If you are familiar with the dark meat on a wild turkey, then you know that it is as tough as shoe leather unless cooked properly. Years ago, I remember my father-in-law asking me to save him a drumstick off a spring gobbler I had killed. I told him that he better start chewing on hockey pucks to get ready for the experience if he thought he could eat it like those big ones they sell at renaissance festivals. Deep fry a wild turkey leg and you'll break a tooth off trying to eat it!
Over the years, I have tried several different methods to make this meat tender and palatable. Usually it goes into a slow cooker for several hours and I make soup, noodles, and turkey salad with it. Recently, though, I was exposed to "birria" - a wonderful meaty dish from western Mexico, and I have adapted this recipe to use on wild game.
Birria is traditionally made with goat meat and sometimes beef. The meat is cooked slowly in a broth of adobo sauce, dried peppers, garlic, onions, and spices. It comes out very tender with a rich, wonderful smell and flavor. Birria tacos are very popular here in the US and that is what I decided to make with my turkey.
Recipe: I rarely measure out anything when I cook so any measurements I mention are approximations. The key to this recipe is cooking the meat until it is tender. Pressure cooking is the best way to accomplish this so I put all my dark meat into my Ninja Foodi. Then I added some dried ancho peppers, dried gaujillo peppers, and a big can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. I also put in a cup of beef broth, copious amounts of garlic powder and onion powder, and some lemon pepper. I pressure cooked the meat for 45 minutes. After cooking, I deboned all the meat, shredded it up, and strained the broth. I set all this aside so I could make some corn tortillas.
There are a bazillion recipes online to make corn tortillas and they're all about the same. Get some masa (corn flour) and add hot water to make the tortilla dough. Pinch off some dough to make a ball and then flatten it. Cook the dough on a VERY hot skillet, flipping a couple of times. Keep the tortillas warm after cooking so that they stay soft.
Making the tacos: Dip a corn tortilla into the birria broth you set aside. Place the tortilla on a hot skillet and on half of it add cheese (your choice), the birria turkey, and some chopped cilantro. Flip the other side of the tortilla up on top of the fillings and cook for a couple of minutes, or until the cheese starts to melt. These tacos are usually served with a small cup of the birria broth for dipping. I find them too messy to pick up and eat that way so I just pour a bit of the broth onto the finished product and eat them with a fork.
Missouri's squirrel season opens the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend and I cannot wait to make some tree rat birria. Stay tuned!
Darren
Recent Posts
) one of my neighbors did something similar, but in the middle of the front yard, with the circular driveway going around it, he put in a raised portion on which he proudly exhibited his old push mower. It was hilarious!
