Red Chile Braised Barbacoa + 10 Helpful Kitchen Tips

I've gotten quite friendly with Mexican food since moving to Los Angeles and also for the day job.  Never again will I eat another ground beef hard taco or too cheesy enchilada that I grew up with in Northern Virginia at Tippy Taco's House.  To me, good Mexican food takes hours to cook, like moles and braised meats.  I've made this a few times and now it's time to share with you guys.  We also made carnitas cooked in lard this past week at work.  Oh wow, so good, although you can only eat a small helping before you start to feel your arteries clogging!!! 

Recipe for Barbacoa

Chile Marinade:

2 dried Guajillo chiles, de-stemmed and seeded
1 dried Chipotle chile, de-stemmed and seeded
2 dried Pasilla chiles, de-stemmed and seeded
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
2 T tomato paste
Chile soaking liquid
**Recommendation to use gloves because Chiles are HOT and if they get anywhere near your eyes--no bueno!

1.  Roast chiles in saute pan until they are soft and fragrant.  Be watchful as they will burn easily and become bitter.
2.  Once chiles are soft, soak them in hot tap water for about 30 minutes.  After it soaks, taste liquid to make sure it is not too bitter.
3. In a blender, add chiles, tomatoes, tomato paste, and half of chile soaking liquid (if bitter, use water instead).  Blend until consistency is a thick puree.
4.  Strain using a chinois or medium mesh strainer to remove all stray seeds or stems. 

Red Chile Barbacoa:

2-3 cups Chile Marinade
2 lbs of Beef Brisket (cubed, 1" thick)
6-8 cups Beef stock, Chicken stock or water is fine
1 T Chili Powder
1 T Black pepper
2 t  Mexican Oregano (preferably whole)
1 t Chipotle powder
1 cup Onions (small dice)
3 garlic cloves (fine dice)
Salt to taste

1.  Salt and pepper beef cubes. Sear/brown the cubed beef brisket in a dutch oven (preferred) over high heat with olive or vegetable oil.  Once they have a nice sear about 3-4 minutes, remove from dutch oven/pot.
2.  Saute onions, then garlic back in dutch oven/pot, add in beef, chile marinade, and stock.
3.  Add in chili powder, mexican oregano, chipotle pepper, black pepper, and salt.
4.  Bring to a boil, simmer, and cover.  Cook for 2 1/2 hours or until beef it tender and breaks apart.
5.  Shred beef if you wish or leave whole, season with more salt if need be.
6.  Serve with corn tortillas or with rice and beans.   



I really enjoy reading Chef's theories in the kitchen and came up with this list 4 years ago inspired by David Lebovitz.  I've done a lot more cooking and have been in a few kitchen restaurants since then.  So here is an updated list.  

T.Tu's 10 Kitchen Tips:

1. Recipes are guides. Stick with your intuition and creativity when cooking.  I find it difficult to give out an exact recipe. I’ll give you the ingredients and the basis of things but it’s really up to you how it turns out. Cooking is about time, inspiration, and mood… ‘nuff said.


2. Salt and pepper, taste EVERYTHING. – Thomas Keller (French Laundry) says that this makes or breaks you as a cook.   Practice on a salad, sounds silly but that’s one of the first things I learned in the restaurant. My chef would always taste one leaf of every salad plate that went out!

3. The essentials Kitchen TOOLS - sharp knife, spoon, tongs, fish spatula – I take these tools everywhere including on the plane if necessary. Shun knife, spoon from Paris, tongs and fish spatula I have owned from culinary school!  You'll find that if you good equipment, everything is done much quicker.

4. Use fresh herbs and whole seed spices - Favorite herbs - Savory, Tarragon, Basil, Thyme, Cilantro, I can go on.  They bring another dimension to anything even if it's just a salad. Whole coriander seeds, fennel, cumin --toast, grind, use as marinade or in sauces or yogurts or sprinkle on top of bread of you are baking.  Very easy.

5. Onions – always have those puppies around. They are the foundation to any sauce.  And how can anyone not like caramelized onions, they go well with everything!

6. Don’t be afraid of Butter –Around Fall/Winter, it’s hard not use butter. Especially when you are eating hearty vegetables like potatoes, yams, sweet potatoes, carrots. I even like to poach veggies with butter--asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, simple and tasty! A little goes a long way.

7. Cook Grains – packed with nutrients, good subs for carbohydrates, good in protein, high in fiber. I made Mint scented Quinoa the other week.  You can also sub in Barley as a Risotto or use Farro for a summer vegetable salad. Let’s not forget Bulgur and Wheat Berries – try it all !

8. REST your meat before cooking AND eating-- This is an easy tip that a lot of people forget.  When you are cooking with meat, it's important to let it sit at room temperature before sticking into a hot pan.  Think about it logically, you don't want to shock the meat--going immediately from the fridge to a hot pan.  What happens is that beef tends to turn grey.  Let it stand for a half hour at room temp before cooking.  You'll see the results.
 
AND once the meat comes out of the oven, grill, or saute pan, REST IT then too.  There's still residual cooking going on and if you cut right into, all the juices will come rushing out, leading to a dry piece of meat.  Be patient and let it settle for 5 minutes.  It is worth waiting for.


9. Spend at least $10 on Wine – If you are going to put your body through this, you minus well spend money on it. Just like anything else in life, you get for what you pay. Not to say that you can’t find decent wine for under 10 bucks, but you'll probably get bit of a headache the next morning, IMHO.

10. Own nice plates --- For the love of god, if you take time to cook, you must present it nicely. White plates, maybe a few rectangle, square shapes brings a whole other dimension to your food. First impressions even pertain to food!

Again, just my opinions, thoughts, comments, concerns...???!!