the empty half of the shell over the filled side. Flip the shell and cook the other half for a few seconds before transferring to a serving plate. If preparing many at a time, place on a rimmed baking sheet and keep warm in a 175 °F oven until ready to serve.
• Prepare Birria Quesatacos. Prepare the same as above in step 6, except add a thick layer of cheese to half of the shell before adding the other ingredients.