Food and Fun Friday - Birria!

Once again I have been pulled into the cooking world of Joshua Weissman with his Birria recipe. Or rather, Savvy pulled me into his world again by sharing on Facebook one of his recipes with 'need' indicated. Therefore, on payday I picked up all the meat and chili peppers required and last night, after work, came home and made a late supper for us.

This recipe included a few firsts for me. My first time cooking with oxtails. I did have to giggle at the labeling the package - 'beef oxtails'. A wonderful oxymoron as an ox is a bovine (beef) so what else could it be?

Anyway...

Another first, was the use of the dried chilies - three different kinds. I now have enough dried chilies for the rest of my life.

The recipe is not difficult, but it does take time, hence the late dinner plans.

According to Wikipedia (the ultimate resource, right) barria is...

Birria is a Mexican dish from the state of Jalisco. The dish is a meat stew traditionally made from goat meat, but occasionally made from beef or mutton. The dish is often served at celebratory occasions, such as weddings and baptisms, and holidays, such as Christmas and Easter. 

And since it has been all over Instagram and the like, it seemed like the thing to make for an early birthday dinner for Savvy.

A braising liquid is made of beef stock, chilies, onion, garlic, bay leaves, coriander, tomato paste and yes, a stick of cinnamon! After the meat is browned, the pieces are dropped into the pot to simmer for an hour. After an hour, I removed the meat and then the chilies (and the onion and garlic) and blended it until smooth and returning everything back to the pot for another hour and a half.

While Savvy shredded the beef, I pulled out the Oaxaca cheese and corn tortillas. Dipping the tortilla in the 'soup', I grilled it with the cheese and beef, folding it over to make it into a 'taco'.

Telling on Savvy, she did eat four or five of them. Myself, only one, as it was past my normal feeding time and I wasn't really that hungry any more. Of course, that big glass of eggnog to 'tide me over' didn't help any.

My opinion - I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but the taste profile was definitely not Tex-Mex. The heat is very subtle and the hint of cinnamon is there. Overall, it's good, but with the work involved I can see why it's not an everyday dish. I enjoyed the melty-ness of the cheese. Savvy was definitely into the meal big-time. 

But with the amount of meat and 'soup' I have left over, we will be eating it for a few days, much to Savvy's delight.