Barbacoa Tacos

Preparation time:  15-20 minutes

Total cook time: 8-hours

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized crock pot
• 2 teaspoons ground Ancho Chile pepper
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt (or ground sea salt)
• 1 teaspoon dried Mexican Oregano crushed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh beef brisket, trimmed of excess fat 
• 1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, un-drained
• 1 fresh jalopeano Chile pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• White corn tortillas, warmed
• Mexican crema or sour cream
• fresh cilantro
• Diced white onions (optional)
• Shredded Cojita cheese 
• salsa (optional)

To start, I substituted the brisket for a round bottom roast because of availability, but the remaining ingredients are the same as the recipe.  The round bottom roast is a bit tougher than the brisket but slow cooking it will tenderize it

Preparing & cooking the round:

1. Combine the ground ancho chilie pepper, salt, oregano, cumin, salt and black pepper in a small bowl.  I also minced the Jalopeano and sliced the garlic at this step, combine the minced jalopeanos and garlic in a bowl and set to the side.  Please be careful with the jalopeanos, do not touch your eyes, nose, ears, mouth etc.  The oils from the pepper will get on your skin and will burn for about 30-minutes
2. Remove the round from the packaging and set on the cutting board.  Notice one side has a pretty decent size layer of fat, while the other is fairly learn (see images below)
3. Cover the meat with the ground ancho chilie pepper, salt, oregano, cumin, salt and black pepper evenly on all sides of the meat until covered completely (image below)
4. Open the canned tomatoes and add to crock pot along with the jalopeano and garlic
5. Place the round on top of the tomato/jalopeano/garlic mixture with the fatty side facing down in the crock pot.  Set to low and allow to cook for 6-8 hours. The lower temperature/cook time allows the tough portions of the meat to break up which allows better shredding and increases the tenderness.

After cooking the round:

1. Remove the round from the crock pot and place on a cutting board. Starting with the fatty side, cut the layer of fat off the roast and discard into the trash
2. Using two larger forks, shred the meat by using the forks to pull the meat in opposite directions from the center towards the outside.  Imagine both forks vertically place in the middle of the round and pull each fork in the opposite direction, essentially stripping the meat in layers at a time.  This can either be done from left to right, or top to bottom (referencing the image above the shredded beef).  Top to bottom creates thinner shreds while left to right creates more chunky shreds. 
3. Place the shredded meat back into the crock pot and on medium/high for another 10 minutes.  Add the lime juice at this step.
4. Warm the tortillas in the oven, you will need 2-tortillas for each taco serving, up to 8 servings total for 16-tortillas max.  Place the tortillas in a cooking sheet and place in the oven at 325 degrees and let them warm for 5-minutes
5. Snip the cilantro for garnishing the tacos
6. Prepare each taco with the shredded round, cojita, cilantro and the Mexican cream sauce.

Enjoy!  Comments and feedback are welcomed!