Dinner Party #4 Barbacoa

Last night was a success. Chris&Jeff came over and we had dinner. It was LOVELY. I promised Chris fireflies and cocktails on the patio and I delivered.  We yapped about movies and Stranger Things, DC v Avengers, cooking (duh) anime and Dr Who. It was a great conversation. Never got to any of the four board games we had been plotting! LOL

 Menu was Mexican because I continue to learn things such as: When we were just in San Antonio it dawned on me to a.) fry the tortillas before filling enchiladas. The result was SIGNIFICANTLY less soggy than previous iterations (even had to pause for a good moment cuz 4th traffic was being dumb)  b.) Authentic Mexican cuisine does not drown the entree in enchilada sauce. (even if it is delicious). My enchilada sauce was spot on. Ever since Christine showed me how to skip the mass produced shite? Yeah...never going back. c.) I also did a new to me recipe. In Guadalajara we were introduced to the concept of "street corn" but in tidier portions. Elote or esquites is the abuelita of tinned "cream corn" I grew up with. Except it has FLAVOR. This worked great. Roasted it in the oven, de-cobbed it. Mixed in the yum (crema is NOT sour cream BTW. It is different, it is.) My rice, however, was mediocre. Brown rice is my nemesis.  Finally D.) The star of the show. The Barbacoa. YAAAAS QUEEN! Mission accomplished!  After talking to Fabi's tia at Christmas and then picking the Cali Cousins' brains, I felt confident I could handle replicating MY favorite. I used a beef shoulder roast (close to 6lbs but fatty AF) and I promised Chris I would share the ingredient list.

Technically/Traditionally Barbacoa is a whole goat is roasted in a hole in the ground (like a Hawaiian luau) covered with maguey leaves. Although any way to steam/braise fatty meat will suffice. I used my slow cooker and beef. For eight hours. The house smelled marvelous. Farmer Dave's local beef is known for its high fat content and with peppers, onions and cilantro? I figured we would be set.  I think the workhorse in this dish was the fire roasted hatch green chili. I used about a cup of it diced. There was also chipotle powder (ummm maybe like three big tablespoons) and nice big doses of garlic powder and cumin. Cilantro. (dried and chopped fine... frankly it got lost. Should have used fresh at the end.) There were two limes juiced. About a cup and a half of veggie broth (just to help distribute heat/start the braise). Salt and Black pepper and the adventure learning curve for me? powdered clove. Just about a teaspoon cuz I was scared. There were no leftovers. We had a Pacifico and lime at dinner and Paloma's on the Patio*.  I hacked up a watermelon and served it with peanut butter cookies as we watched the fireflies start the night shift.