I started writing this blog for Sweet Barbacoa Bear over Cheesy Grits in my head even before I had shopped for the all the ingredients. A restaurant in my hometown serves a wonderful vegetarian sausage bowl over cheesy grits and it really got my mind going on all the possibilities for grits bowls. This restaurant serves a salty vegetable based sausage, which I have to say for a sausage made from vegetables is amazing, and then pairs it will sweet barbecue flavors and salty cheese. I have been wanting to experiment with sweet barbacoa, like what you can get at a Café Rio, for years and this seemed like the opportune time to do so.
“You might as well learn that a man who catches fish or shoots game has got to make it fit to eat before he sleeps. Otherwise it’s all a waste and a sin to take it if you can’t use it.” — Robert Ruark
Barbacoa is a form of slow cooking meat that originated in the Caribbean and spread to other parts of the world. Barbacoa cooking became very popular in Mexico. The technique involved slow cooking large masses of meats, including full sheep or goats, in hole lined with agave leaves. As barbacoa cooking techniques journeyed across the Mexico and United States border, the term evolved to be more commonly known as simply “barbeque” and is now more of a catch-all term for any form of slow cooked meat.
I am not incredibly familiar with the term “barbacoa” other than while having sweet barbacoa at Café Rio. Between my experience with Café Rio’s sweet barbacoa and the vegetable sausage grits bowl from the local restaurant, I knew I wanted to create some type of dish incorporating flavor profiles from both dishes.
So, this Sweet Barbacoa Bear over Cheesy Grits recipe is the marrying of two different dining experiences. It is a sweet, savory, salty, and comforting dish. It is also a dish that is hard to put the fork down from, as you find yourself thinking “just one more bite.”
Pickling the Vegetables
The dish starts with pickling vegetables. I had never pickled anything before, and I wasn’t sure even where to start. A quick glance on the internet showed that refrigerator pickling is simple and quick. I figured I could make it work.
To further enhance my pickling liquid, I added whole peppercorns, mustard seed, and fennel seeds.
For this recipe, I pickled cucumbers, radishes, carrots, and red onions. The red onions were by far my favorite, and I can’t wait to add to them to other dishes. The process for pickling was the same for the all the vegetables. To start, thinly slice the cucumbers and onions. A mandolin would be a great tool to use for this process, but I didn’t have one so I just used a sharp knife and did my best to make the slices as evenly as possible.
Place the sliced vegetables in a large mason jar and add two teaspoons each of peppercorns, fennel seeds, and mustard seeds. You could add other seeds if you want. These are just the flavors I decided to add to my pickling liquid. I think cloves and star anise would be interesting to try.
In a sauce pan, add 1 and ½ cups each of water and vinegar of your choice. I used a rice wine vinegar for this recipe, but apple cider would be amazing as well as prosecco, champagne, or plain old white wine vinegar. Also add a few tablespoons, between three and four depending on how sweet you want your liquid, of honey. Also add four teaspoons of salt.
Bring the liquid to a gentle boil and ensure that the honey has been completed dissolved and the salt incorporated fully into the liquid. Pour the hot liquid over the vegetables and allow to rest until the liquid has reached room temperature. Store the pickled vegetables in the fridge afterwards.
Allow the pickled vegetables to sit at least overnight so the flavors have time to develop and the vegetables have started to soften slightly. They technically can be ready to eat an hour after adding the liquid, but taste best after some time to rest. They can store in the fridge for a few weeks.
Slow Cooking the Sweet Barbacoa Bear
The one downside, but also oddly an upside, to this Sweet Barbacoa Bear over Cheesy Grits dish is the time it takes to make. Everything is low and slow, and happens hours before the meal is eaten. So, it is a meal you have to pre-plan for and takes time, but also is a meal that once everything is ready you just throw together.
For the sweet barbacoa bear I used two and a half pounds of just chunk meat. Think shoulder or hind quarter cuts that don’t make good steaks. Even cuts you might consider a little “tough” would be good for this because the cooking time is so long.
Seasonings for the barbacoa bear include oregano, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cayenne, and paprika. Also lots of salt!
Mix together the dry rub for the bear meat in a bowl. I used a tablespoon each of garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder, and ground cayenne. Also add two tablespoons of oregano, two teaspoons of black pepper, and two tablespoons of salt. Rub the spice mix all over the bear.
Place spiced bear in the crockpot, add a chopped onion and four to five stalks of chopped celery. Pour in two cups of vegetable stock. Cover and let cook on low for 6 hours. The bear should basically fall apart when done and shred easily.
When you shred the bear, discard the celery and onion chunks. But reserve about a cup of cooking liquid to add back into the crockpot to finish the bear.
Sweet Barbacoa Sauce
About two hours before you are ready to serve your dish up, pull the bear from the crock pot and shred it into bite size chunks.
In a small saucepan over medium heat, pour in a can of Coca-Cola, the can of enchilada sauce, and a teaspoon of garlic powder. Mix and then add the half cup of brown sugar. Stir until the brown sugar has dissolved then bring the sauce to a gentle boil.
Once the sauce is gently boiling, mix the teaspoon of cornstarch with an equal amount of water. Stir until all the chunks have completely dissolved and then pour the mixture into the enchilada coke sauce. Stir until the sauce slightly thickens.
Return the shredded bear to the crockpot with the reserved cup of cooking liquid and pour the enchilada coke mixture over the bear. Cook an additional two hours on high.
Tomatillo Lime Dressing
Even though this a grit bowl, it seemed like it needed a salad dressing over the top to add a little acid and spice to dish. So, I blended up a quick batch of tomatillo lime dressing.
In a blender, simply add a cup of mayonnaise and a cup of buttermilk. If you want the dressing a little thicker, add more mayonnaise and less buttermilk.
Next, add a packet of ranch dressing mix, the juice of one lime, a few slices of fresh jalapeno, three diced tomatillos, a handful of cilantro, and a clove of fresh garlic. Put the blender on bone crusher mode and let it blend until everything is broken down into smooth, creamy, chunk free dressing.
The Cheesy Grits and Plating It All Up!
Oh how I love grits! They are such a versatile food. In its most simple form, grits is boiled ground cornmeal. I used a hominy based grit from this recipe, which I really enjoyed. Hominy is a corn that has been processed through an alkali treatment. Instead of creating the traditional yellow hued grit many are used to, the hominy grit is a bit more white.
Grits are wonderful because they can be flavored to fit the mood of any dish. Sweet, salty, or savory. They can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. They are just so versatile!
Anyway, grits are very quick and simple to pull together. In a saucepan, bring four cups of a stock of your choice to a gentle boil. I used vegetable stock for this time, but chicken or beef stock are also fine. Your homemade bone broth would also be amazing!
Add a cup of grits to the pot, sprinkle a teaspoon of garlic powder over the grits, give everything a stir, cover with a lid and reduce to low. That’s it! Allow to simmer on low for seven minutes (if you have the fast cooking girts. I couldn’t find any other options in my grocery store but some can take up to 20).
Grate up a cheese of your liking. For this dish I wanted a pretty salty and stout cheese. I went with a dry aged white sharp cheddar. It paired amazing with the sweet enchilada sauce on the bear and the slightly sweet taste of the pickled vegetables. The salt level was a little bit more than traditional cheddar and the sharp bite really rounded out the dish.
Add a cup of the grated cheese and two tablespoons of butter to the warm grits and stir until you have a smooth, creamy porridge.
Okay! Now for the exciting part: plate it up! Take a few scoops of the creamy, salty, cheesy grits and fill the bottom of your bowl. Pile on a helping on the sweet barbacoa bear. Next, add a heaping serving of the pickled vegetables, taking care to get a taste of each vegetable. Finally, drizzle over the spicy and acid tomatillo lime dressing.
I love the idea of adding a pickled vegetable salad to this dish because you can customize your vegetable choices. I did red onions, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers.
Those cheesy grits!
Fill your fork with each aspect of the dish and be ready for a sweet, salty, spicy dance on your tongue. This dish is simply amazing!
Happy Hunting!
Sweet Barbacoa Bear and Cheesy Grits
Ingredients
- Vegetables to pickle, such as red onions, jalapenos, cucumbers, carrots, and radishes
- Seasoning spices such as whole peppercorns, fennel seed, mustard seed, etc. Two teaspoons each.
- 1 1/2 cup water
- 1 1/2 cup vinegar (apple cider, rice wine, white wine, etc)
- 3-4 tablespoons honey
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 2 1/2 pounds bear chunks (or deer, elk, pronghorn, beef, pork, etc)
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon
- 1 tablespoon ground cayenne
- 2 tablespoons oregano
- 2 teaspoons black pepper
- 2 tablespoon salt
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 -5 stalks celery, chopped
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 10 oz can red enchilada sauce
- 1 can Coca-Cola or similar product
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- Water
- 1 cup mayonaise
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 packet ranch dressing seasoning
- 3 tomatillos, chopped
- Handful of cilantro
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1 jalapeno, sliced
- 4 cups vegetable stock
- 1 cup grits
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Thinly slice vegetables of choosing. A mandolin is the optimal tool for this task, but a sharp knife will also do the trick.
- Place the sliced vegetables in a large mason jar and add two teaspoons each of peppercorns, fennel seeds, and mustard seeds.
- In a sauce pan, add 1 and ½ cups each of water and vinegar of your choice.
- Add 3 - 4 tablespoons of honey. Also add four teaspoons of salt.
- Bring the liquid to a gentle boil and ensure that the honey has been completed dissolved and the salt incorporated fully into the liquid. Pour the hot liquid over the vegetables and allow to rest until the liquid has reached room temperature
- Store the pickled vegetables in the fridge afterwards. They can last a few weeks in the refrigerator.
- Mix together the dry rub for the bear meat in a bowl: tablespoon each of chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion powder, ground cayenne. And two tablespoons of oregano and salt. And two teaspoons of black pepper.
- Rub liberally all over the outside of your bear chunk.
- Place the bear in a crockpot and add the chopped celery and onion to the pot.
- Pour in two cups of the vegetable and set to low. Cook on low for six hours.
- Once cooked, pull the meat from the pot, discard the celery and onions. Reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid.
- Shred the bear and place back in the crock pot with the cup of cooking liquid. Pour the sweet enchilada and coke sauce over the bear and cook an additional two hours on high.
- In a sauce pan, bring to a gentle boil the can of Coca-cola and the can of red enchilada sauce.
- Once lightly boiling, add the 1/2 cup brown sugar and garlic powder. Stir until sugar has completely dissolved.
- In a small cup, mix together the cornstarch and water. Stir until all the lumps are gone.
- Slowly add the cornstarch to the boiling enchilada sauce and mix until the sauce starts to slightly thicken.
- Add to the crockpot with the shredded bear.
- In a blender, mix all ingredients until smooth.
- Start with the mayonnaise and buttermilk.
- Sprinkle in the ranch dressing packet.
- Squeeze all the juice of one lime into the blender.
- Add the bunch of cilantro, chopped tomatillos, and garlic clove.
- Finally, add the sliced jalapeno. If you want spicier, leave the seeds in the pepper. If you want a more mild sauce remove the seeds before adding the pepper.
- Blend until smooth.
- Bring four cups of vegetable stock to a gentle boil in a medium sized sauce pan.
- Add the cup of grits, whisking to remove any lumps that might immediately form. Sprinkle in the garlic powder. Cover with a lid and turn the pot to low heat.
- Allow grits to cook for seven minutes until the liquid is mostly all absorbed and the grits have softened.
- Add a cup of shredded cheddar cheese and two tablespoons of butter. Stir until cheese has melted. Taste for salt, and add if so desired.
- To Plate: fill bowl with a couple scoops of the grits, top with sweet barbacoa bear. Add a heaping pile of pickled vegetables and then drizzle the entire dish with the tomatillo lime dressing. Enjoy!