Those who know me will know I have a bit of a thing for tacos. Not those awful crunchy things but the lush and juicy soft shelled variety. I also love the word taco and find it hilarious. Taco taco taco. Give me a good taco and I will be harping on about it for weeks. My most memorable tacos both involve beef which is weird because my usual go-to is pulled pork. I made these the other day in order to impress a young gentleman. I thought they were flipping fantastic but my review was 'pretty good'. Not sure if I need to change the taco recipe or the gentleman... For the mean time I am still going to share and harp on about these beauties because they were the highlight of my weekend for sure.
I recently bought my new favourite cookbook, My Underground Kitchen by Jess Daniell. In the last 48 hours I have cooked three meals from it and don’t see myself stopping at that. I already have this week’s feasting planned out and it’s all out of this book. There was a recipe in here for beef nachos. Corn chips are pretty much just wheat tortillas that are fried and um well made out of corn so I figured hey lets just turn these into tacos.
I prepped all the slow cooker ingredients the night before, put them in the bowl of the slow cooker with the lid on and put it in the fridge overnight. The next morning I got up a few minutes earlier and cranked on the slow cooker before I left the house at 5.35am. By the time I got home I had a slow cooker full of tender, juicy beef all ready for me to wrap in a taco baby.
There are a couple of components involved, I know it may seem like a bit of effort but trust me its easy as and well worth the fiddle.
Slow Cooked Chipotle Beef Tacos
Adapted from My Underground Kitchen by Jess Daniell
Serves 6
For the beef
800g stewing steak
1 onion, thinly sliced
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon ground coriander
½ cup whole chipotles in sauce (I use the La Morena chipotles in the orange can)
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 lemon, halved
1 teaspoon salt
500ml beef or vegetable stock
In a frying pan over a medium to high heat, sear the pieces of beef steak so that they are lightly browned on each side. Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker, pop the lid on and leave to cook on high for 10-12 hours.
Remove the beef from the cooker and shred with two forks. Combine with the cooked onions and a half to a full cup of cooking liquid to keep the beef juicy. Reserve the rest of the cooking stock for the beans.
For the bean chilli
Splash of olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
75g tomato paste (about half a small can)
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
400g kidney beans, drained
400g cannellini beans, drained
2 cups cooking stock from the beef
1 tablespoon good quality rich cocoa powder
Salt and pepper
Sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for two minutes before adding in the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, cocoa and beans. Cook until the sauces become syrupy then add in the tomatoes and beef cooking juices. Leave to simmer until it thickens, about 30 to 40 minutes.
For the tomato salsa
4 vine ripened tomatoes, diced
½ red onion, finely diced
½ cucumber, diced
Juice of half a lemon
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl.
For the guacamole
2 avocados, flesh removed and mashed
½ red onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and pepper
Mash all the ingredients together, squeeze over a little bit more lemon over the top and a sprinkling of ground cumin if you wish.
To serve
12-16 small flour tortillas
Fresh lettuce leaves
Fresh coriander leaves
Sour cream
To assemble the tacos layer on top of the tortillas in the following order: lettuce, beans, beef, tomato salsa, guacamole, sour cream and coriander leaves. Remember not to over stuff these as it makes eating them a messy business!
Enjoy!