Beef Tongue Tacos

These are delicious... I promise. I'm a huge fan of tongue - always have been. Stop snickering. I'd never had beef tongue tacos before I went to Atlanta a few weeks ago and as soon as I bit into that delicious, tender, and tasty muscle done Latin-style, I was hooked. So, I decided to try and replicate the tacos from Loca Luna in Atlanta and here are the results!

Patrick with the tongue.

• 1 beef tongue
• 1/2 white onion, sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• salt to taste
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• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 5 Roma tomatoes
• 5 serrano peppers
• salt to taste
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 (10 ounce) packages corn tortillas
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• Place the beef tongue in a slow cooker and cover with water. Add the onion slices, garlic, and bay leaf. Season with salt. Cover and cook on Low overnight or 8-12 hours. Remove the tongue and shred the meat into strands. (Don't be discouraged by the papilla. Once the tongue is tender you'll be able to cut through the tongue 'cover' and papilla to expose the meat. Discard the 'cover' and use the meat underneath.) 
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• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the tomatoes and peppers in the hot oil until softened on all sides. Remove the tomatoes and peppers in a blender, keeping the oil on the heat; season with salt. Blend briefly until still slightly chunky. Cook the diced onion in the skillet until translucent; stir in the tomato mixture. Cook another 5 to 6 minutes. Build the tacos by placing shredded tongue meat into a tortilla and spooning salsa over the meat.