{All Around Latin America} Jalisco-Style Birria in Celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month

 Are you loving the {All Around Latin America} series yet?! I’m thoroughly enjoying all of the dishes these creative food bloggers are sharing with us. A meal a day! It just doesn’t get better than that. The lovely thing about Latin American cuisine is that it covers 21 Latin countries and countries that fall under the Latin umbrella, including France, Spain, Italy and more. That means that the options are endless. The goal of this series is to highlight delcious food from different countries, especially lovely dishes I’ve not personally shared here on Flanboyant Eats. While we have another dish from Mexico, I couldn’t turn down our guest blogger today!

Ericka Sanchez, the head madre over at Nibbles & Feasts (love her logo!) is another proud Mexican-American, born in Coahuila, Mexico who is passionate about exploring the food and culture of her native country. I just happen to love it just as much so I was thrilled when she agreed to join us this year! This dish looks perfect to kick off fall! Hearty and warm! Say hi to Ericka. It’s her first time here as well. And, welcome, Nibbles & Feast readers! B-

By Ericka Sanchez

Hispanic Heritage month is here and it’s time for the festivities to begin.  Today, I share with you my favorite celebration dish, Jalisco-style Birria.

Customarily served at baptisms, weddings, quinceañeras and large family gatherings, birria is a feast.  A very humble but amazingly complex feast.  This dish is unique because it is also part of the street food lineup of the Independence Day holiday menu. Chunks of lamb or goat meat so tender, it falls off the bone.  Drenched in tangy but smoky tomato-dry guajillo sauce and finished off with a squirt of lime juice.   Wrap around a homemade corn tortilla and top it off with chopped onion and cilantro and you have got yourself a dish worthy of any celebration.  I was fortunate enough to spend the September 16th festivities in Guadalajara, Jalisco where birria vendors line the street. Each birriero takes pride in preparing their own style of birria with their family recipe and a secret ingredient that makes this sought-after dish extra special. Some serve goat meat, some lamb or beef and some create a mixture of all three meats.  Typically, birria is cooked 4-5 hours underground in an oven pit lined with hot stones, and covered in layers of clay and maguey leaves, marinating in it’s own drippings until the meat is perfectly cooked.

This recipe however, doesn’t require an oven pit.  Nowadays birria can easily be cooked on a stove, in an oven or in this case, overnight in a slow cooker.  You will have the same delicious results with hardly any effort whatsoever.

Surprise your loved ones with a nice, hearty bowl of Birria Jalisciense and a stack of freshly made corn tortillas.  Celebrate Hispanic Heritage month with an AJUUAAA!!  ¡Viva Mexico, Señores!

CHECK BACK TOMORROW FOR A NEW FEATURED BLOGGER AND RECIPE  INSPIRED BY LATIN AMERICA! 

 *This is part of an annual Hispanic Heritage Month food series, now in its 2nd year. Catch up on this year’s and previous delicious features: 

{ALL AROUND LATIN AMERICA} FOOD SERIES

How do you celebrate this culturally inspiring month?

 *Food images c/o Nibbles & Feast

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Enjoy

JALISCO STYLE BIRRIA

Ingredients:

• 6 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
• 1/4 cup ground California chile
• 1/4 cup ground guajillo chile
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup water
• salt
• 8 red potatoes, small cut in fourths
• One 3 pound leg of lamb, boneless
• One 15-ounce can diced tomatoes in liquid
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano

For Garnish

• 1/3 cup yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 lime, sliced in wedges

Method:

1. In a medium bowl wisk garlic, chile powder, cumin, black pepper, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt and water.
2. Place potatoes in slow cooker, completely covering bottom. Sprinkle with salt. Place lamb meat over potatoes and rub chile marinade all over meat. Pour enough water into slowcooker to cover potatoes and a fourth of the lamb meat. cover and slow cook for 8-10 hours on high.
3. Carefully remove meat from slowcooker onto a large plate or tray. Remove extra fat and shred in large chunks with hands. Remove potatoes with slotted spoon and place in a large separate bowl.
4. Remove fat that has risen to the top of the broth.
5. In a medium saucepan, over medium heat, cook tomatoes with liquid until the liquid and tomatoes have thickened a bit. Carefully add the broth from the slow cooker. Stir, add oregano and 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil.
6. To serve: Place 3-4 pieces of potato and shredded lamb meat on shallow bowls. ladle broth over each one and top with chopped onion, cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. Eat with warm tortillas.