Return to all recipes
Guajillo Chile Braised Brisket Tacos with Walnut Old Fashioned hero

Guajillo Chile Braised Brisket Tacos with Old Fashioned

Prep Time
20 Mins
Total Time
30 Mins
Yield
1 Serving

What you’ll need

for Old Fashioned

  • 1.5 oz. Bulleit Bourbon

  • 0.75 oz. Simple Syrup

  • 3 dashes aromatic bitters

  • Garnish with an orange swath

for Brisket

  • 3.5-4 lb fatty brisket, seasoned heavily with salt & pepper

  • 1 c any kind of stock

  • 1 white onion, roughly chopped

  • 6-8 cloves garlic, smashed

  • 12 oz can light beer

  • 2 tbsp brown sugar

  • 1 tbsp cumin, paprika, mexican oregano

  • ¼ c apple cider vinegar

for Salsa Macha

  • 1 c canola or other neutral oil

  • 1 c mix of peanuts & pepitas, raw

  • ¼ c sesame seeds, toasted

  • 10 guajillo chiles, stems & seeds removed

  • 4-5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

  • salt to taste

for Pickled Cabbage Slaw

  • Half head of green cabbage, sliced thinly

  • ½ white onion, sliced thinly

  • 1 carrot, shredded

  • half or whole jalapeno (depending on spice level), seeded & sliced thinly

  • 1 c apple cider vinegar

  • 1.5 c water

  • 2 tsp salt

  • optional spices: 1 tsp mexican oregano, 1 tsp cumin seeds

for Guajillo Chile

  • 3-4 dried guajillo chiles, stems & seeds removed

Preparation

Making Old Fashioned

  • Add Bulleit bourbon, simple syrup, and bitters in a stirring glass with ice

  • Stir

  • Strain into rocks glass

  • Garnish with an orange swath

Making Brisket

  • Heat a large dutch oven to medium high, pour in enough oil to cover the pan. Brown the brisket on all sides until you get nice color, roughly 8 minutes.

  • Remove brisket & place on a baking sheet while you sauteé onion & garlic in the same dutch oven. Add in your spices to bloom once the onions are caramelized and softened a bit.

  • Pour in all of the chile sauce, stir to slightly caramelize with the onions. Stir beer in with mix and carefully lower brisket into liquid.

  • Bring to near boil, lid the dutch oven and place in oven for roughly 3-4 hours. Check at 3 hours and determine if it's fall apart tender. If not, put back in the oven & check every 15 minutes until it's perfect.

  • Let it cool anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour then either shred or slice along the grain to serve with tortillas, salsa macha & cabbage slaw. Slicing is easier the longer you let it cool.

Making Salsa Macha

  • Bring ½ cup COLD oil & sliced garlic up to medium heat together in cold pan (this will prevent garlic burning & perfume the oil further).

  • As soon as garlic begins to tan, start removing it from hot oil with a slotted spoon. Place toasted garlic in bowl of a food processor (ideal tool) or blender.

  • Quickly fry chiles until puffed but pre-browned and remove from oil in with garlic.

  • Then fry peanuts & pepitas until just starting to brown, remove with slotted spoon to food processor.

  • Cool down hot oil with remaining cold oil, then process all together with toasted sesame seeds, garlic and chiles.

  • Season with a small amount of salt to taste. Just pulse until a coarse oily paste occurs, the textures are the best part of this salsa.

  • Serve. Can be stored at room temp for 2 weeks.

Making Pickled Cabbage Slaw

  • Combine water & vinegar with spices and salt in saucepan and heat just to warm.

  • Pour over cabbage, onion, carrot and jalapeno, and massage everything together.

  • Pack into jars and serve as soon as cooled, up to roughly 2 weeks stored in the fridge.

Making Guajillo Chile

  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

  • Toast your guajillo chiles in a dry pan on medium heat until they just start to brown, this happens very fast so watch them the whole time.

  • Heat the stock to very warm, then soak chiles in liquid until soft.

  • Blend this mixture in a high speed blender or with an immersion blender, adding in the vinegar and brown sugar.

  • Set aside for later.