Beeria tacos excerpted from Fire Feasts: The Awesome BBQ Book for Feasting with Friends and Family by Christian Stevenson. Photography by David Loftus.
DJ BBQ is BACK! This time with a feast of dishes for outdoor occasions—he wants YOU to get grilling for friends and family with a medley of new dishes that are perfect for sharing.
Whether it’s a “Breakfast of Legends”, finger food that everyone can tuck into, like a Triple Wing Whammy, Sticky Baby Back Ribs or Deep Fried Tomato Pie Balls, or the ultimate DJ BBQ Mixed Grill or Surf and Turf spread to feed a hungry crew—or special party pieces like a Whole Spit-Roasted Cow Leg or Hung Guard Pork of Honor—every occasion can center around the barbecue! There are even sides, live fire cocktails and “So Sweet My Teeth Hurt” desserts, all made over fire.
Christian provides a detailed introduction explaining the basics of setting up your grill, what fuel to use, and how to get the best from your cooking with hacks and tips for making the best fires, including “crazy mega-awesome fires”. You’ll be “Grilling in the Name Of” in no time!
Fire Feasts: The Awesome BBQ Book for Feasting with Friends and Family is available at Amazon.com and Indigo.ca.
Beeria tacos
Serves 8–10
Set-up for the sauce: Direct heat with a big fireproof pot with a lid.
Set-up for the meat: Direct heat with a frying pan (skillet).
Set-up for the meat & sauce: Indirect (slow and low cooking) in the big pot.
Set-up for taco time: Direct heat with a plancha or frying pan (skillet).
1.5kg (3lb 5oz) ox cheeks, feather blade or short rib (any tough cuts of beef that need some slow and low cooking love)
Sea salt
For the beeria sauce
12 dried chillis (a mix of ancho, guajillo, arbol and chipotle, if possible)
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp peppercorns
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cinnamon
2 x 330ml (11fl oz) cans beer
2 beef stock cubes
400g (14oz) can of chopped tomatoes
Vegetable oil, for frying
To serve
20 mini tortillas (corn are traditional, but we also like to rock these with wheat flour tortillas – whatever you can get your hands on is fine)
500g (1lb 2oz) Cheddar cheese, grated (shredded)
1 onion, finely chopped Handful of coriander (cilantro), chopped
2–3 limes, quartered
Are you ready for the ultimate party in your mouth? Ya better be, cause it’s coming. Right to your face. Everybody loves a taco. But THIS recipe is the ultimate taco umami bomb of awesomeness. One thing to know, all good things come to those who sleep – you’ll need a couple of days to perform the magical mixture of tasty delights that make up this taco.
First things first, rehydrate your damn chillies. Put all your chillies in a bowl and pour boiling water all over them. Let them sit for 15 minutes, so they get nice and relaxed, then drain, destalk and deseed them.
When the chillies are ready, it’s time to make your sauce. In a big pot, fry off the onions and garlic in a little vegetable oil until soft and translucent, then add the bay leaves, peppercorns, oregano, cumin, cinnamon and chillies. Fry for about 5 minutes, then add the cans of beer, the stock cubes and the can of tomatoes. Bring to a boil and simmer for 25–35 minutes – we like a nice long simmer for a more intense flavour. Take the pot off the heat and allow to cool. When the sauce is cool, blend until smooth.
Meanwhile, set up your grill for indirect cooking. Place a frying pan over the direct heat and sear off your chosen meat, then add this to the pot of blended sauce, ensuring it is submerged. Put a lid on the pot and place it on the far side of your cooker, away from any direct heat. The longer and slower you cook this, the better – we are looking for a minimum of 5 hours, but you can go all night to make it even better. Stir occasionally, but don’t worry about it if you wanna get a good night’s sleep. If you keep a consistent temperature of 110°C (230°F), you’re all good.
When you think it has cooked for long enough, prod your meat to test it – we are looking for meat that falls apart and melts. If it’s done, take the meat out of the pot and shred it. Mix a couple of tablespoons of the sauce into the now-shredded meat, then transfer the meat to another pot and keep warm.
Pour off any fat from the sauce into a wide, shallow bowl (don’t worry if a bit of sauce gets in there) and put to one side. Keep the sauce nice and warm, ready for serving.
Place a frying pan or plancha over a direct medium heat. Dip a tortilla in the bowl of reserved fat to coat, then lay it flat in the pan or on the plancha. Add a sprinkling of grated cheese and a dollop of shredded beef heaven (less is more here). Sprinkle over a bit of the chopped onion and coriander then, when you see the cheese beginning to melt, fold the mini tortilla in half. Cook for a couple of minutes, so the taco has a lovely golden-brown colour and the cheese is properly melted, then remove from the heat. Repeat with the remaining tortillas – we recommend doing 3–4 at a time.
Serve with a lime wedge for squeezing and the reserved sauce for dipping. You should probably also crack open a beer.
Recipe reprinted with permission from Hardie Grant Books.