17
October of 2021, I turned 17 and in all honesty, it’s been nothing like the movies. Well, I take that back. If I were to describe a movie scene that my life is right now, I would say that we’re at the point where the main character is tired, confused, and really freaking nervous about her future. The point where maybe she doesn’t know or prays that something really big and great will happen to her. I mean that’s all I can think about right now. However, I do my best work under pressure. I need the woozy feeling in my stomach or the cloud of ultimate doom looming over me to get stuff done and produce those amazing results.
After releasing my first blog post, nothing happened. I mean nothing, and even now as I’m writing this, the possibility of anyone reading them is slim to none. Not going to lie this used to really stress me out. “Do I want people to see this?”. “Do I not want them to?”. “What if someone I know sees this, omg…..”. Yet at this moment I’ve decided to let it all go and just do what I do I guess. I’m in this new era of my life of just kind of going for it and trying stuff and what better way than to just spitball into the void we refer to as “the internet”. Maybe something will stick, who knows.
Anyways a while back I tried my hand at making Birria Tacos. I definitely underestimated the time it would take because like any new thing I want to make, I started around midnight and I don’t remember eating this until almost 2:30 in the morning, or maybe it was 3, I don’t remember. What I do remember is the spice of the chiles throat punching me, immediately snapping me out of falling asleep in my kitchen. Fortunately for everyone, I forgot to take pictures of the finished product but I will leave some tips below the recipe so that you can be even more successful than me.
All my Love,
Claire
Amateur Hour Birria- A modest Chicken Birria Recipe
Cook Time 2hrs
Serves 4-5 people
The Goods
Corn Tortillas
Queso Fresco (or whatever cheese you prefer)
3-4 Dried Guajillo chiles
5 Dried Ancho Chiles
3 1/2 cups of chicken broth ( i used low sodium but regular is fine too)
4-5 Romano Tomatoes
4 Garlic cloves
Olive oil
1 large pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts (they’re easier to deal with than thighs if you are a beginner cook)
oregano
cumin
1 whole white onion
2 bay leaves
DIY
First things first, prep work. De-seed and de-stem your chiles. Remove the skin from your garlic cloves and chop your onion and tomatoes.
In a large pan, pour your chicken broth in and set it on medium heat, add your chiles, shake of cumin, and shake of oregano. Let the stock come to a boil for a few minutes, then remove from heat.
In a blender, add the tomatoes, warm chicken broth mixture, garlic cloves, and half of the chopped onion.
Blend until all ingredients have been combined and create a rich red color.
Lightly drizzle olive oil in a large pan and cook your chicken until done. Remove your chicken from the heat and bring out the Dutch Oven.
Pour about 3 Tbps. of olive oil at the bottom of the Dutch Oven (this ensures the chicken won’t stick and burn) and turn on medium heat to warm it
Carefully add the chicken breasts and pour in your mixture from the blender. Make sure it completely covers and submerges the chicken
Add your two bay leaves
Turn down the heat to low, put on the top, and let the chicken cook for 30-45 minutes or until tender.
Once tender, remove the chicken, and with a fork and pull the chicken apart to shred it (yes it should be that tender)
Heat up a pan to begin cooking tortillas.
Dip your tortillas in the birria in the Dutch Oven and transfer them into the pan.
Add your chicken, the rest of your onions, and cheese on top of the tortilla, fold over to melt everything together
Remove from heat, pour some of the birria into a bowl, and serve
Tips!
When cooking your chicken in the birria, low and slow is best. If you rush, you run the risk of burning the birria, the chicken, or both.
If you taste the birria and find that it is too spicy, you can cut it with a can of tomato paste to make it milder.
Not everything will turn out perfect, and that’s ok! Don’t be too hard on yourself and remember to take it day by day. Oh btw, make sure to refrigerate your tortillas after opening them for preservation!
