Birria

Niiice

1. Pat dry and season all over with salt

   • 1 kg beef chuck
   • 500 g beef bones
   • 2½ teaspoons salt

2. Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat. Brown the beef and bones on all sides in batches until deep brown, then transfer to the slow cooker, bones on the bottom.

   • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

3. In the same dry skillet over medium heat, toast the chiles about 30 seconds per side until fragrant, without blackening them.

   • 5 guajillo chiles
   • 5 ancho chiles
   • 2 chiles de árbol

4. Soak the toasted chiles until soft, about 20 minutes. Taste the soaking water; if it isn't bitter, keep it all.

   • 400 ml hot water

5. Blend the chiles and their soaking water with the following until very smooth, then strain over the meat.

   • 2 roma tomatoes
   • ½ white onion
   • 5 garlic cloves
   • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
   • 1 teaspoon dried Mexican oregano
   • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
   • 3 whole cloves
   • ½ teaspoon black peppercorns

6. Add to the slow cooker and stir to coat everything

   • 1 cinnamon stick
   • 2 bay leaves

7. Cook on low for 9 hours, until the meat shreds easily.

8. Remove the beef and bones. Shred the beef and pull any meat off the bones into it. Skim the red fat off the top and save it. Discard the cinnamon and bay leaves.

9. If the consommé is too thick to sip, thin it with hot water a little at a time, then adjust salt.

10. Serve the beef in bowls of consommé, or dip tortillas in the saved fat, fry them with beef (and Oaxaca cheese for quesabirria), and serve with consommé for dipping. Top with chopped onion (the other half), cilantro and lime.