Quesabirria

Quesabirria are quesadillas that use birria stew as the filling and birria consomme as a dipping sauce and they are amazing.

I love ordering them at a local Mexican restaurant, but it’s expensive, so I decided to make them on my own.

The first step was making the birria.  Birria is a tasty beef stew originating in Mexico.  Layers and layers of flavors combine with the slow cooked meat to make filling and flavorful stew that can be enjoyed in a variety of ways.

Then it was finding the other ingredients.  I didn’t want to use store bought corn tortillas, since I find them to be dry, but I also wasn’t sure I wanted to make my own. I’ve made my own corn tortillas before, but they’re challenging without a tortilla press.

Luckily for me, I was browsing some different cheeses at the store and happens to find shredded oaxaca cheese with some fresh, refrigerated tortillas nearby - just what I needed!

Getting the hand of frying the quesabirria was a definite learning curve (which Hubs mastered before I did to be perfectly honest), but they were delicious no matter what!

Short Rib Birria

Adapted from GypsyPlate

Birria Sauce

5 dried New Mexico Chilis + water to cover

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, peeled and diced

5 large roma tomatoes, chopped

8 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried oregano

2 teaspoon coriander powder

2 teaspoons salt

1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Short Ribs

2-3 tablespoon oil, divided

3 ½ pounds boneless beef short ribs

4 cups beef stock

Cut the stems off the chilis and slit down the side to remove seeds.  Roughly chop.

Heat a dry dutch oven to medium heat and toast the chili for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant.  Move to a bowl and cover with water to soften.  Set aside for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of oil in the dutch oven.  Add the onions, tomatoes, and garlic, and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until vegetables have softened.  Move to a bowl or plate and set aside to cool slightly.

Add another tablespoon of oil to the dutch oven and increase heat to medium-high.  Working in batches, sear the short ribs, adding additional oil as necessary.  Move short ribs to a plate.

Meanwhile, add the vegetables, chilis (and water), and remaining birria sauce ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth (If using a blender, you may need to add some of the beef stock to make the mixture thinner).

Once all ribs have been seared, reduce heat to medium-low.  Add the beef broth and use a spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.  Stir in the birria sauce.  Cut the seared ribs into large cubes and add them to the pot.  Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 3-4 hours or until tender, stirring occasionally.

Serve as stew or as tacos.

Quesabirria

Adapted from The Big Man’s World

1 recipe Short Rib Birria Stew

12 fresh corn tortillas (I found them in the refrigerated cheese section)

3 cups oaxaca cheese (sometimes sold as Queso Quesadilla cheese)

Vegetable oil

Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.

Dip a tortilla into the birria broth.  Top with a generous sprinkling of cheese and birria meat.  Fold over and fry on both sides until toasted.  Serve with a bowl of consomme (birria broth) for dipping.