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RECIPE 15

Lamb Barbacoa Tacos

⏱ 7 HRS 🍽 SERVES 5

Ingredients

  • 4 lb bone-in leg of lamb
Marinade
  • 2 Tbsp cumin seeds
  • 1 yellow or white onion
  • 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cloves
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 3 Tbsp lime juice, preferably freshly squeezed
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 cup bone broth (chicken or beef/lamb)
  • 1 orange, halved with peel left on, juiced (can substitute with grapefruit)
  • 1 Tbsp ground coriander
  • 2 dried ancho or guajillo chilies, seeded, no need to rehydrate
  • 2 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1/2 tsp ground pepper
  • 2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, diced
  • 1 Tbsp raw honey
  • 1 cinnamon stick
Toppings & Accessories
  • Radishes, thinly sliced
  • Queso fresco, crumbled
  • High-quality corn tortillas
  • Green and red cabbage, preferably shredded thinly with a kitchen mandolin
  • Onions, sliced into disks and pickled for one hour in cider vinegar, salt and sugar
  • Fresh cilantro, minced
  • Diced avocado (or even better, homemade guacamole)
  • Sour cream, thinned with some lime juice or buttermilk
  • Sliced lime wedges
  • Pickled vegetables
  • Spanish rice cooked in bone broth

Directions

  1. Remove lamb from refrigerator, generously salt and pepper, and let come up to room temperature (about one hour). Heat oven to 300 degrees with rack on the lower-middle level.
  2. Combine marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Using a stainless steel pan or iron skillet over medium high heat, coat with a light layer of avocado oil, and then sear the lamb on all sides until browned (about 5 –7 min per side).
  3. Add juiced orange halves, bay leaves, blended marinade, and lamb with fat-side up into dutch oven. Cover with lid and move to oven. Cook at least 6 hours, flipping lamb at least once during the process. You can remove the lid in the final two hours to thicken the sauce. When the meat is ready, it should easily pull apart with tongs or a fork.
  4. Remove Dutch oven from the heat. Discard the orange halves and bay leaves. Pull apart meat and discard bones. Serve with toppings and accessories.