March 18, 2021

BEEF BARBACOA TOSTADAS WITH BLACK BEAN PUREE, CREMA, QUESO FRESO, SHAVED RADISH, SAUTÉED ONIONS AND PEPPERS

Recipe by Chef Nick Kubitz
Pairing
Serves 4
Download Recipe

Ingredients

Beef Barbacoa
  • 8 Tostada Shells (Homemade or Store Bought)
  • 3 Lbs Chuck Roast
  • 1 Small Yellow Onion
  • 3 Cloves Garlic (Thin Sliced)
  • 1/2 Cup Orange Juice
  • 3 Chipotle Chilies in Adobo
  • 1 Bunch Cilantro (Picked)
  • 4-6 Red Radishes (Shaved Thin)
  • 3 Limes (Juice)
  • 1 Cup Mexican Crema
  • 1/2 Cup Queso Fresco (Crumbled)
  • 1 Qt Beef Stock
  • 1/4 Cup Canola Oil (Plus Extra for Searing Beef)
  • 1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
  • 1 Tbsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/4 Tsp Ground Clove
  • 2 Whole Bay Leaves
  • 2 Tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
  • Kosher Salt to Taste
Black Bean Puree
  • 2 1/2 Cup Cups Black Beans (Canned or cooked fresh)
  • 1/2 Medium Yellow Onion (Julienned)
  • 2 Clove Garlic (Thin Sliced)
  • 1/2 Small Jalapeño (Deseeded & Small diced)
  • 1 Lime (Juice)
  • 1 Tbsp Bacon Grease
  • 1 1/2 Cups Beef Stock
  • 1 Tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 Tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
  • Kosher Salt to Taste
Sautéed Onions & Peppers
  • 1 Large Yellow Onion (Julienned)
  • 1 Poblano Pepper (Deseeded & Julienned)
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper (Deseeded & Julienned)
  • 1 Clove Garlic (Think Sliced)
  • 1 Tbsp Canola Oil
  • 1 Tsp Dried Oregano
  • 1/2 Tsp Ground Cumin
  • 1/2 Tsp Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
  • Kosher Salt to Taste

Instructions

  • Beef Barbacoa

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

    Put yellow onion, garlic, chipotle in adobo, orange juice, lime juice, beef stock, canola oil, ground cumin, dried oregano, fresh cracked pepper and about 1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt in to a blender. Blend ingredients until smooth. Set aside.

    In a large Dutch oven or an oven safe sauce pan with a lid, add a drizzle of canola oil and turn to high heat. Season chuck roast with salt and pepper on both sides. Sear seasoned chuck roast in the hot pan on both sides until browned. Remove chuck roast and add the pureed liquid mixture. Bring mixture to a boil. Add the seared chuck roast and bay leaves to the pan. Cover pan with a tight fitting lid and put in the preheated oven. Braise barbacoa until tender, around 2-2.5 hours. Let rest for 30 minutes before shredding with the juices. Season with kosher salt if needed and set aside for tostada assembly.

  • Black Bean Puree

    Add bacon grease to a sauce pot and turn to medium high heat. Add julienned onion, garlic, jalapeño, dried oregano, cumin and fresh cracked black pepper to the hot bacon grease. Sauté ingredients until slightly browned and tender. Add black beans, beef stock and a large pinch of kosher salt to the sautéed onion mixture. Bring mixture to a boil. Lower to a simmer and let cook for another 15-20 minutes for flavors to meld. Add lime juice and blend ingredients until smooth. Adjust seasoning with salt and set aside for tostada assembly.

     

  • Sautéed Onions & Peppers

    Add canola oil to a large sauté pan and turn onto high heat. When oil is hot, add the onions, peppers, oregano, cumin and fresh cracked black pepper to the pan. Sauté ingredients until onions and peppers are slightly browned and tender. About 5-8 minutes. Mix in garlic and a pinch of kosher salt. Sauté for another couple of minutes and set aside for tostada assembly.

     

  • Tostada Assembly

    For tostada assembly, smear a little black bean puree onto each tostada shell. Top black bean puree with beef barbacoa. Top barbacoa with sautéed onions and peppers. Garnish each tostada with a drizzle of crema, a sprinkle of queso fresco, a few slices of shaved radish and a little picked cilantro for garnish. Enjoy with a glass of Petite Sirah from Diablo Vineyard.

     

     

Chef Nick Kubitz

Our partnerships with talented chefs always start with the wines. When planning for any event, we consider the wine first before we move on to the challenge of asking our team to develop a meal that reflects a unique synergy. We are grateful to have a homegrown guy as one of our ‘aces’ in the kitchen. He is definitely a man who demonstrates a unique sense of tasting, pairing, and creating food recognizing the efforts made in the vineyard to produce our fabulous varietals.

At first glance, Chef Nick Kubitz looks like he should be a bouncer at your favorite club - big, burly, gritty but with a quiet confidence that owns the room. And actually he has clawed his way to the top with those jobs while earning his culinary management and hospitality degree at the Art Institute of California, San Diego. The past decade has found him trying his hand at a BBQ restaurant, managing a food truck, and working alongside Michelin starred chefs in San Francisco.

Kubitz has developed a passion for the best and freshest ingredients that San Joaquin County has to offer, and his past experience of overseeing a large kitchen in a San Francisco tech company allowed him to harness and integrate the tastes of ingredients from around the world to satisfy the many cultures of that particular employee base.

And he is not one to shy aware from pressure – Kubitz has twice joined us at the world-renowned Aspen Food and Wine show creating a series of private food experiences to tease guests away from the main tent headliner chefs. His knowledge of Lodi wines, the appellation, and terroir all layer into the choices he makes in the kitchen to offer what we would consider a ‘perfect pairing’.

We sit up nights trying to figure out how to shackle Kubitz to our kitchen – we block his calendar every chance we get, but support his dream of owning a unique fine dining company called Range – a place that will showcase the range of his talents and experiences.

You’ll find unique crafted recipes from Kubitz within this blog, give them a try and send us your thoughts and of course, a photo of the final product!

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