At least once a year, we make one of our favorite summer meals — lamb barbacoa inspired by Rick Bayless.
Leg of lamb, salted, is placed on a grate over a pan with vegetables — chickpeas, sliced onions, chopped potatoes and carrots — covered with water. Very low and slow, the smoking process takes somewhere between five and seven hours. During this entire time, lamb juices drip into the pan with vegetables.
As much as I love lamb and all the fixings for the tacos that follow, I am here for the soup. Each time we make this meal, I get a bigger pan and chop more vegetables. There is absolutely no other way to mimic the smoky lamby flavor of that juice and texture of the vegetables — cooked but wonderfully chewy. Especially the onions that resemble the cabbage with the special crunch.
The recipe suggests to add salsas, cheeses, greens, and meat to the soup, adjust the seasoning, and such. Uh-uh. It is the best when pristine, as is — absolutely unique. As long as we have leftovers in the fridge, I don’t eat anything else.
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