Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa Tacos & Cheesy Baked Mexican Rice

 Today is Thursday. Taco Thursday.

My mom still comes over and folds my laundry for me. And sews things. And she brings me all the groceries she finds on sale. Tonight I got an eggplant and fancy onions. The point is, she is a saint, and she deserves a taco. So don't get any crazy ideas that I normally have dinner parties twice a week on school nights-- it just worked out that way this week. Party yet again tonight. Fiesta actually. For my Mamacita Carmelita and my Poppi Chulo. OK I don't really call him that. But she's my Mamacita, in my phone and everything. "Yo, Mamacita, I need some celery on the cheap." And she's on it. She has ALREADY bought it most weeks.

In unrelated news: I got an instant pot for Christmas. Pressure cooker? I still don't understand how to refer to it. Liz is dubious of apparatuses. Apparati? Everyone's onto pressure cookers and air fryers (got one of those for Christmas as well) and I still don't even really know how to use my crock pot. I just don't understand what these fancy pots can do that regular pots cannot, other than start house fires. But, they are gifts from my hub, and he is really excited about them so I am going to give it the old college try. So, there I was, all day, with actual time on my hands to cook my barbacoa long and low on my stove (it's Covid, all I have is time), and I had to wait until an hour before dinner to cook this beef under pressure. This thing had little to no chance to impress me. 

I served my tacos with my Spicy Strawberry Salsa, some Mexican cheesy baked rice with zucchini, and spicy margs, natch! Muchos besos.

 

 Recipe by Daniel Shumski at Epicurious.com

Instant Pot Beef Barbacoa Tacos

Serves 6

 Ingredients

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 T. freshly squeezed lime juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. cumin

1 chipotle in adobo, minced See! Told ya this comes in handy. International aisle.

 

2 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

2 T. vegetable oil

2 1/2 lb. boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed of most fat and cut into large chunks

1/2 cup chicken broth or stock

2 bay leaves

For serving: tortillas, salsa/pico/guac, cotija cheese It's too similar to Feta for me to bother buying both. I keep Feta 24/7 since it lasts forever.

Instructions (You could totally just brown the meat and throw all this in a crock pot and cook it on low, IMO.)

1) Whisk together the first nine ingredients in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2) Press Sauté and use the Sauté or Adjust button to select the highest temperature ("More"). Place the vegetable oil in the inner pot. Wait until the display reads "Hot," about 5 minutes, then add the beef. Cook, turning every 2 minutes, until the beef is browned on most sides, about 8 minutes.

 

 

 

  

Neither one of us trusts this thing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3) Add the vinegar sauce and chicken broth (be careful-steam may whoosh up! WAIT WHAT? Nothing whooshed.), and then the bay leaves. Stir to combine.

4) Close and lock the lid. Set the valve to Sealing. Press Cancel, then press Manual or Pressure Cook and use the Pressure or Pressure Level button to select High Pressure. Use the - or + button to set the time to 30 minutes. Copied verbatim. No idea. It's robot talk to me.

5) When the cooking cycle ends, press Cancel. Allow the appliance to cool and release pressure naturally, about 20 minutes. FYI, if you leave out the MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT, you can't toss it in until after this part. So, I was super grumpy. I mean come on, I took a picture of the darn chipotle peppers and then forgot them.

6) Remove the lid. Discard the bay leaves. Use tongs or a large spoon to remove the beef form the inner pot and place it on a cutting board. Shred the beef using two forks. Everyone liked this, but I wanted more. More salt, more spice, maybe the PEPPERS IT CALLED FOR, etc. It was perfect for the small children and the rest of the pansies over here who don't like as much spice as I do. I will say, the meat WAS quite tender. And it was grass fed beef, which I have an even tougher time making yummy, so the pressure cooker did aide with that part.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheesy Baked Mexican Rice

Ingredients

1/3 cup olive oil

3 zucchini, diced very small Ignore my pictures. I wish I diced it smaller.

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, diced fine

2 cups long grain white rice

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

4 tsp. chili powder

3 cups chicken stock

1 cup shredded Mexican cheese

3 T. cilantro, chopped

Instructions

1) Preheat oven to 350°F.

2) Sauté zucchini, garlic and onion in oil until it softens, about 5 minutes. Use an oven-safe pan with tight-fitting lid.

3) Add rice and seasonings and lightly brown, about 2 minutes. Add enough stock to cover rice by about an inch.

4) Bake for 35 minutes. Add cheese and stir. Top with fresh cilantro.

Marco ate like 14 tacos.