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Braised Beef Cheek Barbacoa

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A method of preparing meat found throughout Mexico and the Caribbean, barbacoa traditionally involves cooking the meat for hours in a pit. To mimic that technique, award-winning chef Diego Galicia flavors beef cheeks with bold seasonings, including ground ancho and pasilla chiles. Then he cooks the meat low and slow in a Dutch oven until meltingly tender. Serve with warm flour tortillas and your favorite salsa for making tacos. You may need to order beef cheeks from the butcher shop in advance, so plan accordingly.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 255 minutes
Servings 10 to 12

Ingredients

  • Extra-virgin olive oil as needed
  • 3 lb. (1.5 kg) beef cheeks, cut into 2-inch (5-cm) pieces
  • 3 cups (24 fl. oz./750 ml) beef stock
  • 1 large white onion, quartered
  • 2 oz. (60 g) ground ancho chile
  • 1 oz. (30 g) ground pasilla chile
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 garlic head, halved crosswise
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 12 flour tortillas, warmed
  • Salsa for serving

Directions

Preheat an oven to 300°F (150°C).

Heat a 5 1/2-quart (5.5-l) Dutch oven over medium-high heat and warm a thin film of olive oil. Working in batches, add the beef cheeks and sear on all sides, turning as needed, until nicely browned, 4 to 5 minutes per batch. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add a splash of the stock to the pot and deglaze, stirring with a wooden spatula to scrape up the browned bits. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.

Sprinkle the ground ancho chile and pasilla chile over the beef in the bowl and toss to coat on all sides. Season with salt and toss again.

Add the beef cheeks to the pot along with the remaining stock, the garlic and bay leaves. Add enough water to cover the beef cheeks about halfway and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Transfer to the oven and cook until the beef is fork-tender, about 4 hours. Remove and discard the bay leaves and garlic.

Transfer the beef and sauce to a large serving bowl. Serve with the flour tortillas and salsa. Serves 10 to 12.

Recipe courtesy of Chef Diego Galicia

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