I've been wanting to make barbacoa for years. It's not at all difficult as long as you're willing to forgo authenticity, which I am perfectly willing to do considering that authentic Mexican barbacoa is a cow's head that's been slow-cooked in a pit. While chucking a cow's head into a flaming pit might not sound difficult, it does present some challenges. First of all, gross. And secondly, I'm not sure where to buy a cow's head. I'm pretty sure I know where to buy several parts of a cow's head, but not the entire intact head. I suppose I could buy the separate pieces and try to puzzle them together, but that just leads right back to my first point.

So, abandoning any and all attempts at authenticity, barbacoa is slow-cooked, shredded, spicy beef. In other words, it's barbecued beef. The English word barbecue comes from the Spanish barbacoa which comes from a pre-Columbian Caribbean word, barabicu, meaning sacred fire pit. By all means, if you have a sacred fire pit, use it. But I made this in the oven.

Ingredients:

• 4 lbs boneless chuck roast
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 T Mexican oregano (use extra if you only have common oregano)
• 4 t cumin
• 1/4 t cloves
• 2 T brown sugar
• 4 canned chipotles in adobo
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2-3 T apple cider or white vinegar
• 1 cup chicken broth
• water
• salt
• pepper
• vegetable or canola oil

Directions:

Cut the roast up into smaller chunks. I used 2 two-pound roasts and cut them into about 10 pieces. Trim fat if you want or leave it for extra fatty goodness. Lay the beef out on newspaper or paper towels to soak up any moisture. Salt and lightly pepper it. Brown it in some oil in a dutch oven on high heat. Remove the browned beef. Heat some more oil in the dutch oven and sauté the onions and garlic with a dash of salt until soft. Puree the onions and garlic with the oregano, cumin, cloves, chipotles, sugar, lime juice, vinegar, and more salt. Warning: this mixture will not taste good. Do not expect it to. Put the beef back into the dutch oven and coat it with the pureed mixture. Pour in the broth and just enough water to cover the beef. I used about a cup. Bring the whole thing to a boil. Cover and bake in a 325° oven for 2 hours. Turn the heat down to 200° or so for an additional 3-5 hours. It would probably be ready after only an hour or two, but at such a low temperature, you can leave it in there for a long time without having to worry. In fact, it's just going to get better and better. I put mine in the oven in the morning and then spent the entire day drinking at an outdoor festival. By the time I got home that evening, drunk and hungry, it was perfect. It was all ready to just fall apart. It took only minimal pulling with a fork to shred it.

Barbacoa Tostada

Barbacoa is excellent in tacos or burritos, as anyone who's had the barbacoa at Chipotle knows. My favorite way to have it is on a tostada with chopped cilantro, tomatoes, onions, and sour cream. This stuff gets better over time too. Like a good chili, it improves with age. It's delicious right out of the oven, but five days later it will be incredible.

I cobbled this recipe together from several that I found online. I'll be making a few adjustments next time. Instead of browning the meat on the stove, I'll definitely grill it. I also want to try adding some fresh orange juice in place of some or all of the water. I might try some different hot peppers and a little more sugar, too. It's a pretty flexible recipe.