Chipotle!

I am very excited to announce that I've found supposedly-authentic Chipotle restaurant recipes online. In all likelyhood, these are NOT really from the restaurant but who cares if it tastes close enough?

If any of you really know Dave or me that well, then you know how much we love this place. My brother loves it a lot, too, so much so that I actually bought 4 servings of the barbacoa beef and flavored rice, froze them in Tupperware containers, and had my mom take them on the plane all the way to New York to surprise my brother. I should clarify that she didn't fly all the way there JUST to deliver the Chipotle (she was going there anyway) but I can tell you that a $300 plane ticket could be justified just to have a barbacoa Chipotle burrito with extra cheese and hot salsa. I often fantasize about eating one of their burritos. Last night I got lucky because Davie brought home burritos for our dinner. I'm telling you, Chipotle makes really great food (even if it used to be owned by the golden arches...).

Barbacoa Beef

• 4 guijillo chiles
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 10 allspice berries
• 1/3 cup Mexican oregano
• 12 sprigs fresh thyme
• 6 garlic cloves
• 1 Spanish onion, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup cider vinegar
• 1 (6 to 8-pound) beef roast
• Salt and pepper
• 1 (2-pound) package dried avocado leaves
• Large tortilla for wrap, beans, rice and vegetables of your choice.

**You can use bay leaves but they bear no resemblance to the anise-flavored avocado leaves. A combination of bay leaves and cracked anise seed would probably work as a substitute for avocado leaves.**

Instructions:
Toast chiles in a dry pan over medium heat until fragrant, cover with boiling water in a deep bowl and set aside for 20 minutes. Grind cumin, cloves, allspice, and oregano in coffee grinder. Drain soaked chiles, puree in blender the chiles, ground spices, thyme, garlic, onion, vinegar, and 1/2 cup of water. Process until smooth. Push mixture through a sieve, season beef with salt and pepper. Rub paste all over the meat. Arrange in a bowl and allow to marinate for 4 hours, refrigerated. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. In a deep roaster pan, scatter half of the avocado leaves on the bottom, place meat on top of the avocado leaves and scatter the remaining leaves over the meat. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook the beef 6 to 7 hours until meat is falling off the bone. If using lamb shoulder cook for 4 hours. Note: Fresh avocado leaves are toxic - they must be dried to be used for cooking.

Basmati Rice

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil or butter
• 2 tsp. fresh cilantro
• 2/3 cup white basmati rice
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Lime

Instructions:

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan, heat oil or butter over low heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Add rice and lime juice, stir for 1 minute. Add water and salt, bring to a full rolling boil. At boiling, cover, turn down to simmer over low heat until rice is tender and the water is absorbed, about 25 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork.

I haven't yet tried these recipes but I will as soon as I secure some avocado leaves. A quick online search shows that they are available for purchase but can be expensive. I'll check the Davis Food Co-Op to see if they stock them. If all else fails, I'll just buy myself an avocado tree just for the leaves. I bought a lemon grass plant recently to use for Thai recipes and I want to get a Turkish Bay tree and a Kaffir Lime tree (also for Thai stuff).

I'll definitely report back with pictures and a taste comparison just as soon as I can!