The Beef

For the longest time, I ignored those big, fatty chunks of meat that filled the lower shelves of the meat aisle in the store. Besides, when you're in school or on the clock, who has time to sift through chucks and tips and rumps, make sense of it all , and then figure out what the heck to do with it? Give us hamburger in a tube, daggonit. We know what to do with that! (keep your eyes peeled for a future post about 80/20 tube beef)

I didn't know then what I know now. All big cuts swathed in fat make huge amounts of food with almost no effort. A four or five pound chuck roast will yield enough meat for 2 people to eat on for days.

The cut you use isn't really as important as what you do with it: you need a big hunk of meat and you need to cook it a LONG time. For those of you who know what you're looking for, use your favorite stew beef. If you count yourself among the clueless--Hi! Welcome to the club. There's a lot of us. . .--ask someone who works in the meat section to recommend a cheap roast. You'd be surprised how happy most meat counter guys are to help out with this.

To get you started, here's a recipe for shredded beef sandwiches:

The beef:

1 3 to 5 lb beef roast

The rest:
3 c beef broth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
2 packages of dried Italian seasoning (look near the salad dressings at the store)

Putting it together:
put the broth and all "the rest" into a pot and stir. Bring to a boil. Set the beef in the slow cooker and pour the liquid mixture over the beef. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

After 8 hours, remove the beef and shred it with forks; keep the juices in the crockpot. Put the beef back in the crock pot and cook on low for another 1 to 3 hours.

Serve the beef on rolls and enjoy!

-jaf