Speed Goat Birria Tacos

Speed Goat Birria Tacos          

Now let’s get into what Birria is shall we? Birria is a traditional Mexican dish that utilizes slow cooked goat meat along with guajillo chilies, garlic, thyme, cumin and bay leaves to create a beautiful soup or stew. Leftovers are typically turned into amazing tacos. The tortillas are dipped in the reserved cooking grease that floats to the surface during the cooking process, then stuffed with leftover shredded meat, quesadilla cheese and cilantro and skillet fried until crispy. 

The problem you have when recreating this dish with wild game meats comes from the lack of fat, and therefore the lack of grease that you get. One way I found to add that much needed fat and oil without adding domestic fats is avocado oil. The oil grabbed onto the flavor while cooking and gave me the greasy oil needed for dipping these tortillas. 

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think, it can be used on all wild game meats from birds to all four-legged critters. 

Birria Tacos: 

Ingredients: Meat 

2-3 pounds wild game stew meat rough cubed 

(I use shoulder roasts and trimmings, use any tough cuts)

8 guajillo chilies, stem and seeds removed 

(Or 4 guajillo and 4 ancho chilies)

2 chipotle peppers, chopped and 1 tbsp adobo sauce from can 

1 white onion, quartered

8 cloves garlic, smashed 

2 tbsp cumin 

1 tbsp smoked paprika 

1 tbsp Mexican oregano (Can use regular)

1 tsp chili powder

3 sprigs thyme, whole  

4 bay leaves 

1 tsp salt 

½ tbsp cracked pepper 

1 cup avocado oil 

4 cups chicken or wild game stock 

2 carrots, rough cut 

2 celery ribs, rough cut 

4 tomatoes’, quartered

½ cinnamon stick  

(Water or a beer to cover meat if stock is not enough)

Ingredients: Tacos

2-3 cups quesadilla cheese 

1 cup cilantro, chopped 

Corn tortillas 

Directions: 

1. In a large Dutch oven, stock pot or slow cooker add all ingredients under meat section. Yes, I get this sounds incredibly strange to add everything, but trust the process. 
2. Bring your stock pot or Dutch oven to a boil, reduce heat to med low and cook 30 minutes. (If using slow cooker, set to high and cook 1 hour) 
3. Remove guajillo chilies from your pot or slow cooker, pace in blender along with ½ cup cooking liquid. Blend until smooth, add puree back to pot and mix well. This is a great tome to stir your meat and mix all those flavors around. 
4. Now set it and forget it for 3-4 hours of until the meat is fork tender and pulls apart easily. (Sometimes this may take longer depending on cut of meat and animal) 
5. Skim off all the greasy goodness that is on top of cooking liquid. Reserve this DO NOT THROW IT OUT. Do this a couple times until most of it is removed and you have a nice bowl full of cooking oil/grease
6. At this point I pull out the meat, strain the cooking liquid removing all veggies and nasty bits. Again, save about ½ the cooking liquid. 
7. Shred your meat and place it back in cooking liquid and set aside. 
8. Now comes the fun part, building the tacos. 

Tacos:

1. Heat your skillet or flat top to med-high heat
2. Dip a tortilla on each side in the reserved cooking grease, lay on flat top and place cheese, meat and cilantro on one half, fold over other have and repeat filling cooking surface. 
3. Cook on one side until crispy 1-2 minutes, flip and cook on other side. 
4. Once all tacos are cooked, serve alongside remaining cooking liquid to dip your tacos into and enjoy. 

You can add anything you’d like to the tacos from onions, pepper, jalapenos. Get creative and have fun eating! 

Jeremiah Doughty