Barbacoa

A couple of months ago, I made something that came strictly from what I had handy and what sounded good.  I end up cooking like that a lot.  Later that evening, when it was time to eat, Raven told me that I had made "Barbacoa" and this was confirmed later when some friends from Southern California had some.  I was just glad that they enjoyed it, I had not idea what Barbacoa was.

I did some research tonight, and barbacoa really didn't have anything to do with what is on the meat originally.  Barbacoa is simply the method that was most efficient for South American peoples to cook a meat that was flavorful and tender.  They also used every part of the animal, which meant often that they were using the head of the beast.   To make these cuts more palatable, the connective tissue had to be broken down and tenderized.  To do this, the people dug a hole in the ground, lined it with coals and wrapped the animal heads in banana leaves and put them in the hole, covering it over.  This was like the crock pot of the time. 

The traditional way of eating barbacoa would be on a tortilla with salsa or guacamole.  Keep in  mind that it is just the roasted meat with no sauce.  It is also traditionally beef or goat, and usually the head. When pork is used instead it is called carnitas.  I serve my barbacoa over rice.

I am going to list my own recipe for barbacoa, I hope that you enjoy it, but it is very spicy!  I typically use what ever beef I can find the cheapest, excluding hamburger.  Breakfast steaks, beef ribs, pot roast, stew meat- all of it is fair game.


Ingredients:
2 pounds inexpensive beef
1 can chipotle in adobo
1 can rotel (the regular sized can)
1 medium onion, peeled and rough chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
Shae's pepper mix *optional

The meat needs to be chopped or sliced if you have a roast or other large piece of meat.  Place the meat in either a large pot with a lid or a crock pot and pour in the two cans and the garlic, stirring it to coat the meat well.  Add in the onion and set the crock pot to low, or the stove to simmer and cover.  Let it simmer for at least 4 hours, stirring it gently occasionally to prevent burning if using the stove. It may be cooked longer if you have the time, and extra time simmering will make the meat more tender.

If you have folks who just enjoy painful food, add in a TBS or so of my hot pepper mix, and use a large can of rotel, letting the sauce reduce some.  The flavors concentrate from the chilis in it and will make it like lava.  I finally broke Raven with this!
Serve over rice with salsa or guacamole on the side.