Enchiladas - Day 1

Well, here's a first: a dish that takes two days to prepare. (I did season the Spanish pork tenderloin the day before, but this actually involves cooking on two days.)

Today was prep day for the filling: shredded beef.

I dumped a can of chipotle chilis in adobo into the blender, added in half a yellow onion, five cloves of garlic, about a tablespoon of lime juice, a little clump of fresh cilantro, a few drops of hot sauce, and a cup of water. Blended all that, then seasoned the meat.

I used a 4-ish pound rump roast. Seasoned it on every side with fresh ground pepper, granulated garlic, onion powder, chili powder, smoked paprika, and kosher salt, then rubbed everything in. Back to the sauce mixture - I poured about half of it into the bottom of the crock pot, then put the roast in and rolled it around to cover it. I then poured the rest over the top of the roast, then measured three cups of water in the blender pitcher to get all the remants and poured that around the roast and mixed it in. Set the cooker to low, and let it go. I started it around 11 in the morning, and Cheri turned it off around 7 pm.

That's the roast at 11 this morning. I got off work at 9:30, then had to go to Wal Mart (bleh) for a headlight bulb for the car, so by the time I got home a little after10, it had cooled down enough to shred by hand (I wore gloves). So that's in a bag in the fridge, waiting for tomorrow.

Stay tuned. I'll try to post the follow-up tomorrow night. That post will include my first attempt at enchilada sauce from scratch.

Italian Beef

At least that's what I call it. Anyway, sorry there aren't any pictures. The camera battery's dead. Oh well.

So this is what I do when I want Italian beef sandwiches and I have some time to prepare them. If I'm in a hurry, I just buy the rare roast beef from the deli and simmer it in the seasoning broth mixture.

Italian beef roast

1 beef roast (about 3 lbs - I used a 3.14 lb arm roast)
24 oz lager (I used the 24 oz can of Heineken)
1/2 Tbsp dry oregano
1/2 Tbsp dry basil
1/2 Tbsp dry thyme leaves (if you only have ground thyme, use half as much)
1/2 Tbsp parsley flakes
1 Tbsp dry minced onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
8 grindings black pepper
olive oil
kosher salt
1/2 cup water

Turn a crock pot onto high, then add the beer, all of the seasonings, and 1 tsp of kosher salt. Mix well and cover.

Heat a skillet large enough for the roast over medium heat. Coat the roast in olive oil, the sprinkle a light coating of salt over the roast on every side and rub into the meat. Put the roast into the heated skillet and brown on each side. Add the roast to the crock pot.

Return the skillet to medium heat. Pour the 1/2 cup of water into the container the beer was in and shake it around a little. Deglaze the pan with the slightly beer flavored water, using a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the goodies stuck to the bottom. Bring to a boil, then pour over the roast in the crock pot. Cover and let cook on high for 10-15 minutes. Turn down to low and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

Remove the roast from the crock pot to a wire rack over a baking sheet. Let rest for about five minutes.

To serve as sandwiches, slice 1/4 inch pieces against the grain, and return the slices to the broth in the crock. Place on a hoagie roll and top with sliced Provolone.

I used hoagie rolls from a local grocery's bakery. I split them, brushed the cut sides with melted butter and toasted them in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. My daughter just had the meat and cheese, my wife and I put some Dijon mustard and diced onion on the bottom piece, then the meat, then the cheese. Served it with fries and steamed broccoli. Yum.