INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Berria is one of the most versatile of Mexican foods, both in the
preparation and the ways it can be served. It is a simple dish to fix
yet it ends up with a complexity of flavors which you can personalize
according to your tastes and preferences. It is our family favorite.
This is the basic list of ingredients for generic berria. One of the
most important ingredients, and one that you can vary the most is the
chile powder. I recommend using Santa Cruz or at least a chile powder
that doesn't contain a lot of other spices, such as cumin, in it. Of
course you can use any chile powder that suits your taste.
Now remove as much of the fat from the brisket as possible. Put it in
a crock pot and cover it 3/4 the way with water. Dice the onion and
garlic and throw everything into the pot. Cook it slowly until it can
be shredded. Occasionally turn it. Pull the brisket apart into thin
strands and put it all back into the pot. Cook slowly for another 45
mins. It is now ready to serve
Serving suggestions: Jeez, this stuff can be eaten a myriad of ways.
You can eat it on flour tortillas with shredded cabbage or lettuce,
sour cream, onion, cheese, salsa (or enchilada sauce) rice or
anything you normally eat on a burrito or taco. One thing that you
don't normally eat on Mexican food that you will want to put on
berria is fresh lime juice. It's fantastic. It can be served in taco
shell or on tostados. It can be served on masa patties Forget the
tortillas and just put it on a bed of cabbage Or, if you've made it
right, eat the juice with some meat and cabbage in it. Now freeze
some of what's leftover and stick some in the fridge because you'll
want some later. I said that berria is very versatile in its
preparation. You can vary any of the peppers and spices you put in. I
like to use dried chile passilla. These are generally very mild with
a raisin like flavor. You can usually find Don Enrique's at
EconoFoods or HyVee. Or try dried Anchos or Anahiems. Just chop up
fine, soak in water till soft and put in food processor. I use all
imaginable type of peppers, the red chiles being the dominant. You
will find a great variety of ways to change and personalize this dish
if you like it.
Posted to CHILE-HEADS DIGEST by "McWilliams, Dan"
<DMcWilliams@fendall.com> on Aug 17, 1999, converted by MM_Buster
v2.0l.

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