Shredded Beef (Mom’s recipe)

Ingredients:

10 lb beef chuck roast (fat removed)

1 lb mushrooms (sliced)

4 cups baby carrots

4 sticks celery (diced)

4 medium onions (chopped)

1 bell pepper (diced)

1 turnip (diced)

6 cloves garlic (minced)

15 cubes beef bouillion

15 cups water

1 can tomato paste (4-6oz)

1-3 cups red wine

3 large bay leaves

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp each:

oregano

marjoram (didn’t have)

herbs de provence

nutmeg

pinch of rosemary

6 cloves (didn’t have)

3 tbls worstechire sauce (didn’t have)

What I bought:

(Safeway) Rancher’s Reserve Boneless Beef Chuck Roast (<11 lbs @ $1.97/ lb) - <$22

(Giant) Turning Leaf Cabernet - $6

(Safeway) Bag of Onions (seven) 3lbs @ $1/lb) - $3

(Giant) Maggi Beef Bouillion 3.5oz(25 cubes) - $2

(Safeway) Mushrooms 2x 8oz packages for $1 each - $2

(Safeway) Orange Bell Pepper 1/2 lb @ $2.49/ lb - $1.25

(Safeway) Turnip ?lb @ ?$ - $1?

1 extra package of baby carrots - $1

1 head garlic - $1

(?) Contadina Tomato Paste 6oz - 85 cents

(Giant) Bay Leaves .25oz - 79 cents

Total: $41

What I had:

olive oil

celery

1/2 package baby carrots

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

Rosemary

Herbs de Provence

Nutmeg

Shredded Beef

Feb 09

Shredded beef is my favorite filling for mexican dishes like enchiladas, tacos and burritos. I like to make a lot of it and freeze individual portions for use later. You also get an excellent stock to use for soups and sauces.

This is my mom’s recipe and no matter how many times I make it, I still call her to remind me how it goes.

I was asking about the beef shoulder rib roast which was also on sale for the same price and noting that I wouldn’t mind something larger than the small roasts on display which hovered around 3 pounds. The shoulder rib roast was nowhere to be found I guess but I was rather impressed by the nearly eleven pound cut that was presented to me.

The roast I got was the boneless chuck roast on the bottom of which there was a seam of fat as much as an inch thick. I removed the fat myself but I’m not sure if the result was a leaner roast or just a more expensive one. I also ended up cutting the roast into smaller pieces like the ones at the store.

After lining the stockpot with olive oil, I set the water to boil and add the bouillion.

After food prep, the onions and peppers are sauteed in olive oil. The mushrooms are sauteed separately and then added with some of the minced garlic to sautee a little longer.

I put all the vegetables together and set aside while I braise the beef.

Put the beef in the stockpot keeping submerged.

Add the vegetables and the remaining ingredients and stir.

Return to boil and reduce heat.

After four or fives hours the meat will be tender enough to shred with a pair of forks.

I kept a couple (two cup) bags fresh for Burritos and froze the rest.

Seen here below the spaghetti w/ mushroom sauce