Beef Barbacoa

Ingredients:
1/3 c Apple Cider Vinager
3 T. lime juice
3-4 canned chipotle chiles
4 garlic cloves
4 t. freshly toasted & ground cumin seeds
2 t. dried Mexican oregano
1 ½ t. ground black pepper
1 ½ t. salt
1 ½ t. freshly toasted & ground cloves
2 T. vegetable oil
4-5 lb. chuck roast
¾ c. chicken broth
3 bay leaves

1. Make the adobo sauce by combining vinegar, lime, chipotles, garlic, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper, and cloves in a blender and puree on high speed until smooth.

2. Trim fat from meat & cut into 6 smaller pieces. Sear all sides of the chunks of meat in the vegetable oil in a large stock pot or dutch oven until browned. Add the adobo sauce to the meat, pour in chicken broth & add bay leaves. Cover pot and braise (simmer) over med-low heat 5-6 hours or until meat easily flakes apart. Turn meat every 30 minutes as it cooks. After 4 hours keep lid off pot. At the 5 hour mark you should be able to tear meat off in bite size chunks with tongs.

Tidbits:
Toast whole cumin seeds & cloves separately in small sauté pan over med-low heat. Toss often & watch the spices closely so they don’t burn. Done toasting when fragrant & slightly brown. Use a clean coffee grinder to grind each spice separately, then measure for recipe.

**Note: In reading the comments section several people indicated that you can also just stick meat in a crockpot for the day on med-high setting, which is what we will be doing!)

See this updated post for more info and tips.