cheese Archives - My Latina Table

Easy Christmas Baked Brie Appetizer

Charbel Barker — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 01:01:31 +0000

This easy Christmas baked brie is one of those appetizers that looks fancy but couldn’t be easier to make. Warm, creamy brie is wrapped in puff pastry, baked, and topped with a sweet-and-savory cranberry walnut mixture that melts together perfectly in the oven, making it ideal for holidays, gatherings, or a cozy night in. Serve it straight from the oven with crackers or bread and watch it disappear fast.

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Easy Christmas Baked Brie

This easy Christmas baked brie is one of those appetizers that looks fancy but couldn’t be easier to make. Warm, creamy brie is wrapped in puff pastry and topped with a sweet-and-savory cranberry pecan mixture that melts together perfectly in the oven.

Course Appetizer

Keyword brie, christmas

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings servings

Calories 171kcal

Author Charbel Barker

Ingredients

1 sheet puff pastry
1 wheel brie cheese
1 cup dried cranberry and glazed walnut mix
3 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 egg beaten, for egg wash

Instructions

Wrap the brie in puff pastry and apply egg wash.
Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes
Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, and pour over the top of the brie wrapped in puff pastry.
Serve with crackers, baguettes, or chips.

Nutrition

The post Easy Christmas Baked Brie Appetizer appeared first on My Latina Table.

Authentic Quesabirria Recipe (Birria Tacos)

Charbel Barker — Tue, 14 Feb 2023 13:11:55 +0000

Inside: If you love birria, then you will want to try this delicious quesabirria recipe – a classic Mexican dish that everyone will love!

Over the past few years, I have loved sharing my Mexican culture with all of you through my recipes. One of my most popular recipes has been my authentic birria recipe which you can find here.

Birria is a delicious recipe that consists of slow-cooked meat (lamb meat, goat meat, or beef), that is cooked in a variety of spices and chile peppers, resulting in a tender, melt in your mouth recipe that is very popular in Mexico and abroad. The meat is shredded and then served either on its own, or with the broth, also known as consome.

Another very popular way to serve birria is as quesabirria tacos, which is a fusion of tacos, quesadillas, and birria. This recipe has become very popular on social media over the past few years as it has become more well-known in the United States.

Today I am going to teach you how to make this tasty recipe, so keep reading to find out more!

What is quesabirria?

Quesabirria is a type of Mexican street food that typically consists of slow-cooked birria, melted cheese, and a tortilla. The tortillas are dipped in the consome (or broth that results when you cook the birria), cooked on both sides, before being filled with the flavorful meat and served with even more consome.

The colors of this dish are very vibrant and it is a perfect option for taco night. Every time I make it, people say it is one of the best things they have ever tried!

Quesabirria can be as spicy or as mild as you would like, it really depends on the amount and type of chiles that you include. Check out the recipe for birria here, so that you can get started on this recipe.

Where does quesabirria come from?

Quesabirria is believed to have originated in the Mexican state of Jalisco, specifically in the city of Guadalajara. With that said, you can find it made throughout Mexico and it has made its way to other countries too! If you search for quesabirria beef tacos, or some other variation of those terms, you will find a ton of results which shows you just how popular this tender beef is.

One of the reasons it is so popular is because of the combination of flavors that comes from the guajillo peppers, ancho chiles, and other ingredients that are used to cook the juicy tender meat.

The cheesy filling is also something that people tend to love. I mean who doesn’t love cheese?

How do you make quesabirria?

Once you have mastered making birria, the actual process for turning it into quesabirria is pretty easy! You will need the following to get started:

Birria meat (you can find the recipe here)
Corn tortillas
Consome from the birria (broth)
Cheese (manchego, oaxaca cheese, mozzarella, or another melty cheese)
Cilantro, onion, lime wedges, and salsa to accompany

To speed up the process, you can use a pressure cooker (like an instant pot) on the high pressure setting, and the birria can be done in less than 45 minutes. If you have more time, you can use a slow cooker or even cook it in a large skillet over the stove for a longer period of time.

If you are going to make quesabirria tacos, you will want to set aside at least a cup of the consommè to dip the tortillas in and to serve on the side. This is one of the best parts of the recipe, so make sure to serve it in a small bowl with each serving.

To make this quesabirria tacos recipe, you will start by adding a little bit of oil to a hot skillet over medium heat. You will then take each tortilla and dip it in the consome, before adding it to the skillet and frying on both sides until crispy, but still somewhat soft. You do not want these to be as crispy as tostadas, because you still need to fold them in half.

Next add the birria meat and the cheese on one side, and fold the crispy tortillas in half and cook on both sides for a few more minutes. This allows the cheese to melt, but be careful not to let them burn.

At this point, you will serve the quesabirria tacos on a large plate. The most popular garnishes for this recipe are fresh cilantro, diced onions, a squeeze of lime juice, and fresh salsa. I always serve it with a cup of the consomme also to use as a dipping sauce. The delicious flavors will amaze you, and you will definitely be coming back for more.

Now that you have this birria taco recipe, you don’t even need a good reason to make it. Any day is a perfect day to try this authentic Mexican dish.

Let me knwo in the comments below how it turns out!

Check out these other delicious taco recipes

Quesabirria tacos recipe

If you love birria, then you will want to try this delicious quesabirria recipe - a classic Mexican dish that everyone will love!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Mexican

Keyword Birria, quesabirria, tacos

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 2

Total Time 2 30

Servings Quesabirria Tacos

Calories 226kcal

Author Charbel Barker

Ingredients

4 cups Birria meat
15 corn tortillas
2 cups consome from birria
3 Limes cut into wedges
2 cups Manchego or Oaxaca Cheese you can use mozzarella too or any other melty cheese
Salsa
2 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
cilantro chopped
1/4 onion diced

Instructions

Add the oil to a large skillet over medium heat.
Dip each tortilla in the consome and then cook into the oil until crispy but still pliable
Add some of the birria meat and cheese to the top of each tortilla and fold over, cooking on each side again until crispy
Serve with chopped cilantro, lime wedges, salsa, and consome for dipping.

Nutrition

The post Authentic Quesabirria Recipe (Birria Tacos) appeared first on My Latina Table.

How to Grill a Perfect Cheeseburger on a Wood Pellet Smoker

Charbel Barker — Fri, 18 May 2018 01:58:02 +0000

Inside: Keep reading for step-by-step instructions on how to grill a perfect, smoke-flavored cheeseburger on a Traeger wood pellet smoker.

Here in Colorado, Winter sometimes seems to last forever. The good thing about that, is that when it is finally over, we can really appreciate the warm weather! Part of that is grilling as often as possible.

I recently bought my husband a Traeger wood pellet smoker for his birthday. He absolutely loves it and has already made fall-off-the-bones ribs, a whole chicken, and today – burgers! We love getting that delicious smoked flavor on our food, so this is perfect for us.

Today, I want to share how to grill a perfect and delicious cheeseburger on a wood pellet smoker. Although the patty is usually the star of a burger, I also want to point out that it is important to have a high-quality, flavorful cheese to melt on top of the burger at the end of the cooking process.

Tips for Grilling A Burger On A Wood Pellet Smoker

There are a few things to remember when you grill a burger on a wood pellet smoker.

Unless you want to smoke the entire burger, you are going to want to set your temperature to around 425-450 degrees. You will still get the smoky flavor and it will be hot enough to add a good sear.
The outer layer of the burger will likely have a reddish color as it cooks. This is normal and is known as a smoke ring.
You will want to use a meat thermometer so that you know when the burger is cooked to your desired doneness. If you cut into the burger, it will let the juice escape and could result in a dry burger.

How to Smoke a Burger on a Wood Pellet Grill

I always choose a high-quality ground beef and form my patties by hand. Of course, you can buy the pre-formed patties, but I like to make my own. You can season them simply with salt and pepper, or you can choose to add other spices, a marinade, or even shredded cheese.

For today’s burger, I seasoned the ground beef with a little bit of salt, pepper, garlic, and cumin. I then formed the patties and took them straight to the smoker (after it was preheated of course).

One issue that we had the first time that we cooked burgers on the smoker, is that we didn’t wait until it was hot enough. This resulted in not having the greatest sear. I recommend that you set your wood pellet smoker to 425-450 degrees and make sure that it is completely preheated with the lid closed before adding the burgers.

This can take some patience, but believe me – it is worth it! You can use whatever flavor smoke that you want, but I usually go with Hickory. Traeger has so many different varieties that you can check out here.

Another option is to sear them off in a frying pan in the house before transferring them to the smoker. I haven’t done that method yet, but I may in the future!

Once the wood pellet smoker is preheated, it becomes a timing game. You don’t want to be flipping the burgers over multiple times and letting the hot smoky air out of the smoker.

I have found that putting the burgers on and waiting 8-9 minutes before flipping, and then grilling on the other side for another 8-9 minutes results in a juicy burger that is right about at 160 degrees.

This may seem like a long time, but on a wood pellet smoker, you don’t want to rush it and you want enough time to pass to allow the smoky flavor to penetrate the beef.

This is why it is important to have an instant-read meat thermometer. Make sure you insert the probe through the side of the burger and that it registers at least 160 degrees. Right before or shortly after the burgers reach 160 degrees, I add a slice of the sharp cheddar and let it melt before serving on a toasted bun with whatever fixings I am craving.

The first Traeger smoker that I had didn’t have the temperature probes integrated, but I recently upgraded to the new Pro Series 575 which has so many new features including the integrated temperature probe and WiFire technology.

This grill has really been a game-changer for me and I recommend it to everyone. They have the larger size Pro Series 780 which is good if you need more space. Make sure you pick up whichever option works best for you – you won’t regret it. Buy HERE.

I like to add bacon, grilled onions, and barbecue sauce for an extra tasty version, but you can add just about whatever you want.

Summary For Smoking A Burger

To review, here are the steps for a perfect grilled burger on a Traeger wood pellet smoker:

Add your preferred flavor of wood pellets to your wood pellet smoker (I recommend Hickory for burgers). Buy pellets here;
Preheat wood pellet smoker to 425-450 degrees with the lid closed;
Add the patties, close the lid, and let cook for 8-9 minutes;
Flip the patties, let cook for an additional 8-9 minutes, or until an internal meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees;
Add the cheese and let it melt;
Make your burger with all of your favorite fixings!

What is your favorite food to cook on your wood pellet smoker? Let me know in the comments.

Here are some other great meals you can make on your wood pellet grill

Best Accessories for Your Traeger Grill

Folding Front-Shelf. I love this and it makes everything more convenient. Buy here.
Drip Tray Liners. This is a must have if you want to keep your grill as clean as possible. Just add one of these and it will make clean up much easier. Buy here.
Digital Instant Read Thermometer. Heat is crucial when using your smoker. Even if your grill has probes built in, it never hurts to have a standalone one as well to double-check the internal temperature. Buy here.
Bucket Liners. Like the drip tray liners, these bucket liners are amazing for clean up. Buy here.

How to Smoke a Burger on a Wood Pellet Grill

Learn how to smoke a perfect burger on a wood pellet grill

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword burger

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Author Charbel Barker

Ingredients

1 bag hickory wood pellets
4 hamburger patties
hamburger fixings
1 wood pellet grill

Instructions

Add your preferred flavor of wood pellets to your wood pellet smoker (I recommend Hickory for burgers)
Preheat wood pellet smoker to 425-450 degrees with the lid closed
Add the patties, close the lid, and let cook for 8-9 minutes
Flip the patties, let cook for an additional 8-9 minutes, or until an internal meat thermometer reaches 160 degrees
Add the cheese and let it melt;Make your burger with all of your favorite fixings

The post How to Grill a Perfect Cheeseburger on a Wood Pellet Smoker appeared first on My Latina Table.