Perhaps some of you know my joy for making tacos, or even my joy for seeing you all post tacos here (Taco Tuesday Everyday!). Over the last year, I’ve posted a number of taco cooks - it might just be my favorite food item to eat. And I’ve tried some new ones as well over the year, getting some ideas from The Pit, as well as the interwebs and Alex Stupak’s Tacos: Recipes and Provocations: A Cookbook. And like I’ve said in my other recipes, the best thing about The Pit is learning about styles and nuances that each of us bring to a specific cook.
During the last two months, I’ve made one specific type of taco that has just about made me think I’ve found the "golden taco"! And you’ve seen a few posts from me as well as 58limited for birria de chivas - and our good friend Troutman, who is working up something that’s for sure going to be a hit!
My last post had a few members asking if I could share what I’ve found, so here’s what I’ve compiled from a few months of researching the interwebs and pulling from a few recipes and videos that I’ve watched on making Birria de Res Tacos!!!!!
My base recipe came from an article I saw from FoodandWine.com (which usually publishes pretty good recipes from my experience). But over my few cooks, I’ve adapted this recipe a bit to include four different sources, although the FoodandWine.com recipe is now really just for time and temp for the cook. The adobo sauce recipe I am using does come straight from Stupak’s book and I find it is perfect, not too spicy and flavorful in every way from the multitude of spices included. I’m also bringing in some techniques as well as a chile oil recipe that I picked up from a YouTube channel titled Views on the Road, which mnavarre may have posted (I don’t remember for sure). This channel has a few videos on various types of birria - res (beef), chivo (goat), pavo (turkey) and pollo (chicken) along with many other traditional Mexican food items. And it is this channel that I feel has helped me take the taco to the top of the taco pyramid! I’ve started cooking my birria with a few additional ingredients that bring a little more flavor and I’ve incorporated the chile oil to bring a flavor bomb to the tortillas! And for the consome - this is just "soup" or broth. From my reading/watching, some cook a separate broth, but I am just using the broth I cooked the chuck roast with. And I highly recommend serving this on the side as a dipping or sipping broth. The first time I made these, I didn’t serve this on the side and I’ve learned it truly adds to not only the flavor but the overall experience of eating tacos! You can also serve this as a stew and allow your guests to eat it with corn tortillas on the side.
So here’s the compilation to Birria Tacos, or Birria de Res y Consome
Birria de Res Tacos y Consome
Course - Lunch or Dinner
Cuisine - Mexican
Makes - 30 tacos or so
Takes - 2 hours prep, 8-24 hours marinating/down time about 5 hours cooking
Special tools
I use a 6qt Dutch oven for the birria de res, griddle for the tacos, blender to make adobo sauce
Ingredients
For Adobo from Tacos: Recipes and Provocations: A Cookbook by Alex Stupak (you can find this recipe on JamesBeard.org as well) - makes about 2 1/3 cups - And if you can not source whole, dried chiles, you can substitute powder - it will work and I have notated an approximate weight for each which I have used and the book doesn’t include.
8 ancho chiles (or 50-60g powder)
8 guajillo chiles (or 50-60g powder)
1 chipotle morita chile (or 15-20g powder)
One 2-inch stick of canela (Mexican cinnamon)
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 whole cloves
20 garlic cloves, skins on
1 cup cider vinegar (if you used chile powder, you may need additional vinegar to thin out adobo a bit)
For Chile Oil from Views on the Road
1 cup Canola oil or oil of choice
4 Guajillo chiles or 3 Tbs of powder
2 medium bay leaves
1/2 Tbs Mexican Oregano, crumbled
2 Tbs chicken bouillon Powder (I omitted this and didn’t notice if it would have made a difference)
2 tsp black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp ground clove
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar
for spice, if you want a spicy flavor profile - add a dash of chile pequin or cayenne
For birria de res tacos y consome
1 (3-4lbs) boneless chuck roast
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
Adobo sauce from Alex Stupak’s Taco Book, about 1-1.5 cups
8 cups water
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, sliced length wise
Tortillas - 25-30 (or to serve number needed)
Chile Oil for dipping tortillas, will use majority of oil and seasoning
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
Lime wedges, for serving
Taco Topping -
1 finely chopped white onion,
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Queso Fresco, crumbled
Method
For Adobo - plan to make this a day prior
Remove the stems from the chiles and tear the chiles open. Shake out and discard the seeds. Tear the chiles into small pieces.
Set a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the canelas, cloves, black peppercorns, oregano, and cumin seeds. Toast the spices, shaking the pan, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Remove the spices from the heat, transfer them to a spice grinder, and grind the mix to a fine powder.
Reheat the skillet over medium heat. Toast the ancho, guajillo, and chipotle morita chiles, turning them from time to time until you see the first wisp of smoke, about 30 seconds. Transfer the chiles to a bowl, cover them with hot tap water, and place a heavy plate over the chiles to keep them submerged. Set the chiles aside to soak for 30 minutes.
Add the garlic cloves to the skillet and roast them, turning them from time to time, until softened slightly and blackened in spots, about 6 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the garlic from the skillet, and set it aside to cool at room temperature. Once the cloves are cool enough to handle, peel them and discard the skins.
Drain the chiles and place them in a blender along with the ground spices, roasted garlic, and vinegar, and purée to a paste. You may need to add a bit of water to the blender to help the chiles pass easily through the blades. Transfer the paste to a container and refrigerate it until ready to use.
For Chile Oil - plan to make this day before
Take garlic, pepper corns, Bouillon (if using), cloves, sugar and bay leaves and grind to powder in a spice blender.
Heat oil to 290-310 degrees. When starting to add spices, turn off heat to oil. If oil is too hot, you will burn the spices and chile powder.
Add in chile, spice blend from blender, and crumbled oregano. Stir to mix all and allow to cool and transfer to glass. I added in to Chile de Arbol to add a little more spice (seen in photo below).
For birria de res tacos y consome
Sprinkle chuck roast with 2 tablespoons salt. Rub roast with adobo in a large nonreactive bowl (I just use my Dutch oven); toss to coat. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 300°F. Add 8 cups water. Bring to a simmer, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and onion and cover with lid, and place in preheated oven. Bake until meat is fork-tender, about 4 hours.
Remove chuck roast from braising broth, and transfer to a large bowl and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. To serve birria as a broth, keep warm over low heat and skim off fat as needed. Season broth with salt to taste. Meanwhile, shred beef and toss meat with 1 1/2 cups of the broth. Keep warm while building tacos.
Stir together onion, cilantro, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl; set aside.
Heat a cast-iron griddle over medium-high heat. Place chile oil in dish large enough to dip tortilla in completely. Dip both sides of tortilla into Chile oil, allow excess oil to drip back into dish and immediately place on griddle. Cook until bottom tortilla is lightly browned and starting to crisp, then flip. Then sprinkle jack cheese on tortilla and place shredded beef on one side of the taco. Fold tacos in half, pressing with a spatula. Transfer to a serving plate. Repeat process with remaining tortillas, chile oil, cheese and meat.
Serve tacos with onion-cilantro mixture, lime wedges, queso fresco and remaining adobo broth in a small bowl or cup for dipping or sipping.
So that’s what I’ve come up with - I don’t know how I could actually make this any better....but, I’m sure I may pick up a few things over time and learning from others who may contribute to our search for perfect Tacos
And last - the adobo sauce can be use in a variety of ways - Birria, Tacos al Pastor, Chicken Adobo Tacos, and Lamb Babacoa, all tacos that I’ve made and posted about here and enjoyed!
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy these tacos as much as my family and I do!
During the last two months, I’ve made one specific type of taco that has just about made me think I’ve found the "golden taco"! And you’ve seen a few posts from me as well as 58limited for birria de chivas - and our good friend Troutman, who is working up something that’s for sure going to be a hit!
My last post had a few members asking if I could share what I’ve found, so here’s what I’ve compiled from a few months of researching the interwebs and pulling from a few recipes and videos that I’ve watched on making Birria de Res Tacos!!!!!
My base recipe came from an article I saw from FoodandWine.com (which usually publishes pretty good recipes from my experience). But over my few cooks, I’ve adapted this recipe a bit to include four different sources, although the FoodandWine.com recipe is now really just for time and temp for the cook. The adobo sauce recipe I am using does come straight from Stupak’s book and I find it is perfect, not too spicy and flavorful in every way from the multitude of spices included. I’m also bringing in some techniques as well as a chile oil recipe that I picked up from a YouTube channel titled Views on the Road, which mnavarre may have posted (I don’t remember for sure). This channel has a few videos on various types of birria - res (beef), chivo (goat), pavo (turkey) and pollo (chicken) along with many other traditional Mexican food items. And it is this channel that I feel has helped me take the taco to the top of the taco pyramid! I’ve started cooking my birria with a few additional ingredients that bring a little more flavor and I’ve incorporated the chile oil to bring a flavor bomb to the tortillas! And for the consome - this is just "soup" or broth. From my reading/watching, some cook a separate broth, but I am just using the broth I cooked the chuck roast with. And I highly recommend serving this on the side as a dipping or sipping broth. The first time I made these, I didn’t serve this on the side and I’ve learned it truly adds to not only the flavor but the overall experience of eating tacos! You can also serve this as a stew and allow your guests to eat it with corn tortillas on the side.
So here’s the compilation to Birria Tacos, or Birria de Res y Consome
Birria de Res Tacos y Consome
Course - Lunch or Dinner
Cuisine - Mexican
Makes - 30 tacos or so
Takes - 2 hours prep, 8-24 hours marinating/down time about 5 hours cooking
Special tools
I use a 6qt Dutch oven for the birria de res, griddle for the tacos, blender to make adobo sauce
Ingredients
For Adobo from Tacos: Recipes and Provocations: A Cookbook by Alex Stupak (you can find this recipe on JamesBeard.org as well) - makes about 2 1/3 cups - And if you can not source whole, dried chiles, you can substitute powder - it will work and I have notated an approximate weight for each which I have used and the book doesn’t include.
8 ancho chiles (or 50-60g powder)
8 guajillo chiles (or 50-60g powder)
1 chipotle morita chile (or 15-20g powder)
One 2-inch stick of canela (Mexican cinnamon)
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
3 whole cloves
20 garlic cloves, skins on
1 cup cider vinegar (if you used chile powder, you may need additional vinegar to thin out adobo a bit)
For Chile Oil from Views on the Road
1 cup Canola oil or oil of choice
4 Guajillo chiles or 3 Tbs of powder
2 medium bay leaves
1/2 Tbs Mexican Oregano, crumbled
2 Tbs chicken bouillon Powder (I omitted this and didn’t notice if it would have made a difference)
2 tsp black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp ground clove
2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar
for spice, if you want a spicy flavor profile - add a dash of chile pequin or cayenne
For birria de res tacos y consome
1 (3-4lbs) boneless chuck roast
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided, plus more to taste
Adobo sauce from Alex Stupak’s Taco Book, about 1-1.5 cups
8 cups water
1 onion, quartered
2 carrots, sliced length wise
Tortillas - 25-30 (or to serve number needed)
Chile Oil for dipping tortillas, will use majority of oil and seasoning
shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
Lime wedges, for serving
Taco Topping -
1 finely chopped white onion,
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
Queso Fresco, crumbled
Method
For Adobo - plan to make this a day prior
Remove the stems from the chiles and tear the chiles open. Shake out and discard the seeds. Tear the chiles into small pieces.
Set a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the canelas, cloves, black peppercorns, oregano, and cumin seeds. Toast the spices, shaking the pan, until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Remove the spices from the heat, transfer them to a spice grinder, and grind the mix to a fine powder.
Reheat the skillet over medium heat. Toast the ancho, guajillo, and chipotle morita chiles, turning them from time to time until you see the first wisp of smoke, about 30 seconds. Transfer the chiles to a bowl, cover them with hot tap water, and place a heavy plate over the chiles to keep them submerged. Set the chiles aside to soak for 30 minutes.
Add the garlic cloves to the skillet and roast them, turning them from time to time, until softened slightly and blackened in spots, about 6 minutes. Turn off the heat, remove the garlic from the skillet, and set it aside to cool at room temperature. Once the cloves are cool enough to handle, peel them and discard the skins.
Drain the chiles and place them in a blender along with the ground spices, roasted garlic, and vinegar, and purée to a paste. You may need to add a bit of water to the blender to help the chiles pass easily through the blades. Transfer the paste to a container and refrigerate it until ready to use.
For Chile Oil - plan to make this day before
Take garlic, pepper corns, Bouillon (if using), cloves, sugar and bay leaves and grind to powder in a spice blender.
Heat oil to 290-310 degrees. When starting to add spices, turn off heat to oil. If oil is too hot, you will burn the spices and chile powder.
Add in chile, spice blend from blender, and crumbled oregano. Stir to mix all and allow to cool and transfer to glass. I added in to Chile de Arbol to add a little more spice (seen in photo below).
For birria de res tacos y consome
Sprinkle chuck roast with 2 tablespoons salt. Rub roast with adobo in a large nonreactive bowl (I just use my Dutch oven); toss to coat. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.
Preheat oven to 300°F. Add 8 cups water. Bring to a simmer, uncovered, over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add carrots and onion and cover with lid, and place in preheated oven. Bake until meat is fork-tender, about 4 hours.
Remove chuck roast from braising broth, and transfer to a large bowl and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. To serve birria as a broth, keep warm over low heat and skim off fat as needed. Season broth with salt to taste. Meanwhile, shred beef and toss meat with 1 1/2 cups of the broth. Keep warm while building tacos.
Stir together onion, cilantro, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl; set aside.
Heat a cast-iron griddle over medium-high heat. Place chile oil in dish large enough to dip tortilla in completely. Dip both sides of tortilla into Chile oil, allow excess oil to drip back into dish and immediately place on griddle. Cook until bottom tortilla is lightly browned and starting to crisp, then flip. Then sprinkle jack cheese on tortilla and place shredded beef on one side of the taco. Fold tacos in half, pressing with a spatula. Transfer to a serving plate. Repeat process with remaining tortillas, chile oil, cheese and meat.
Serve tacos with onion-cilantro mixture, lime wedges, queso fresco and remaining adobo broth in a small bowl or cup for dipping or sipping.
So that’s what I’ve come up with - I don’t know how I could actually make this any better....but, I’m sure I may pick up a few things over time and learning from others who may contribute to our search for perfect Tacos
And last - the adobo sauce can be use in a variety of ways - Birria, Tacos al Pastor, Chicken Adobo Tacos, and Lamb Babacoa, all tacos that I’ve made and posted about here and enjoyed!
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy these tacos as much as my family and I do!
Comment