Quite possible the worlds best tacos. Cheesy and saucy goodness right here.

Total Time:
Servings:

Ingredients:

Consommé

  • 1 tsp Dried Mexican Oregano
  • 1 Onion
  • ½ tsp Cumin
  • 6 Bay Leaves
  • 8 Cloves Garlic
  • ½ C Tomato Sauce
  • ¼ tsp Dried Thyme
  • 48 oz Chicken Stock
  • Dried Chilies (deseeded and stemmed) – 10 Smoked Hatch and 6 Super Chilies – other chilies will work like ancho/pasilla/gaujilo

Garnish

  • Cilantro, chopped
  • White Onion, diced
  • Corn Tortillas
  • Oaxaca Cheese – shredded

Chef's Tip

Birria is a Mexican dish from the state of Jalisco – generally a stew using goat, lamb, or beef. For this recipe, Chef Nate took the traditional flavor profile to create these mouthwatering tacos!

Directions:

  1. Season chicken thighs all over with salt and pepper.
  2. Set up grill for direct cooking, you want a temp of around 400˚ F.
  3. Add a chunk of Applewood and a chunk of Hickory to the coals.
  4. When the grill is up to temp, direct grill onion and chicken just to put some color on them. No need to fully cook here, around 5 minutes a side.
  5. Pull chicken and onions from grill and add to a dutch oven.
  6. Add stock, cumin, bay leaves, garlic, tomato sauce, thyme, onion, and dried chilies into the dutch oven with the chicken and onion.
  7. Put back on grill (300˚ F) and braise for approximately 2 hours or until fork tender.
  8. Remove chicken and shred, add a couple spoons of the braising liquid to the shredded chicken.
  9. Remove everything else from braising liquid, discarding bay leaves.
  10. Blend together garlic, chilies, and onion. Add back to braising liquid (this now becomes the consommé).
  11. Place corn tortillas in a pan over medium heat. Using rendered chicken fat to coat the tortilla.
  12. Place Oaxaca and shredded chicken on half the tortilla and fold in half to create a quesadilla.
  13. Serve with a dipping bowl of the consommé topped with cilantro and diced white onions.

*Keep a spray bottle of water handy in case of flare-ups.

Used in this recipe:

Hickory Smoking Blocks