Tacos Tlaquepaque, These tacos are made using yellow corn tortillas filled with stewed beef, made using the cow’s head (barbacoa de cabeza), and then covered with a brownish salsa made of tomatillos and peppers. In case you’re wondering, the sauce is not that spicy. Surprise your family today!
3 to 4sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt to taste
FOR THE SAUCE;
1poundtomatillo
12arbol peppersstem removed
2guajillo pepperscleaned and deveined.
2garlic cloves
1teaspooninstant coffee
salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE TACOS;
24small yellow corn tortillas or 18 standard size yellow
corn tortillas
¼cupvegetable oil
1cupwhite onionfinely chopped
1cupcilantrofinely chopped
Lime wedges
Instructions
Remove meat from package and rinse well, pat dry with paper towels. Place in your crockpot or a large stockpot. Cover with water. Add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, marjoram, and thyme. Cook for eight hours in your crock pot on the low setting. If you prefer to cook using the stove top method, cook for about 2 ½ to 3 hours until the meat is tender and can be easily shredded. Once the meat is cooked, shred and set aside 6 cups of meat to make the tacos. Refrigerate the leftover meat for other uses, see note above.
For the sauce:
Remove the husk from the tomatillos and rinse. Place in a medium-size saucepan, and cover with water. Slightly roast guajillos and arbol peppers in a skillet over medium heat. Roast them separately, since arbol peppers roast faster and tend to burn quickly.
The roasting time is done in a matter of seconds. Place the roasted peppers in the saucepan with the tomatillos and the garlic. Cook over a medium-high heat for about 15 minutes until tomatillos are cooked and peppers are soft.
Place tomatillos, peppers, and garlic in your blender with ½ cup of the cooking water. Process until you have a smooth sauce. Pour in a bowl, and stir in one teaspoon of instant coffee. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
To make the tacos:
heat half of the vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Quickly warm up the tortillas on both sides. Cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. Add the rest of the vegetable oil as needed to warm the tortillas. This step will help to prevent the tortillas from breaking.
To assemble the tacos:
fill each tortilla with some of the already shredded meat, fold, and place on a plate. If using small tortillas, make 4 tacos per person or 3 tacos when using standard size tortillas. Cover the tacos with the sauce using a ladle. Garnish with cilantro and onion, and serve with lime
wedges. Enjoy!
Notes
* Beef tongue is usually sold packaged whole, which means the meat will weigh between 3 to 4 pounds. Since this recipe is for 6 servings, you will have leftover meat to make some sandwiches or some crispy tacos (flautas) the next day.