This is a recipe that can go in so many directions, it’s about using what’s to hand to create a combination of smokiness, acidity, spiced depth, sweetness, and that umami depth that we all love.
Smokey beef rib taco recipe
Ingredients
2.8 kilos beef short ribs
Any spiced seasoning mix in the cupboard (bbq, jerk, harissa, it’ll be fine. If you want to make your own mix-use smoked paprika, garlic salt, ground cumin, dried thyme, pepper)
- GROUP 1 INGREDIENTS
500ml orange juice
500ml good quality beef stock
2 dried ancho chillies soaked in hot water (reserve the water)
100g demerara sugar
1 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp onion granules
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp oregano
1 tin chopped tomatoes (rinse the tin with a little water and add)
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp chipotle paste
1 red chilli chopped
2 cloves garlic chopped
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 small or half a large cinnamon stick
10 peppercorns
1 star anise
- GROUP 2 INGREDIENTS
50ml good bourbon (or as much as you want)
Salt
1 lime
50g dark chocolate (at least 70%, even pure 100% cacao if you fancy) plus 10g for garnish
Tortillas
- QUICK PICKLED RADISHES
Radishes thinly sliced
100ml cider vinegar
100ml cider vinegar
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp demerara sugar
Bay leaf
4 peppercorns
- BROWN BEAN INGREDIENTS
1 tin of black beans
Bay leaf
Salt
Pepper
Beef Rib Directions
- Rub the beef with your spice mix and leave for a few hours or overnight.
- Brown the beef in a Dutch oven / heavy-bottomed pan with a splash of Yorkshire rapeseed oil (if using a slow cooker transfer meat to the bowl now and deglaze the pan you fried it in with a splash of water and add that with the meat).
- Add all of the other ingredients from group 1, cover and cook low and slow for a minimum of 4 hours (very low on a gentle simmer on the hob or in a 160°C oven / 140°C if fan oven). The beef should be ready to fall off the bone when done.
- Take off the heat / out of the oven and let rest.
- Take the beef out of the cooking liquor and pull off the bones, cover and reserve.
- Add the bourbon to the cooking liquor.
- Reduce the liquor to a thick sticky sauce, at least ¾ of the volume should be gone.
- Take out star anise, bay leaves and cinnamon.
- Blitz with a stick blender or food processor (be careful with hot liquids).
- Add salt and lime juice to taste, add the beef and stir.
- PICKLED RADISHES DIRECTIONS
- Add the vinegar, sugar, salt, bay leaf and peppercorns to a small pan.
- Heat until the salt and sugar have dissolved.
- Take off the heat, add the radishes and let the liquid cool.
- BLACK BEANS DIRECTIONS
- Add the beans and water from the tin to a pan.
- Add the bay leaf and seasoning.
- Heat gently, adding more water if needed and cook slowly for approximately 30 mins stirring frequently until the beans break down, you can mash them down if you prefer a smoother texture.
- TO CONSTRUCT THE DISH
- Place a warmed tortilla on a plate.
- Add the beef, black beans and sauce.
- Top with the pickled radishes.
- Add a lime wedge.
- Finish by grating the 10g chocolate over the top.
