Went out with a bang for Bachelor Week 2019. The last big meal I had planned was Beef Birria Tacos. These are traditionally made with goat meat. I don't have a goat, so beef it is. I recently saw an article about taco food trucks and one of the tacos featured was birria tacos de res with consomme (broth). So I decided to recreate it. This recipe is from a collection of recipes on the net. This came out pretty freakin' good! and it wasn't really all that hard to make.
Warning: Pic heavy
Beef Birria Tacos
Ingredients:
Beef chuck roast (this was 3.5lbs)
Soup bone/shank (found this reduced for sale paid $2. A cut with a bone is recommended when making the broth)
For the marinade:
6 dried Guajillo chiles
4 dried Ancho chiles
5 dried Arbol chiles
4 dried New Mexico chiles
5 whole cloves of garlic
1/2 of a white onion
3 cups of hot water
3T apple cider vinegar
1T kosher salt
3 beef bouillon cubes
15 black pepper corns
15 dried allspice berries
5 whole cloves
1t dried oregano
1/2t cumin seed
1/4t thyme
1/4t ground ginger
1/4t ground marjoram
Piece of a cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper
To finish the broth:
Water
3 garlic cloves
4 bay leaves
1/2 of white onion
5 Roma tomatoes, roasted and skins removed
1/2c. stock (beef, vegetable or chicken)
1t dried oregano
Salt to taste
First, season your meat with salt and pepper and set aside. I cut my chuck roast into thirds:
Toast your whole spices (peppercorns, cumin, allspice, cloves, cinnamon) in a pan until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove and gather remaining spices:
Here's the dried chiles being used today. Place them on a cookie sheet into a 350F oven and toast for 8 minutes turning once. Once done remove stems and de-seed:
Once dried chiles are toasted and cleaned, put in a bowl and add 3 cups of hot water and 3T of apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 10-20 minutes until chiles are soft. I threw my 1T of salt in at this point:
While chiles are soaking. Lightly fry 5 whole garlic cloves and 1/2 of a white onion roughly chopped in 1T of oil. These will be blended so no need to finely dice. Once finished, add your onions, garlic, spices and chiles along with the soaking water into a blender. Blend until smooth:
Place meat in a large bowl and add sauce to coat. Refrigerate, covered overnight:
The next day, add blended sauce and meat into a large stockpot. Add 1/2 of a white onion, 3 garlic cloves and 4 bay leaves. Add water to cover meat (I used 8 cups). Cover stockpot with a lid and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add more water if necessary. Turn down heat to low and simmer. Plan for about 3-4 hours. Simmer until meat is tender:
Once meat is tender, remove and shred when able. Pick out pieces of fat. Cover with foil and keep warm:
Remove broth from heat and strain through a colander. Return strained broth to stockpot and skim off surface fat. Meanwhile, halve 5 roma tomatoes and broil/roast/grill until skins are charred. Remove skins and blend with 1/2 cup of vegetable, beef or chicken stock: I used "Better than bouillon" Vegetable.
Add tomato mixture to broth and heat on low. Add 1t dried oregano and more salt and "better than bouillon" to taste. Taste for saltiness. I used 1/2T of salt and a spoonful of the bouillon base. Season to your desired preferences.
Assembling the Tacos.
The fixins: chopped white onion and cilantro:
Add some of the broth to a plate, and quickly dip corn tortillas into the plate to coat. Fry tortillas in a hot pain until somewhat crispy:
Fold over tortillas so they hold their shape. I did this because I will be using the broth to dip the birria tacos in:
TIME TO EAT! FINISHED PICS
Tacos were garnished with queso fresco, cilantro and onion and chile de arbol sauce, squeeze lime juice over tacos if desired. Garnish consomme(broth) with onion and cilantro. Note: This could be eaten as a soup, just add the beef.
Ah, here's the reason why I bothered to get out of bed today. Delicious!
Well, I must say what a fitting end to Bachelor Week! These were damn tasty!! I'll eat some leftovers as a soup tomorrow and then I will freeze the broth and beef to enjoy Birria Tacos at a later time...most notably when the wife returns.
I must say, it's been a pretty epic week. Thanks for looking!
Joe
It's back to the grind on Saturday. Here's the previous threads from Bachelor Week:
Hasselback Potato Gratin w/ Tuna Patties
Guajillo Shrimp Tacos w/ Chile de Arbol sauce
Smoked Cheesy Grits and Shrimp w/ next day Grit Cakes
Warning: Pic heavy
Beef Birria Tacos
Ingredients:
Beef chuck roast (this was 3.5lbs)
Soup bone/shank (found this reduced for sale paid $2. A cut with a bone is recommended when making the broth)
For the marinade:
6 dried Guajillo chiles
4 dried Ancho chiles
5 dried Arbol chiles
4 dried New Mexico chiles
5 whole cloves of garlic
1/2 of a white onion
3 cups of hot water
3T apple cider vinegar
1T kosher salt
3 beef bouillon cubes
15 black pepper corns
15 dried allspice berries
5 whole cloves
1t dried oregano
1/2t cumin seed
1/4t thyme
1/4t ground ginger
1/4t ground marjoram
Piece of a cinnamon stick
Salt and pepper
To finish the broth:
Water
3 garlic cloves
4 bay leaves
1/2 of white onion
5 Roma tomatoes, roasted and skins removed
1/2c. stock (beef, vegetable or chicken)
1t dried oregano
Salt to taste
First, season your meat with salt and pepper and set aside. I cut my chuck roast into thirds:
Toast your whole spices (peppercorns, cumin, allspice, cloves, cinnamon) in a pan until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Remove and gather remaining spices:
Here's the dried chiles being used today. Place them on a cookie sheet into a 350F oven and toast for 8 minutes turning once. Once done remove stems and de-seed:
Once dried chiles are toasted and cleaned, put in a bowl and add 3 cups of hot water and 3T of apple cider vinegar. Let sit for 10-20 minutes until chiles are soft. I threw my 1T of salt in at this point:
While chiles are soaking. Lightly fry 5 whole garlic cloves and 1/2 of a white onion roughly chopped in 1T of oil. These will be blended so no need to finely dice. Once finished, add your onions, garlic, spices and chiles along with the soaking water into a blender. Blend until smooth:
Place meat in a large bowl and add sauce to coat. Refrigerate, covered overnight:
The next day, add blended sauce and meat into a large stockpot. Add 1/2 of a white onion, 3 garlic cloves and 4 bay leaves. Add water to cover meat (I used 8 cups). Cover stockpot with a lid and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add more water if necessary. Turn down heat to low and simmer. Plan for about 3-4 hours. Simmer until meat is tender:
Once meat is tender, remove and shred when able. Pick out pieces of fat. Cover with foil and keep warm:
Remove broth from heat and strain through a colander. Return strained broth to stockpot and skim off surface fat. Meanwhile, halve 5 roma tomatoes and broil/roast/grill until skins are charred. Remove skins and blend with 1/2 cup of vegetable, beef or chicken stock: I used "Better than bouillon" Vegetable.
Add tomato mixture to broth and heat on low. Add 1t dried oregano and more salt and "better than bouillon" to taste. Taste for saltiness. I used 1/2T of salt and a spoonful of the bouillon base. Season to your desired preferences.
Assembling the Tacos.
The fixins: chopped white onion and cilantro:
Add some of the broth to a plate, and quickly dip corn tortillas into the plate to coat. Fry tortillas in a hot pain until somewhat crispy:
Fold over tortillas so they hold their shape. I did this because I will be using the broth to dip the birria tacos in:
TIME TO EAT! FINISHED PICS
Tacos were garnished with queso fresco, cilantro and onion and chile de arbol sauce, squeeze lime juice over tacos if desired. Garnish consomme(broth) with onion and cilantro. Note: This could be eaten as a soup, just add the beef.
Ah, here's the reason why I bothered to get out of bed today. Delicious!
Well, I must say what a fitting end to Bachelor Week! These were damn tasty!! I'll eat some leftovers as a soup tomorrow and then I will freeze the broth and beef to enjoy Birria Tacos at a later time...most notably when the wife returns.
I must say, it's been a pretty epic week. Thanks for looking!
Joe
It's back to the grind on Saturday. Here's the previous threads from Bachelor Week:
Hasselback Potato Gratin w/ Tuna Patties
Guajillo Shrimp Tacos w/ Chile de Arbol sauce
Smoked Cheesy Grits and Shrimp w/ next day Grit Cakes