A couple of years ago, Katie made Birria tacos and brought me a sampling. I thought it was pretty good, if a little too hot for my tastes. Recently when we went out to the new Mexican restaurant, I tried their version. It was far too mild. Just call me Goldilocks, despite my brunette head, okay?
I decided to try my own hand at this dish, and I have to say after eating them tonight that I was well pleased. I had everything I used on hand, as part of my usual pantry ingredients. While I tend to avoid recipes with a load of ingredients, these are all necessary for the flavor profile. I know I served this on the first day of August, but it would be a lovely warming dish to serve once the weather is cold.
I will say that I think you're wise to taste test the chipotle in adobo sauce to see how warm it might be and then add accordingly. I've recently learned that chipotle peppers are actually smoked jalapenos in a seasoned sauce. And jalapenos can vary widely in heat index. I've had chipotles that were just pleasantly smoky tasting and barely warm. These were fairly hot, so I added five. I knew I wouldn't be adding the Guajillo peppers the recipe called for and I didn't want to compromise the taste of the sauce too much. The Consommé was still a bit spicy but in a very pleasant tongue and lip tingling way.
You'll have chipotle peppers left over (and tomato paste too, most likely). Just scoop the peppers and a bit of sauce into individual piles on a cookie sheet covered with parchment and freeze, then pop the puck into a baggie to save to use later in other dishes. Or more Birria!
I'll share the link to the recipe that Katie forwarded to me and then I'll post the ingredients I myself used as the recipe.
I liked the broth I teste so well that I sipped a cup of it yesterday after I'd finished cooking the roast, before blending the broth and other ingredients into the thick consommé we had today for dipping. And yes, I did keep the beef and the broth in the fridge for 24 hours before reheating and serving as tonight's meal.
Click on the title to go to the original recipe on Pinterest. And read on for how I made it.
2-pound boneless chuck roast
2 tbsps. olive oil
salt and pepper
5-6 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce
1 small onion, sliced
8 smashed cloves garlic
32 ounces of water
14.5-ounce can of fire-roasted tomatoes
4 tsps. beef bouillon powder
3 bay leaves
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 tbsp. cumin
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried cinnamon
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
Salt and pepper the roast, then brown in a hot pan. Now add all the other ingredients and cook on low heat for 8 hours. It smells amazing as it's cooking.
Remove meat and then blend the remaining sauces and ingredients in the pan. I allowed mine to cool completely, since I was serving it the next day. If you are blending hot liquids, then please do it in small batches and follow all precautions.
The original recipe says to save the fat. My roast was so lean that there was no fat on the broth at all. There is a good reason for saving that savory fat though if you have it. You'll want to heat the fat in a frying pan and use that to fry the corn tortillas for serving the tacos. I can tell you this does add another layer of flavor to this dish.
Shred beef. Mix with 1-2 cups of the Birria Consommé, just enough to moisten it. Heat and serve remaining Birria Consommé on the side for dipping.
This meat mixed with the blended sauce reheated extremely well the next day. The consommé has a slight thickness to it once blended. I didn't think we needed all of it for the meal, so I put 1.5 pints of it into the freezer. I'm just going to reuse that next time I decide to make Birria Tacos. I mean it's already fully seasoned...It would also make a great soup or chili base.
I served this on homemade flour tortillas with a side of a mock street corn (I'll share that recipe next) and a salad. We topped the tacos with cheddar, diced green onion and Kate and I opted to have cilantro as well. We both like the flavor of cilantro. Caleb and John passed on that.
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