Generally when doing food recipes I want to own the idea start to finish. I decided to make this thing, found a recipe and tried it. Here's how it went. That's not the case today because my wife has been making this one for years. But it's that good and is always a hit when we serve it to friends and family, so it just feels right to share. Plus I did make it myself this time.
Barbacoa is a style of roasting meat that originated in the Dominican, apparently. We use a slow cooker and beef (chuck roast) that we turn into fancy tacos. I probably first heard the term at Chipotle and that's what I always compare it to. The idea here is after reading this you can make it yourself at home. Basically all the work is on the front end and then it cooks by itself through the day. By dinner time the main part of the meal is ready, and all you have to do is pull out toppings: cheese, lettuce, guac, hot sauce, tortillas... That's the beauty of tacos, what you put on them and how elaborate you want to be is up to you.
I'm doing that thing that food bloggers do and jabbering away far too long. Let's get to making the food. Recipe source is here.
Ingredients:
- ~3lb chuck roast, cut into chunks
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (can item, doesn't use it all)
- 4 oz can diced green chilis, drained
- 1 small white (or yellow) onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/2 cup beef stock/broth (or water)
Quick version:
1. Get out slow cooker in the morning
2. Prep items: cut up beef, chop onion/garlic/chipotle peppers, drain green chilis
3. Drop everything into slow cooker, including liquids/spices
4. Mix up a little with some tongs
5. Set to low and cook 8 hours (more is fine, even ideal)
6. 15-30 minutes before dinner pull meat out and loosely shred, place back in juices
7. Pull out again and serve!
The draw of this, and any slow cooker meal, is the simplicity. You have to do fairly minimal work: cutting up the beef, an onion, some garlic and a couple peppers from a can. Dump those and a few liquids and spices into the pot and let it cook. You could easily do the prep the night before and start it in the morning. Then you have a delicious meal waiting for you at the end of the day.
This time making this I didn't have bay leaves or apple cider vinegar. I just skipped the bay leaves and replaced the apple cider vinegar with white wine vinegar. Little changes like that won't hurt too much. The most annoying thing about making this is the remaining chipotle peppers that usually go into the fridge and get forgotten. I should find a way to use them.
Next time I'll make sure to pull out the meat and shred it a little sooner while leaving the slow cooker on low. It wasn't quite as tender as usual and I'm thinking that was the problem.
This meat is extraordinarily juicy. I often need a paper towel underneath my tacos while I'm eating or the plate gets covered with liquid. This is obviously a good thing and I'm trying only to give fair warning. It even maintains the juices quite well after freezing and re-heating.
Alright, that's enough for today. I love eating this stuff and hopefully you will too.
Chipotle peppers + Greek Yogurt = spicy crema on your taco!