There’s this moment when I’m cooking something new and I pull it out of the oven to check on it, perhaps I do a little taste test on a fork and the food it too hot and I’m doing deep breaths to try not to burn my mouth. In that moment, I just know that I turned a culinary corner. I made something so delicious that I amazed my own self.
Not to oversell it, but that’s the way I felt when I cooked this barbacoa. It was so incredibly good that I almost wanted to cry and I felt this little thrill of awe that I could cook something so nurturing and complex and hearty and just so damn delicious.
We’ve been in a bit of a chicken rut in my house lately, so I wanted to make some beef. After cooking this barbacoa, I am now on a vegetarian and healthy bend because I’m afraid I almost gave myself gout eating meat for several meals in a row, but anyway. We were in a chicken rut and I swear I decided to learn to cook barbacoa just out of thin air. I don’t know where the inspiration came from, but it was suddenly there and palpable.
Whenever I’m cooking something new, I do a stupid amount of research before I commit to a recipe. That’s why I’m so proud of my Damn Delicious posts. Sure, I’m just sharing another person’s recipe most of the time, but I’m not just sharing it, I’m vouching for it. I’m putting my picky, food-loving name behind it. I’m making you a promise that it’s worth the time and effort. It’s so disappointing to invest the time and energy and resources into a recipe for it to just be ho-hum. I don’t have time for that and neither do you!
So, trust me when I say that this recipe for homemade barbacoa is going to knock your socks off. Truly. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever cooked. Yep, I will be so bold to say that. The recipe comes from Give me Some Oven and I’m confident you could follow her slow-cooker method and find awesome results. Me? Of course I had to modify it, so here’s what I did:
- I went through the extra step of blending all of the ingredients minus the meat and the Bay Leaf in my food processor. If you do this, beware and blend in small batches because it’s a pretty liquidy process. I had a leaksplosion with my food processor. I also added about half a cup of orange juice and a tablespoon of honey because someone in the comments mentioned that it’s more traditional to add that and I happened to have them on hand.
- I didn’t plan ahead enough to cook in the slow cooker, so I used my oven. I don’t have a dutch oven, so I cooked in my trusty cast iron skillet covered with aluminum foil for about 45 minutes at 425 degrees and then turned it down to 350 for about two hours.
- I went ahead and seared the meat for about five minutes or so on each side before putting it in the oven because I was going for maximum flakiness and nuance. Once seared, I poured over the sauce and popped it in the oven with the aluminum foil covering. I honestly forgot the Bay Leaf, but if you remember, I’d recommend you add it. It can’t hurt.
- At first, it isn’t going to seem like the meat is going to get tender. It stays in the two inch chunks for quite some time – at least an hour and a half. Be patient and trust the process. Over time, the meat will just fall apart into the most tender, flaky pieces. After I shredded the meat, I put it back in the oven for a bit so that some pieces could brown further. Gah, so good!
Now, of course you can put that barbacoa on anything. Nachos, burrito bowls, you name it, you can’t go wrong. But, if you happen to have extra time on your hands (Corona virus shelter in place, what!) and want to try your hand at homemade tortillas, I am going to fully support your decision. You will be my tortilla hero.
I love a homemade tortilla more than most things in life, but I had never worked up the nerve to try them for myself, mostly because I was intimidated by lard. I found a recipe that honestly was so easy that called for olive oil instead of lard via The Cafe Sucre Farine. I was intrigued, so I decided to use my limited stock of flour to give them a go.
Holy crap, these tortillas were delicious. They are little pillows of heaven and they couldn’t be any easier to make. The Kitchenaid will do all the work for you aside from a little rolling pin action. Be sure to give them the adequate rest time before you pull out the rolling pin and don’t be afraid to really get in there and roll them out super thin. That’s going to keep it more like a tortilla versus a pita.
All you need is tortilla + barbacoa + maybe a little cilantro and diced onion to have a very memorable meal. Keep it simple my friends.
Please let me know in the comments if you decide to make this! I would love to hear of your culinary triumph and I will live vicariously through your recount. I love cooking so much and love nothing more than when you make a recipe I recommend. Happy cooking, friends!
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