Have you ever put something into the crock pot at bed time and let it cook at night while you sleep? If not, please don't do that. Especially with this recipe.
It sounds great in theory...to do that with something that has a loooong cooking time. The reasoning is that you might as well let it go, as long as you're home and not doing anything else...but can I just tell you? It will seriously mess up your sleep. I've tried it twice, and both times slept TERRIBLE, because I can smell whatever is cooking, and it keeps me awake. Not just me. The whole household. The last time I did that I actually had to get up and turn the thing off and put it in the fridge. So...though it might seem like a good idea, please believe me; it's not.
This recipe takes a long time, so you might want to get it going right when you get up in the morning. It's "Everyday Shredded Beef", from Slow Cooker Revolution, by America's Test Kitchen.
Beef is so different from chicken. With chicken, all the recipes I've ever seen have cook times that are always WAY too long, but with beef, I've found that the times are usually pretty spot-on accurate. So beef like this is truly something you can put in the pot and go about your day.
Cook time for this recipe is 9-11 hrs on low, or 5-7 on high. I did it on high, checked at 5 hours, and the edges of the meat were getting nice and tender, but middles were still hard as a rock...so we ended up really going the full 7 hrs. on high. Gotta give it time to break down that collagen.
The recipe says to cut the roast in 1/2, but I actually cut it into 6 pieces, hoping it would be easier to shred that way.
One thing I loved about this recipe, and this book in general, is the way they have you pre-microwave! your aromatics...spices, garlic and onions in this case. Surprisingly, it really does "bloom" the flavors, as they say in this book. It's the quick, easy way to get your onions nice and translucent, and not "raw", going into the pot.
This pot of beef makes some very authentic burrito or enchilada filling, and smells glorious as it cooks. The only problem I had was with my beef, not the recipe.
I used a roast from the last 1/4 beef I bought, and every roast/stew meat I got from that particular 1/4 has been WAY too lean. I mean, there is virtually NO fat on it, which makes for some dry beef. It's a bummer. I love that the animals are raised so naturally, happily, and beautifully--un-stressed, roaming the ranch in the fresh air and sunshine, having their babies in the field, and eating grass, as cows were created to do. And, it costs about half of what I'd pay in the store per pound when I buy it by the 1/4 beef. But on the other hand, the fact that it's so lean is messing me up, because recipes presume you are getting a roast with some fat on it.
For example, this recipe said to skim the fat off the top of the braising liquid. My braising liquid never did get any fat of any kind on it. :(
So. I gotta figure out what to do next about that.
Regardless, the recipe itself was delish, and I am going to be making it many times this winter. It's perfectly spiced in my opinion. We like spicy food. But for little kids I'd leave out the cayenne pepper, and/or perhaps reduce the chili powder. Also, be sure to use the tablespoon of lime juice it calls for at the very end. I know it seems like it can't make that much difference, but it REALLY, really does.
Needs some FAT, for Pete's sake!
This recipe is, fortunately, posted on the internet...here it is for you.
Our farmer's market is loaded with seasonal goodies, so I'm going to be switching gears away from the meat and doing a few veggie recipes next week, and a fun thing or two between now and then, so stay tuned. ;)
* Update: This shredded beef makes some crazy-AWESOME freezer burritos! My favorite yet, actually. Just leftover shredded beef and shredded cheddar cheese. When you go to serve them, be sure to dip them in a some guacamole. Mmmmm, so good. We ate this shredded beef, taco style, for dinner, then several more lunches, and then I used what was left after that to make burritos, and still got 16 burritos out of it! I bet it would make more than two dozen if you just used this recipe for freezer burritos. I paid a bulk price of $3.45/lb for my grass-fed beef, so if I even got just 24 burritos (probably more like 30) out of this 3 lb. roast, that's .43 cents per burrito, in just beef. (Not including cheese and tortilla costs.)
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