Hello there, I have a very special dish today and it is the Mexican Beef Birria Tacos recipe. A robust and tasty beef dish that is nicely served as a stew with onion, cilantro, and a bit of lime juice on top. You may also chop up the meat and prepare the famous Quesabirria tacos.

These Birria tacos are very popular–perhaps the most popular taco types you’ll stumble across on social media. My dear friend Ana, who is an expert in Mexican recipes showed me how to make this delicious Beef Birria Tacos.

What Is Beef Birria?

Birria originates from Mexico, and it is a stew full of meat and amazing flavors. There are a lot of variations to this dish, depending on the area. There are restaurants specializing in this dish called birrerias. Although the original recipe is made with sheep and goat meat, today it is almost always made with beef.

Beef Birria is getting more popular over the last few years for it’s amazing flavors and texture.

Ingredients

FILLING/BIRRIA DE REZ

• 2 lbs/1kg boneless beef chuck
• 1 lbs/450g short ribs or oxtail
• 1 tsp vegetable oil (neutral)

SAUCE INGREDIENTS

• 7 ancho chiles, deseeded and ends trimmed
• 7 guajillo chiles, deseeded and ends trimmed
• 3 de Arbol chiles, deseeded and ends trimmed
• 4 Roma-type tomatoes
• 1 white onion, peeled and cut in half
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp black peppercorns
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• ¼ cloves, ground
• Half cinnamon stick
• 2-3 bay leaves
• 1 tsp ACV
• 3 cups beef broth

BEEF TACOS:

• Corn tortillas
• 3 oz. Mozzarella or Oaxacan cheese
• 1 lime, juiced
• ¼ cup cilantro, finely chopped
• ¼ white onion, finely chopped
• Kosher salt

Instructions

TO SAUTE/SEAR THE MEAT

• Leave the meat to rest for about half an hour at room temperature and season all sides with kosher salt.
• Take a big Dutch oven or baking pot with a lid place it over medium to high heat and add the vegetable oil. These will require a few batches. Transfer to a big bowl.

SAUCE PREPARATION

• At the same time, in a separate medium pot, combine the dried chiles, white onion, garlic, spices, cloves, and bay leaves and pour cold water until everything is covered.
• Set over medium heat and let simmer slowly for about 15 minutes. Pass through a strainer and move everything to a blender or food processor.
• If your blender is not big enough, you may have to process multiple batches.
• Add the ACV vinegar and 1 cup of beef stock or water to the mix and process until smooth, for a couple of minutes. Season with salt to taste.

Note: My blender is very strong and it came out totally creamy and smooth. However, if your blender is not sharp or strong enough, you may have to pass the sauce through a strainer or cheesecloth to remove any large bits that the blender didn’t dissolve.

FOR BRAISING THE MEAT

• Preheat your oven to 300F/150C. Add the meat back to the pot and pour the sauce over the beef.
• Add the remaining 2 cups of stock or water to the blender and move it around to catch any remaining sauce and add it to the pot.
• Set over medium heat until you notice a subtle simmer. Cover immediately and pop into the oven. Let cook for 3 hours or until the beef is tender.

TACOS ASSEMBLY

• Combine the white onion, cilantro, salt and lime in a bowl.
• Discard the beef from the sauce and pull using 2 forks. Transfer the stock into a bowl and top with the chopped cilantro.
• Place a non-stick pan over medium heat. Dip each tortilla into the upper surface of the stock (the greasy part) and add to the pan.
• Roast for 30 seconds on each side. Add the shredded beef and cheese. Fold over and pan-fry on both sides for a minute.
• Move to a serving dish and serve with the broth on the side.

A burnt ends recipe refers to soft cubes of beef brisket smothered in BBQ sauce and roasted until caramelized. This is probably the most tasty way to cook brisket and makes a great main course or side dish.

Burnt ends are among the most notable dishes that may pop from a home BBQ grill. You may serve your burnt ends as a finger food with toothpicks and a side dip in parties or together with other side dishes such as grilled asparagus and mac-n-cheese for a totally satisfying meal.

How to Prepare Burnt Ends Recipe?

Burnt ends are actually an alternative to a smoked brisket. Typically, you follow the same steps for smoking a brisket to prepare burnt ends. The only difference is that instead of lowering the meat temp. to 200F inside the smoker, you take off the meat at 190F, cut it, and smother it on the sauce and smoke it for an extra 45 minutes.

What meat cut are burnt ends made of?

Burnt ends are made of beef brisket. The brisket contains two separate cuts–the flat and the point. The latter is a more circular and tender cut hat has a fatty top. The flat, on the other hand, is leaner and has a more even form.

An alternative option is the one called “packer cut” or “Texas beef brisket” , which combines both the point and flat parts of the brisket bonded to each other.

If you wish to smoke burnt ends without the whole brisket, just use the point part for optimal tenderness and taste. But, if you wish to go all the way, use the packer cut to prepare smoked brisket and simply trim off the meat for making the burnt ends as soon as the meat reaches 190F/95C.

BBQ Brisket Burnt Ends Recipe

Ingredients

• 8-12 lbs. Beef brisket (point or packer cut),
• 1 cup barbeque seasonings (enough to coat the meat completely),
• ½ cup bbq sauce to combine with the meat drippings and cover the burnt ends

Instructions

• Remove extra fat from the brisket. If you are using a point or packer cut, you should trim most of the fat cap. The fat should be trimmed to around ¼’’ until you can see the lean meat through the fat.
• Coat evenly the brisket with the BBQ spice mix.
• Cover and keep in the fridge for 10 to 12 hours.
• Preheat your bbq smoker at 250F.
• Place a meat thermometers into the meat and set in the smoker until the temperature inside rises to 170F (in around 4-5 hours)
• Once it hits 170F, take off the meat and wrap in foil or wrapping paper. Return to the smoker and wait until it reaches 190F (in around 8 hours)
• Take off the smoker and wrapping paper and allow it to rest for 15 minutes.
• Chop the meat into ½” cubes.
• Rub the beef cubes with a combo of ½ cup bbq sauce and the remaining meat drippings (it should cover all the burnt ends–if not, use extra bbq sauce).
• Place the uncoated cubes into the smoker and smoke for 45 minutes. Allow the temperature to reach 250F or 275F (for a darker coating).
• Take off the burnt ends from the smoker. Serve.

It’s time to make authentic City Chicken Recipe. It’s simple to make and yields a super tender meat that you can cut with a fork. But, despite its name this is not actually a chicken dish. It’s a local dish that is made of pork sirloin chunks or a combo of veal and pork curves that are passed through skewers, browned and then braised slowly.

I have fond memories of eating city chicken as a kid and  I never questioned why it was named that way as it doesn’t contain any chicken.

Where Can You Find Pork For City Chicken Recipe?

If you live in the Midwest state zone, you may likely find pork sirloin that is already cubed specially packaged kebals for city chicken in your local food stores.

How To Prepare City Chicken in the oven

• To make this delicious city chicken recipe, begin by passing the pork cubes through the wooden skewers, making sure they are tight and dense for best cooking results. Next, coat them in breading in 3 steps.
• Here you’ll have to toss the pork in the seasoned flour, then the beaten eggs/wash and finally the Italian breadcrumbs.
• You may also add a hint of paprika or salt and pepper to the breadcrumb mixture to boost its flavor.
• The next step is to brown the meat in the oil over medium to high heat, making sure not to overload the skillet. The pork doesn’t have to cook all the way at this point, just browned on the sides.  This is a quite fast step
• Note: the meat cubes will turn brown on the outside but raw inside.
• The city chicken is then roasted in the oven at 325F for 1 ½ to 2 hours or until you can rip it apart with a fork (check after 1 ½ hours to see doneness).

Ingredients

• 1 lbs pork sirloin, cubed (with skewers)
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour, with salt and pepper to taste
• ¼ cup egg beats or two eggs beaten with one tablespoon water
• 3 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
• ½ cup Italian breadcrumbs
• ½ cup chicken stock
• 1 can or pack of gravy (mushroom or pork), heated
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

• Preheat your oven at 325F and coat a pyrex dish (around 9X13”) with cooking spray. If you are only cooking 4 kebabs you can use a smaller dish.
• Prepare your breading area with the seasoned flour, the egg wash and the breadcrumbs separately. Add the smoked paprika optionally to the breadcrumb mix. Pass 4 meat cubes onto each skewer and dust with the flour, shaking off any excess. Coat each skewer in the egg wash, then toss in the breadcrumbs. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a skillet over medium to high heat. Brown the pork on each side (it doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through).
• Once you brown the pork, place in a prepared baking dish, leaving a bit of distance between each skewer. Add the chicken broth to the bottom of the pan and close tightly with the foil. Bake at 325F for 1 ½-2 hours or until you can pull the pork with a fork. Serve with gravy on the side.