Venison Birria Tacos (or Grilled Cheese!)
Once I stumbled upon birria tacos I knew I had to make this with venison. Venison shoulder and shanks are my go-to cuts for birria due to all the connective tissue that will break down during the long braise required for birria. All that connective tissue dissolves to make a silky smooth consomme.
While birria is traditionally in taco form, do not discount its place in a grilled cheese sandwich. The cheesy, meaty sandwich soaks up the delicious consomme far better than a taco and is every fat midwestern kid's dream lunch.
This recipe can be pressure canned so you can make a huge batch of birria and can it for later use. There's nothing better than getting home, popping a lid, and having a home-cooked dinner on the table in less time than it takes to drive to the nearest Taco Bell.
Ingredients
The Meats
The Consommé
Taco Toppings
Instructions
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Prep
Meat Prep
You can use bone-in or boneless shank meat, but my preference is to cook with the bone in so the marrow and collagen from the bones become a part of your consomme, making it silky smooth.
If going the bone-in route, cut your shanks with a bone saw so they will fit in a Dutch oven. This also releases the marrow.
Score the meat of the shanks to the bone every 2 inches so you end up with shorter chunks of meat instead of long threads.
If using shoulders I prefer to de-bone and cut into 2-3 inch chunks.
Chile Prep
Remove the seeds and stems from the chiles.
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Heat Dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Toast the chiles in the Dutch oven for 2-3 minutes to release the oils, moving constantly to prevent scorching the chiles.
- Move chiles to a bowl and cover with about 3 cups of boiling water.
- Allow the chiles to hydrate for 20 minutes.
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Birria Consomme
While the chiles are soaking sear the meat.
- Heat the Dutch oven over medium high heat.
- Add 2 Tbsp avocado oil.
- Once pan begins to smoke add the meat. Do not over-crowd or you will end up steaming instead of searing.
- Sear until golden brown on all sides. This may take about 3 minutes per side.
- Set meat to the side.
Make the birria
- Add the following to a blender
- rehydrated chiles
- garlic
- cloves
- cinnamon stick
- oregano
- cumin seeds
- tomatoes
- vinegar
- 1.5 cups chile soaking water
- Blend until it becomes a pourable gravy.
- Return the meat to the Dutch oven over medium heat.
- Add quartered onion and bay leaves.
- Add chile paste and enough broth to just cover the meat.
- Bring to a simmer.
- Cover and move it to the oven.
- Braise for 2.5 - 3 hours or until meat easily falls apart.
