ROJO TACOS RECIPES

Steps:

• Use a spoon to skim the red-stained fat floating on the top of the birria pot — it’s deeply seasoned and the key to crisp, delicious tacos — and put it on a plate. Pull the meat and shred it with your hands, or a fork. (The meat should be very lightly dressed in broth, but not swimming in it.)
• Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over medium. Working quickly, dip each tortilla into the birria fat on one side then flop it onto the hot pan, fat-side down. As it starts to sizzle, sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese to cover each tortilla, going all the way to the edges, then sprinkle about 1/4 cup meat over half of each tortilla.
• As the tortillas brown and the cheese starts to melt, fold each tortilla in half to cover the meat, pressing down gently. It’s OK if some cheese spills out, in fact, it’s encouraged; this leads to lacy, crispy edges. Manage the heat and flip the tacos as needed to avoid burning, cooking until crisp on both sides.
• Just before eating, lift up the taco edge and season each with a little onion, cilantro and lime juice, to taste.

Steps:

• Bring a small pot of water to a boil, while we wait for that we can deseed and devein the chiles. You can use scissors to cut open the chilies to remove the hard stems, seeds and veins. Once the water has boiled, place the deseeded chiles, the onion and garlic into the pot. Allow to simmer under low heat until the chiles have rehydrated and the onion and garlic have softened.
• Once softened, carefully place boiled ingredients into the blender, then add about half a cup of the boiling broth, or plain water. Blend until you have a smooth, thickish sauce — if needed add more of the boiling broth to help achieve the smooth consistency. Strain the sauce now or do so in the next step. Set aside.
• In a large soup pot, and over medium heat, drizzle in 2 Tablespoons of olive oil, then add the mushrooms and sauté for about 8 minutes or until soft. Next, place a colander over the pot and carefully strain the chile sauce into it. Then add 1 teaspoon of coarse sea salt and stir, then add 1 teaspoon of Mexican oregano and stir. Next we add the hominy and mix until well combined. Lastly pour in the vegetable broth and bay leaves, stir until well combined.
• Turn the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes or until the hominy is very tender. After about 30 minutes, taste the pozole to see if it can use more salt or a little more oregano — but don’t overdo it on the oregano because if there’s too much, it can turn the pozole sour.
• While we wait for the pozole to cook, we can prepare the toppings. Slice and chop the toppings you'd like to include.
• Once the pozole is ready, allow to cool slightly before serving. Top with any or all of the mentioned topping choice, or you can let everyone choose how they’d like to eat their pozole. Enjoy!