This movie could be the very worst best-picture nominee I’ve ever watched. But, it has led to something beautiful and extremely delicious.The plot is absurd - an extremely violent drug cartel kingpin decides to transition to become a woman, using a lawyer to set everything up: to include medical procedures, faking his death, setting his estranged-by-design family up to move to Switzerland. Only to miss them and get the lawyer involved once more to reunite with the family he dumped pre-surgery and now is their aunt, so they all live together. But his ex meets-up with some loser gangster and then even more chaos ensues. Oh, and she (formerly he) helpd find people that went missing due to gang violence to include people she had once helped “disappear”. Even worse? It’s partly a musical; a very lousy musical at that.
But, there was one tender scene where one of the children is snuggling up with their “aunt” and sings about how the aunt smells and reminds them of the long-lost father. This song seemed to get quite a lot of backlash out on the interwebs because society generally shuns “others” due to how they smell. But, I thought it was sweet and it led to this dish. The child said the aunt smelled like lamb, something spicy, and coke with lemon, among other things, like dirt and pebbles on a hot summer day. So, I made Barbacoa de Borrego, aka, Oaxacan-style Red Chile Lamb.
Much like the movie, the best parts of this dish were surprises. First, I couldn’t find bone-in lamb shoulder anywhere. So, I ended up at a local halal place, Sephos Foods, where the butcher pulled an entire gutted lamb out of the fridge and processed it right in front of me (even cutting off the testicles - which I thought was a humorous tie-in to this movie). I had to go to Global Foods to get the dried avocado leaves, dried peppers, and fresh epazote. While roasting the meat, you’re also making a delicious soup in the bottom of the pan to serve along with the meal. This was a huge hit, as was the delicious, tender meat.
Red Chile Lamb Barbacoa from Mexico: One Plate at a Time, Rick Bayless
8-10 dried guajillo peppers, stemmed, seeded and torn into flat pieces
4 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tsp dried oregano
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of whole cloves, ground in a mortar and pestle
Bone-in lamb shoulder (~6 lbs)
Large white onion, peeled, halved and sliced thinly
2 carrots, peeled and cut into ½” dice
5 small red-skinned potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size
Can of garbanzo beans, drained
Few sprigs of fresh epazote
Dried Avocado leaves
2 dried chipotles, whole
Parsley
Maldon salt
Salsa (see below)
Corn Tortillas
Canola oil
Toast the chiles in a skillet, in batches, for about 30 secs per side. Set the pieces in a bowl and cover with hot water. Allow to steep for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat your grill to medium-high.
Add the garlic, oregano, ground pepper and cloves to a blender, along with ⅔ cup of pepper water, and the rehydrated pepper pieces. Blend until smooth, about a minute.
Strain the marinade, through a sieve into a bowl and season the lamb with Kosher salt and black pepper.
In the bottom of a roasting pan, add in the onion, carrots, potatoes, beans, epazote, and a couple dried avocado leaves.
Place a rack into the roasting pan.
Using a pastry brush, apply the marinade to the bottom of the roast. Place it in the rack and then brush more onto the topside (with fat cap).
Cover the roast with dried avocado leaves.
Pour 16 cups of water into the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with foil.
Place it on your grill-top and reduce the burners to low. Roast until tender, approximately 4-5 hours. Check the water level halfway through, and then every hour thereafter, adding about 4 cups more at-a-time, if necessary.
Just before the meat is done, brush the corn tortillas with some oil on both sides and stack in a damp kitchen towel and reserve.
When cooked, remove the leaves from the roast and place the meat on a cutting board to rest.
Meanwhile, remove the herbs and leaves from the bottom of the pan. Cover and place in a warm oven until ready to serve, along with the reserved corn tortillas to steam.
When the meat has rested, pull it apart into large chunks. Then, shred into bite-sized pieces and garnish with freshly chopped parsley and flaky sea salt.
Serve with tortillas, salsa roja (recipe below), and bowls of the soup from the bottom of the pan.
Salsa Roja
½ oz small, dried hot chiles, stemmed
6 unpeeled cloves of garlic
1 lb tomatillos, husked and rinsed
Toast the chiles in a skillet, set over medium heat, until fragrant and browned.
Place in a bowl of hot water and rehydrate for 30 minutes.
Add the garlic to the skillet and roast until browned, flipping occasionally. Then allow them to cool.
Meanwhile, broil the tomatillos, 4-6” under the heating element, for about 5 minutes on each side, until splotchy. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
When the chiles have rehydrated, add them to a blender, along with the roasted and peeled garlic, tomatillos, and any juices from the platter.
Process until smooth and pour in a serving bowl, along with a little water and pinch of salt.
Stir until combined and reserve until ready to eat.
______________________________ Copyright 2025, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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