These burnt end birria burritos are the ultimate Super Bowl fusion food

Super Bowl parties absolutely rule. I’d argue they’re one of the best parties you can throw every year. It’s a celebration of family, friends, food and football — the four Fs that make this great country thrive.

I’ll argue that there’s no such thing as bad food when it comes to watching football. If you have some chips, dip, wings and pizza you’re already winning. Instead what I’m going to do is give you a way to really take your party up to another level by theming your food offerings around the two teams in play.

Normally this is pretty difficult. How can you encapsulate two cities inside one featured dish? It’s likely going to be some horrific mashup that shouldn’t exist, but when it comes to Super Bowl LVIII we actually have something perfect to marry together without any Dr. Frankenstein alchemy required. Brace yourselves for …

Burnt End Birria Mission-style burrito

If you didn’t read that title and immediately begin salivating then there’s no hope for you. I know this sounds like so much damn work, and to some degree it is — but this is one of those things that can be prepped in advance, and from there it just sits in your slow cooker as part of a burrito station and everyone is responsible for their own assembly.

When you hear “burnt ends” I know the immediate assumption is that you’re going to need a giant offset smoker. I’m not going to lie, this is obviously best if you have your own smoker — but it’s not really needed. It’s quite easy to get pre-smoked burnt ends these days, and while they don’t hold up on their own, we’re going to be transforming them anyway.

How do I turn this into birria?

I’m cribbing heavily off one of the greatest cooking sites on the internet: Serious Eats. Octavio Peña’s method for birria is foolproof, and honestly one of the best damn things I have ever eaten. You should be able to find everything in the international aisle of your local grocery store, wherever you live in the country.

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken stock
• 2 plum tomatoes
• 2 tomatillos
• 1 tsp Black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Cumin
• ¹⁄₄ tsp Cloves
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp oregano
• 5 guajillo chiles
• 5 árbol chiles
• 3.5 oz Annato Paste
• 5 medium cloves garlic
• 1 smoked brisket point, or 4 pounds pre-cooked Burnt Ends
• 1 cup water
• 1 onion (trimmed)
• 3 bay leaves

For burrito toppings

• 3 cups white rice
• 3 cans black beans
• Diced fresh jalapeno
• Diced cilantro
• Sour Cream
• Cheese of your choice
• Guacamole
• Fresh lime wedges

Directions

1. Combine chicken stock, water, tomatoes, tomatillos, onion, garlic, chiles and spices (minus Bay Leaves) in a large stock pot or Dutch Oven and bring to a boil.
2. Turn off heat and cover for 15 minutes.
3. Peel and discard tomato and tomatillo skins, before adding the mixture to a large blender — puree until smooth and return to stove.
4. Cut brisket down to 2” cubes, or add pre-cooked burnt ends, along with bay leaves and a generous pitch of salt. Bring to a gentle simmer for 2 hrs.
5. Remove meat with a slotted spoon, and shred either by hand or using two forks.
6. Set aside meat, bringing birria consomme to a low boil, reducing until slightly thickened.
7. Return shredded meat to the sauce and keep warm until serving

Serving tips

• The sauce will have a kick to it because we’ve upped the amount of chiles from a typical birria. Instruct your guests they can control the heat level by using more or less of the sauce in their burrito
• If you enjoy upping the heat feel free to use any hot sauce you choose, but I advise against chipotle sauces. This dish already has enough smokiness, and the addition of chipotle will push it over the top.
• This is a very heavy flavor, and the richness really benefits from some acid. Adding lime is a must, or at the very least some guacamole or fresh lettuce to balance out the richness of the meat.