Chivo Tapeado de Peñamiller

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large clay olla with tight-fitting lid, or heavy enameled Dutch oven
• •Cast iron comal for toasting chiles and aromatics
• •High-powered blender
• •Fine mesh sieve
• •Clay cazuela or heavy skillet for frying the adobo

Instructions

1. 1

   Clean the goat

   Rub the goat with 1 tablespoon salt and the lime juice. Let it sit 20 minutes, then rinse quickly and pat dry. Goat has character. That is the point. You clean it to remove harshness, not to erase the animal.

2. 2

   Toast the chiles

   Heat a dry comal over medium. Toast the guajillo, ancho, and pasilla separately, a few seconds per side, until they darken slightly and smell deep, never burned. The guajillo gives Peñamiller its red color, the ancho gives sweetness, and the pasilla gives shadow. Burn one and throw it away. No me vengas con atajos.

   Use hot water for soaking, not boiling water. Boiling water pulls bitterness from the skins and makes the adobo taste tired.
3. 3

   Soak the chiles

   Place the toasted chiles in a bowl and cover with hot water. Let them soften for 20 minutes. Drain, saving 1 cup of the soaking liquid only if it tastes clean. If it tastes bitter, use goat stock or fresh water instead. A careful cook tastes before she blends.

4. 4

   Char the aromatics

   On the same comal, char the onion and unpeeled garlic until the onion has blackened edges and the garlic skins are spotted. Peel the garlic. Toast the cumin, peppercorns, cloves, oregano, and thyme for 30 seconds, just until fragrant. Spices wake up fast and burn faster.

5. 5

   Blend the adobo

   Blend the softened chiles with the charred onion, peeled garlic, toasted spices, vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup goat stock or water. Blend until completely smooth. Strain through a fine mesh sieve. The sauce should fall like red satin, not like gritty chile skins. This is where patience shows.

6. 6

   Fry the adobo

   Melt the manteca de cerdo in a heavy cazuela over medium heat. Add the strained adobo carefully, because it will sputter. Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until the color deepens to brick red and the fat begins to shine around the edges. La manteca es el sabor. Vegetable oil will cook it, but it will not give the same body.

7. 7

   Coat the meat

   Add the goat to the fried adobo and turn every piece until coated. Cook 10 minutes, stirring from the bottom, so the meat tightens and takes the chile. Add the xoconostle wedges, marjoram, bay leaves, epazote, hoja santa if using, and toasted avocado leaves. The xoconostle is not tomatillo and not regular tuna. It is sour prickly pear, and in this Bajío and Sierra Gorda register it matters.

8. 8

   Seal the olla

   Transfer everything to a clay olla or deep heavy pot with a tight lid. Add just enough stock or water to come one third of the way up the meat. Mix the fresh masa with 1/2 teaspoon salt and a splash of water until pliable. Press the masa around the rim, set the lid on top, and pinch the masa closed all the way around. Tapeado means covered and sealed. If the lid leaks, the dish changes.

9. 9

   Cook low

   Set the sealed olla over a very low flame with a comal underneath as a heat diffuser, or place it in a 300F oven. Cook 3 1/2 to 4 hours, without opening it, until the goat is tender enough to pull from the bone. Trust the seal. The women who perfected this did not lift the lid every twenty minutes to calm themselves.

10. 10

    Open and serve

    Break the masa seal at the table if you can. The adobo should be glossy, the meat soft, and the xoconostle collapsed into sharp little pockets that cut the richness. Taste for salt. Serve from the olla with warm corn tortillas, salsa de molcajete, raw white onion, and lime halves. Cada estado, su propia cocina.

Chef Tips

• •Buy young goat with bone. Shoulder, ribs, and leg pieces together make the best olla because the bones give body to the sauce. Boneless goat cooks, but it does not give you the same dish.
• •Xoconostle is the sour prickly pear. Do not replace it with regular tuna or tomatillo and pretend nothing happened. If you cannot find it, leave it out and understand that the dish will lose its Querétaro edge.
• •A clay olla changes the cooking. It holds steady heat and gives a rounded sauce. If you must use enameled cast iron, it will work, but the table will know the difference. A substitution is a compromise, not an upgrade.
• •The masa seal is not decoration. It is the technique. It traps the cooking juices and perfumes the meat with the herbs. If the seal cracks, patch it with more masa and keep cooking.
• •Make the adobo a day ahead if you are feeding people. The goat can also marinate overnight in the fried adobo before sealing the pot. Recetas probadas y garantizadas.

Advance Preparation

• •The chile adobo can be toasted, blended, strained, and fried one day ahead. Refrigerate it covered and bring it back to a simmer before coating the goat.
• •The goat may be coated in the fried adobo and refrigerated overnight. Add the herbs, xoconostle, and liquid only when you are ready to seal the olla.
• •Chivo tapeado reheats well the next day over low heat. Reheat gently with a splash of stock so the adobo loosens without thinning too much.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)