Goat Barbacoa Recipes

BARBACOA-STYLE SHREDDED BEEF

Steps:

• Season beef chunks with salt and pepper on all sides.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef in batches; cook until browned, about 1 minute per side. Transfer beef to a slow cooker.
• Combine beef broth, apple cider vinegar, lime juice, chipotle peppers, garlic, cumin, oregano, and cloves in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. Pour over beef in the slow cooker. Stir in bay leaves.
• Cook on Low until beef is fork-tender, 8 to 10 hours.
• Discard bay leaves. Remove beef and shred using 2 forks. Return beef to the slow cooker to marinate in the sauce for at least 10 more minutes before serving.

BARBACOA

Steps:

• Heat a heavy skillet over medium heat. Place the dried guajillo chiles into the skillet and cook, turning occasionally, until the color changes and the chiles have puffed, about 5 minutes. Set the chiles aside to cool for a moment. Meanwhile, toast the cumin and cloves in the hot skillet until the cumin seeds begin to pop; remove from the pan and set aside. Remove and discard the stems, seeds, and veins of the chiles, and place into a small bowl. Pour the boiling water over top, and cover. Let the chiles soak for 1 hour.
• Grind the toasted cumin and cloves into a powder, and place into a blender. Add the ancho chile powder, onion, garlic, oregano, thyme, vinegar, and lime juice. Remove the chiles from the soaking water, and place into the blender along with 1/3 cup of the soaking liquid. Cover, and blend until a smooth paste forms.
• Place the beef roast into a mixing bowl, and pour the guajillo chile past over top. Coat the roast on all sides with the paste, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
• Preheat an oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Transfer the roast and marinade to a roasting pan, and arrange the bay leaves over top. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven until the meat is very tender and is easily pulled apart with a fork, about 6 hours. Let stand, covered, at room temperature for 1 hour before discarding the bay leaves and shredding with two forks.

BARBACOA MEAT

Steps:

• Coat beef cheek meat with olive oil. Rub salt, cumin, and pepper into meat. Wrap meat in aluminum foil and refrigerate, 4 hours to overnight.
• Pour water into a slow cooker.
• Arrange onion and garlic around beef cheek meat in the aluminum foil. Wrap foil tightly around meat and vegetables. Add a second sheet of aluminum foil around meat mixture, sealing tightly; place in the slow cooker.
• Cook on Low, adding more water if it has evaporated, until meat is very tender, 7 to 8 hours. Remove foil packet from slow cooker and shred meat using 2 forks.

BBQ GOAT OR LAMB: BARBACOA DE CORDERO

Steps:

• 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 goat 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 goat 6 to 7 hours until meat is falling off the bone. If using lamb shoulder cook for 4 hours.

LAMB BARBACOA FROM THE BACKYARD GRILL: BARBACOA DE BORREGO

Steps:

• Preparing the grill and the soup ingredients: About 30 minutes before cooking, prepare a charcoal fire, letting the coals burn until they are covered with a gray ash and are medium-hot. Bank the coals on 2 sides of the lower grate to prepare for the indirect cooking that follows.
• In a 12 by 9-inch, heavy-duty aluminum-foil pan (or something similar), combine the potatoes, carrots, onion, garlic, garbanzo beans, and epazote. Position the pan in the center of the lower grate and surround with the coals. Pour water into the pan to about 1-inch from the top (it'll take about 5 cups). Position the cooking grate 8 inches above the coals and set an oven thermometer on it, if you have one.
• Grilling the meat: Sprinkle the lamb liberally with salt. Lay the roast in the center of the cooking grate directly over the soup, cover the grill, and cook, maintaining a moderately low temperature (between 250 and 300 degrees F), checking every 30 minutes and adding coals as needed. The lamb will be beautifully smoky-roasted, it'll register about 170 degrees F on a meat thermometer and be fall-apart tender in about 2 1/4 hours. Be sure to check the slow-simmering soup that's capturing all those lamb juices periodically, to ensure the liquid level remains more or less the same, adding more water if it's needed.
• Finishing the dish: With a couple of meat forks or spatulas, remove the roast to a platter. Sprinkle with salt and let rest, tented with foil, in a warm place for about 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, with the precision of a steady-handed circus performer, carefully remove the pan of soup from the bottom of the grill. Skim off the fat that is floating on the surface, then taste and season with salt, usually about 3/4 teaspoon. Stir in the cilantro and finely chopped chipotle and ladle into small, warm soup cups.
• Scrape the salsa into a serving dish and sprinkle with cheese. Remove the string from the lamb. Slice the lamb into good, thick slabs and arrange on a warm platter that's lined or decorated with parsley, banana leaves, or lemon leaves. Strew the olives around the platter and carry to the table with a flourish. Serve each guest a cup of soup, and pass the meat, salsa, and lots of warm tortillas for everyone to make delicious soft tacos.

GOAT IN CHILE MARINADE, PIT-BARBECUE STYLE

Steps:

• Wash and griddle-dry the chiles by the directions below. Place in a deep bowl and cover generously with boiling water. Let soak for at least 20 minutes.
• Grind the cumin, cloves, allspice, oregano, and dried thyme (if using) together in an electric coffee or spice grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
• Drain the soaked chiles. Working in batches as necessary, place them in a blender with the ground herbs and spices (add fresh thyme at this point if using), garlic, onion, vinegar, salt, and about 1/2 cup water (or enough to facilitate the action of the blades). Process to a smooth purée (about 3 minutes on high), stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. With a wooden spoon or pusher, for the purée through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl. It should have the consistency of a thick but still moist paste.
• Season the pieces of goat or lamb with salt and pepper. Slather the seasoning paste all over the meat. Arrange in a large bowl (or any non-reactive container that's large enough), cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours. Remove from the refrigerator about 2 hours before beginning the cooking, to let the meat come to room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Choose a deep roasting pan or baking dish large enough to hold the meat snugly. Scatter half of the avocado leaves across the bottom of the pan and arrange the meat on them. Scatter the remaining leaves over the meat. Cover the pan (wrapping very tightly with several layers of foil if there is no lid) and bake 6 to 7 hours (4 to 4 1/2 hours for the lamb). The meat should be almost falling off the bone.