Recipe: Birria Tacos

Imagine living in NYC where there are loads of restaurants with great variety in options and the food is good 98% of the time. THEN, imagine, you move to a small town five hours away and though the restaurants try their best, they often miss the mark. Well, that's my story, but luckily I know how to cook! I recently made birria tacos for the second time and man oh man were they scrum dilly yum yum! I just had to share :) Happy New Year. Our official new year blog post will be coming next week but first, behold, a recipe *insert dramatic bow*

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Beef

1.5 cups Beef broth

1 Onion

3 to 5 cloves of Garlic

3 Dried Chillies (deseeded)

4 medium Tomatoes

1tbsp Cinnamon

1tbsp Oregano

3 Medium Bell Peppers

Salt and Pepper to taste

Shredded rainbow carrots

2 Limes

Cilantro

1 Avocado

Mexican Style Cheese (shredded)

Corn Tortillas

Directions:

Prep:

-Dice onion and garlic

-Cut each tomato into four quarters

-Cut each bell pepper into two

For the guacomole:

• Mash your avocado until smooth.

•  Add 1/2 of the diced onion to the avocado and add cilantro, the juice of 1 lime, salt, pepper and Jalapeño slices(optional).

• Mix together and set aside in the fridge.

For the cilantro lime carrot salad:

• Use a vegetable peeler to ribbon your rainbow carrots.

• Squeeze the juice of 1 lime over the carrots.

• Add a generous sprinkle of cilantro and mix until every strand is evenly coated.

• Set aside in the fridge.

Now for the tacos:

1. Season your beef with salt and add to a pan saturated with 2tbsp of oil. Sear the beef until browned.

2. Add in the prepped vegetables (tomatoes, bell peppers, remaining 1/2 of onion and garlic) and stir until you start to smell the aromas of the onion and garlic.

3. Pour in the beef broth and let simmer on medium heat.

4. Add the cinnamon and oregano and cover the pot to let the vegetables and meat cook down in the broth.

5. Once the vegetables are soft, remove them from the pot along with the broth and add them to a blender along with deseeded dried chillies.

6. Season further with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.

7. Pour the mixture (consommé) back into the pot. Switch from medium to low heat and cover the pot to let it simmer.

8. Remove the beef from the pot when it is soft and almost falling apart. Use a fork to shred your beef and set aside.

9. Turn off the flame under the consommé and dip your corn tortillas into it one at a time until they are almost soaked through on both sides.

10. Transfer the soaked tortilla to a hot pan. Cook evenly on both sides until crisp but still soft enough to fold.

11. Once the tortillas are cooked it is time to assemble the tacos.

12. Use tongs to place pieces of shredded beef on the tortilla.

13. Top with cilantro lime carrot salad, Mexican style cheese and guacomole.

14. Fold your tortillas and dip the taco in the consommé and enjoy!