Chipotle style Barbacoa

[Scott M]

So one of my favorite meals is a Chipotle style burrito. I can easily get the corn, beans, guac, and other fixins that you add in, but I could never imagine being able to imitate the beef flavor.

So after some searching I came across this recipe. The poster claimed it was directly from Chipotle and posted on the Sacrmento News10 HSOforum (now defunct):

4 guijillo chiles

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground cloves

10 allspice berries

1/3 cup Mexican oregano

12 sprigs fresh thyme

6 garlic cloves

1 Spanish onion, roughly chopped

1/3 cup cider vinegar

1 (6 to 8-pound) beef roast

Salt and pepper

1 (2-pound) package dried avocado leaves

Large tortilla for wrap, beans, rice and vegetables of your choice.

Instructions:

Toast chiles, cover with boiling water in a deep bowl and set aside for 20 minutes. Grind cumin, cloves, allspice, and oregano in coffee grinder. Drain soaked chiles, puree in blender the chiles, ground spices, thyme, garlic, onion, vinegar, and 1/2 cup of water. Process until smooth. Push mixture through a sieve, season beef with salt and pepper. Rub paste all over the meat. Arrange in a bowl and allow to marinate for 4 hours, refrigerated. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a deep roaster pan, scatter half of the avocado leaves on the bottom, place meat on top of the avocado leaves and scatter the remaining leaves over the meat. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook the beef 6 to 7 hours until meat is falling off the bone. If using lamb shoulder cook for 4 hours.

Note: Fresh avocado leaves are toxic - they must be dried to be used for cooking.

I haven't tried it yet, but want to give it a whirl. I thought I'd throw it on here in case someone got a chance to try it before me. It seems like some of the stuff would be hard to find (dried avocado leaves, Mexican oregano?). I'm not sure if this will be too difficult for my level, but if someone beats me to it, please post your results. I want to try this recipe within the next month. If someone has another recipe, please post as well.

[sparcebag]

Mexican oregano is just common oreg.You can get it Mex. at Cub,in their fresh packed aisle.

The dried avacado leaves are like dried sasafras,or felette for gumbo,just a thickner,corn starch or a rou would work.

The only thing I cant see in there as for Chipotle are the smoked Jalapinos? Which are Chipotle

[thirdeye]

Barbacoa is good stuff. The recipes vary about like chili, and I like it with eggs for breakfast, in tortillas or as a filling for my homemade tamales. The one thing I've found is that you really have to be generous with the seasonings, especially the garlic.

I cook mine down in a roaster oven at a lower temp than your recipe and use roasts from a boneless chuck roll. I've never used the avacado leaves, might have to give that one a go.

[DEADhead]

If you want an easy barbacoa (or an alternate use for leftover pot roast), take an ordinary beef roast cooked in a crock pot with garlic and onions, and shred it picadillo style. In a saucepan, add a can of "el pato" tomato sauce and the beef. Heat until warm, thoroughly mixing the sauce and meat. It will taste very close to homemade barbacoa but without the work. FYI, the el pato is somewhat spicy, so sensitive tongues beware.

Another quick barbacoa alternative is to add rojo taco seasoning from Penzey's spices. Achiote is the main ingredient and gives it a distinct flavor, similar to the barbacoa flavor found at many taquerias.

Scott your recipe looks very good, thanks for sharing!

[Central Bassman]

Thirdeye, that sounds really good!!!