Beef Barbacoa
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 4-8 hours depending on method
Serves: 8-10 people as a taco filling
- 1kg/2.2lbs beef cheeks (around 3)
- 950g/2.1 lb beef tongue
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup/250ml/8.8flozs beef stock
- 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and black pepper to taste
Step 1 - Cut up the beef tongue into 8 pieces (no need to peel the skin off the tongue) and each beef cheek into quarters. Place the tongue on the bottom and then the beef cheeks on top in a slow cooker or crock pot along with the oregano, beef stock, onion, garlic and bay leaves and set to 8 hours on low or 6 hours on high. You can also cook this in the oven for 135C/275F for 4-5 hours making sure that the lid is on tightly. Or if you cook this in a pressure cooker, cook it for 1 hour 15 minutes.
Step 2 -Remove the meat from the slow cooker and check that it is soft enough and then cool it off a bit so that it is easier to handle. To skim the fat off the cooking jus add a cup of ice cubes and this will create a layer of fat on top that you can skim off. Remove the ice cubes once the fat clings to them.
Step 3 -Place latex gloves on and remove any large pieces of fat in the beef cheek. Then peel off the skin from the tongue pieces, it should come off easily. Using fingers or forks shred the meat (it will be very soft). Add a bit of cooking liquid to moisten it if you want. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with tortillas, salsa, hot sauce, avocado, coriander or cilantro and limes. Enjoy!