Place a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil. When hot, season beef with salt and pepper and add to pot. Sear on all sides. Add half of the onion to the pot and cook two minutes more. Remove dutch oven from heat and set aside while you make the sauce.
Remove the stems and seeds from the dried chile peppers. In a medium pot, add the chiles, tomatoes, half onion, garlic cloves, cinnamon stick, and bay leaf. Pour in enough water to cover all ingredients, about 4 to 5 cups. Place on the stove over medium-high heat and bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
Add remaining seasonings to the sauce pot: dried oregano, cumin seeds, dried thyme, and salt and peppercorns. Give it a stir and simmer for 10 minutes more. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a couple minutes. Strain the contents of the sauce pot into a large wire-mesh strainer over a large bowl. Remove the bay leaf and cinnamon stick and discard. Place remaining solids into a blender.
Add 2 cups of the broth from the sauce into the blender, plus 1 cup of beef broth. Whirl until well blended. Taste and add more salt if needed and blend just until mixed in.
Place the pot with the beef and onion back on the stove at medium heat. Pour the contents of the blender over the beef. If the sauce is not enough liquid to cover the beef, pour in enough beef broth to cover. Bring to a simmer, then cover and lower heat. Simmer until meat is tender and shreds easily, about 2½ to 3 hours.
Ingredients:
5 pounds beef chuck roast sliced into 5 equal parts
1 1/2 large white onions sliced in half
1 head of garlic
18 cups of water
Salt to taste
7-8 chile guajillo or california remove stems and seeds
6 chile de arbol optional
4 large roma tomatoes
1 1/2 inch piece of Mexican canela
4 whole cloves
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns
2 bay leaves
Narrative recipe:
My mom has made Birria for every special occasion for the past couple years now but one special time i remember was this Christmas. I still remember waking up to the bombarding smell of all the spices being mixed in the blender. I get up from my bed and walk towards the kitchen when I'm immediately met with my mom giving me orders on whisking the mixed spices sauce over the boiling pot of beef. Although I don't like cooking, I feel like it’s my duty to help out my mom, she then tells me to mix everything in the pot together, while she cuts up the onions, cilantro and lemons. This process becomes very repetitive and boring but I digress. I take a seat at the table while I let the food boil and mix properly. My grandma and grandpa are sitting across from me and playing the Mexican card game “Con quien”. As we play, my grandmother eats some peanuts and drinks her morning coffee and so does my grandpa. After a while I get up from my seat and walk back to the kitchen to find my mother dipping tortillas into the red boiling pot so the broth is all over them, she then puts the broth covered tortillas onto a pan 4 at a time and sprinkles shredded cheese over them so that melt while cooking.
After everything was done it was time to actually prepare the food in a presentable manner. I poured half of the beef into a smaller pot with the broth, the other half I shred into small stripped pieces where my mom then makes queso birria tacos. We set the table and make sure that everyone gets seated with the proper amount of food. My grandma, grandpa, older sister, younger brother, mom, and myself, my mom puts 2 tacos for each person and serves everyone a bowl of birria to pour our tacos into. Everyone sprinkles cilantro and onion bits into their bowls which creates a very welcoming smell around the house.