Burritos de Carne con Chile, recipe courtesy of Lourdes Sánchez of Soto´s Outpost
Ingredients
6poundspork or beef brisket, cut into large pieces
2garlic cloves
1/4of a large white onion
3bay leaves
5Roma tomatoes
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
15chiltepin chiles
3 to 4chiles de arbol, stemmed, seeded and rinsed
3cascabel chiles, stemmed, seeded and rinsed
3pasilla chiles, stemmed, seeded and rinsed
2dried morita or chipotle chiles, stemmed, seeded and rinsed
4ouncesCalifornia chiles, chile de sarta, or Colorado chiles, stemmed, seeded and rinsed
1/2cuplard or vegetable shortening
1/4cupall-purpose flour
10large flour tortillas
To Prepare
Place the meat, garlic, onion, bay leaves, tomatoes, and salt in a large, thick saucepan and cover with water by about an inch. Set over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until the meat is completely cooked through and tender, about 2 to 3 hours. Remove the meat from the saucepan and chop into small, bite-sized pieces. Reserve the cooking liquid, discarding the bay leaves.
To make the red sauce, put all the chiles in a medium saucepan. Cover them with water and simmer over medium-high heat until they´ve rehydrated and plumped up, about 10 minutes. Once they´re soft and rehydrated, transfer to a blender along with the tomato, garlic and onion from cooking the meat, as well as 1 cup of the reserved meat cooking liquid. Puree until smooth and strain through a fine-mesh sieve or strainer into the remaining cooking liquid from the meat. Stir to combine.
Melt the lard or vegetable oil in a dutch oven or a large pan over medium heat. Once it´s hot, whisk in the flour and cook until it starts to smell toasty and has a sandy consistency. Add the red sauce, mix well with the whisk, and let it simmer for a few minutes until it thickens to a consistency that will coat the back of a spoon. Turn off heat. Add the chopped, cooked meat. Mix well to completely cover the meat with the sauce.
Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the meat with sauce onto large, flour tortillas and roll them to make burritos.