Chicken Birria Food

BIRRIA DE POLLO (CHICKEN BIRRIA)

Steps:

• Add chicken broth to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high. Remove from heat and add dried chiles. Cover and let sit until chiles have softened, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add 3 of the onion quarters, reserving the last quarter for later use, and garlic to pan. Cook, flipping once, until charred, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat (do not wipe out the pot), and transfer onion and garlic to a blender. Add chicken broth, chiles, tomatoes, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, oregano, pepper, and cloves. Secure lid on blender, and remove center piece to allow steam to escape. Place a clean towel over opening. Process until combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl.
• Season chicken with remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil in to the large pot; heat over medium-high. Add chicken; cook, flipping once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Pour blended chile mixture over meat chicken and top with bay leaf. Cover and cook over medium-low until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop remaining onion quarter. Set aside.
• Uncover pot, discard bay leaf, and remove chicken from chile mixture and shred. Divide shredded chicken evenly among 6 bowls, and ladle in the soup over chicken in bowls. Top with reserved chopped onion, tortilla strips, if desired, cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

BIRRIA DE POLLO (CHICKEN BIRRIA) TACOS

Steps:

• Add chicken broth to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high. Remove from heat and add dried chiles. Cover and let sit until chiles have softened, about 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high. Add 3 of the onion quarters, reserving the last quarter for later use, and garlic to pan. Cook, flipping once, until charred, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat (do not wipe out the pot), and transfer onion and garlic to a blender. Add chicken broth, chiles, tomatoes, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, oregano, pepper, and cloves. Secure lid on blender, and remove center piece to allow steam to escape. Place a clean towel over opening. Process until combined, about 1 to 2 minutes. Pour through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl.
• Season chicken with remaining 1 teaspoon salt. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil in to the large pot; heat over medium-high. Add chicken; cook, flipping once, until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Pour blended chile mixture over meat chicken and top with bay leaf. Cover and cook over medium-low until chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile, chop remaining onion quarter. Set aside.
• Uncover pot, discard bay leaf, and remove chicken from chile mixture and shred. Transfer shredded chicken to a large bowl and top with 1 cup of the chile mixture; leave remaining mixture in the Dutch oven pot over medium-low.
• Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high. Working with 1 tortilla at a time, quickly dip tortilla into sauce until well coated. Transfer to skillet and top with 1/4 cup of the chicken. Repeat process with as many tortillas as will fit on in skillet. Cook until tortillas are golden brown and beginning to crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Fold tortillas in half and transfer to a plate. Repeat process with remaining sauce, meat chicken and tortillas.
• Divide tacos evenly among 6 plates. Top with reserved chopped onion and cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

BIRRIA

Steps:

• The meat: Trim most of the fat from the meat (it is strong tasting); if it is a goat hindquarter, cut into 2 pieces with a cleaver, severing it through the joint at the top of the leg. Place in a large noncorrosive dish.
• The chile marinade: Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium heat. Tear the chiles into flat pieces and toast them a few at a time, pressing them against the hot surface with a metal spatula until they crackle and blister, then flipping them over and pressing them again. Cover with boiling water, weight with a plate to keep them submerged and soak 30 minutes. Roast the garlic on the hot griddle or skillet, turning frequently, until soft inside and blackened outside, about 15 minutes. Cool and peel.
• Drain the chiles and place in a blender jar with garlic, 1/4 teaspoon clove, 2 teaspoons lightly toasted sesame seeds and vinegar. Pulverize the cumin and peppercorns in a mortar or spice grinder, and add to the blender along with the salt and 3/4 cup water. Blend until smooth, then strain through a medium-mesh sieve. Remove 1/2 cup, stir in the sugar, cover and set aside for the final glazing. Spread the rest of the chile paste over the meat, cover and refrigerate overnight (at least 18 hours).
• Slow-steaming: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Set a roasting rack into a deep, wide kettle, a roasting pan with a rack or a stockpot. If it doesn=t sit at least 1-inch above the bottom of the pot, prop it up on custard cups, tin cans or the like. Measure in 4 cups of water, then lay the marinated meat on the rack and spread any remaining marinade over it.
• Add water to the masa (or masa harina mixture) to make a soft dough. Roll tennis ball-size pieces between your palms to make 3/4-inch ropes, then press them gently all around the top edge of your pot. Set the lid in place and press it into the masa to seal. Bake for 4 hours.
• Finishing the broth: Break the seal by tapping the hardened masa with the back of a cleaver or mallet, and take off the lid; then carefully remove the tender meat. Take out the rack, spoon the fat off the broth, then measure it. You need at least 1 quart, if necessary, add water to bring it to that level. Pour the broth into a small saucepan. Puree the tomato in a blender or food processor, add it to the broth along with the oregano, cover and simmer over medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Season with salt.
• Glazing and serving the birria: Shortly before serving, remove the bones, large pieces of gristle and excess fat from the meat, keeping the pieces of meat as large as possible. Set the meat on a baking sheet, brush lightly with the reserved chile paste glaze, then bake for 10 minutes to set the glaze.
• Either present the meat on a large platter and pass the warm broth separately, or slice the meat across the grain and serve it in deep plates, awash in the broth. Mix the onion and fresh coriander, and pass it with the lime at the table.
• Suggested Drink: Triple Distilled Perfidia Plata Tequila Sol Beer Sangrita

CHICKEN BIRRIA

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over high heat, combine the dried chiles and 1 cup of the broth, and bring to a boil, stirring to submerge the chiles. Remove from heat and let stand for 3 minutes. In a blender, combine the chiles and the liquid, the tomatoes and their juices, vinegar and garlic, then season with salt and pepper, and purée until smooth.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper, and add half to the pot. Cook, turning once, until lightly browned and no longer pink, about 3 minutes, then transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining chicken.
• Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil, onion, oregano, cumin, cloves and bay leaf and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Stir in the remaining 2 cups broth and the puréed sauce (carefully, as it may splatter), scraping up browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add chicken (and any accumulated juices), and bring to a boil. Simmer briskly over medium, partially covered, until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked through, 25 minutes. Taste and season with salt.
• Divide birria among 4 bowls, and top with onion and cilantro. Serve with lime wedges and rice, if using.