OVERVIEW

For this feast, we head to Mexico – with a short stop in Texas for a Chilli Con Carne, the cornerstone of any Tex-Mex barbecue cookout. Ours, a combination of pork belly, beef shin, short ribs, black turtle beans and a selection of Latin American chillies, is joined in a flavour-packed spread by homemade corn tacos stuffed with either mackerel (dressed with a sauce of charred tomato, pepper, chilli and onion) or Carnitas (succulent slow-cooked pork), Corn Ribs with Coriander and Paprika Butter, and Roasted Sweet Potato.

As some of these dishes take a long time to cook, you’ll want to get the heavy lifting out of the way first. So that you only have to pull together a few elements on the EGGspander before guests arrive.

This recipe is designed for Large and XL owners who have an EGGspander System (a helpful accessory that allows you to cook or reheat several dishes at once, as well as cooking directly and indirectly simultaneously).

If you own a different sized EGG or are not in possession of an EGGspander, you can of course cook all the elements one at a time. If easier, you can find the individual recipes on our main recipe page or by clicking the links above.

SMOKE THE MEAT FOR THE CHILLI

As there is a fair amount of slow cooking required for this feast, we would recommend making the smoked chilli the day before. This will actually also help to intensify the flavours.

Mix together the dry spices, salt and sugar and rub into the meat.

Load and light the EGG and set it to 150°C indirect with ConvEGGtor in legs-up position and Stainless Steel Grid on top. Add a handful of pre-soaked Hickory Woodchips to the coals.

Place all the meats and chillies on the Stainless Steel Grid for an hour. Remove from the EGG, cut the meat into chunks and finely chop the chillies.

PREPARE THE BASE

Remove the ConvEGGtor and bring the temperature of your EGG up to 200°C. As you will need to bring the temperature right down again shortly, feel free to do this next step in your kitchen. Fry the chillies, onions and garlic in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven. Add the meats, chocolate, coffee and cover everything with cold water.

SLOW COOK

Set the EGG to 110°C, indirect with ConvEGGtor in legs up position and Stainless Steel Grid on top.

Cook the chilli for 6 hours until the meat is falling apart. If it looks dry at any stage, add a splash more water. Add the beans 4 hours in.

Remove the bones and set the chilli aside to be reheated when you complete the rest of the meal.

MAKE THE CARNITAS

Place all of the ingredients for the carnitas in a Skillet (squeeze the orange and leave in) and add 300ml water. Place the Dutch Oven on your EGG and close the lid.

Cook until the pork is shreddable – at least 2½–3 hours. Again, set this aside for when the rest of your meal is complete.

SET UP YOUR EGG

On the day of your feast, load and light your EGG. Bring it to 180°C and add the ConvEGGtor Basket with Half Moon Baking Stone bottom left, Stainless Steel Grid top left and Half Moon Plancha top right.

Place the sweet potatoes directly on the Half Moon Baking Stone to bake for about 45 minutes.

place the sweet potatoes on the baking stone

MAKE THE SALSA

Meanwhile, for the salsa, cut the tomatoes, pepper, chillies and onion in half and place on the hot plancha. Cook until the cut side is very burnt (around 30 minutes). Chop roughly and mix with the coriander, lime juice and olive oil. Set aside.

Remove the carnitas pork from the cooking liquor, shred and lay in a skillet or baking tray. Place on the Stainless Steel Grid and cook until the edges are crisp – about 20 minutes.

MAKE THE DOUGH FOR THE TACOS

Mix the masa harina and oil with enough warm water to form a dry, almost crumbly dough for the tacos. Form into golf-ball-sized balls and use a taco press (or a rolling pin) to form thin tacos. You should get about 24.

GRILL THE CORN AND TACOS

Cut the corn into quarters, vertically. In a food processor blitz the butter, paprika and coriander.

Reserve half the butter and use the rest to thoroughly cover the corn.

Grill the corn until golden and charred then, while hot, toss in the remaining butter. Season with lime juice and plenty of salt and pepper.

Cook the tacos on the Half Moon Plancha until they are slightly charred and pliable. Wrap in foil and keep in a warm place.

COOK THE MACKEREL

Cook the mackerel skin-side down on the Plancha until the skin is crisp and the fish is 90% cooked – flip over for 10 seconds then remove.

SERVE

If you need to warm everything up, add the Multi-Level Grid.

Chop some gem lettuce and lay on a board or in a bowl with some chopped avocado and a squeeze of lime.

Lay everything out on the table for people to help themselves to. They can mix and match but we’d recommend serving the carnitas and fish as fillings for the tacos (garnished with the burnt salsa), and the smoked chilli with the sweet potato and the corn.