Smoky Beef Tacos

Sometimes when you start off with a recipe in mind, you have a lot of preconceived notions of how time consuming or difficult it's going to be. For some reason I thought that this would be overly complicated, which had prevented me from attempting to make something of the sort until now. I have to say... this was probably one of the easier things I've made in the last few months. Really all you have to do is mix together the cooking liquid, add the meat and throw it in the oven for a couple hours.

I'm convinced that my oven is overly hot, so I checked the meat after only2 hours. I've made this a few times now and the cooking time has probably varied between 2 to 2 1/2 hours. As with all cooking, your mileage may vary.

I wasn't able to find a picture that I had taken of this, so I found one of the pot that I used. I'm lucky enough to have a wife that enables my kitchen lust. She bought this pot for me a couple christmases ago. It's definitely an investment, but I highly recommend it. This is one of the few pots I wouldn't want to live without.


2 to 3 Tablespoons Chopped Canned Chipotle Chiles in Adobo
½ Cup Ketchup
8 Garlic Cloves, Chopped
2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano
Salt and Pepper
1 Boneless Beef Chuck Roast (About 3 Pounds)
Tortillas
Toppings

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a heavy pot with tight fitting lid, stir together chiles, ketchup, 1 cup water, garlic, oregano, 2 teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.

Cut beef into 4 equal pieces. Add to pot, and turn to coat. Cover, and bring to a boil, then transfer pot to oven. Bake, covered, until beef is fork tender, about 2 ½ hours.

Transfer beef to a bowl. With a large spoon, skim off and discard fat from cooking liquid. Shred beef with two forks, moistening with cooking liquid as needed. Season with salt and pepper. Server beef with tortillas and desired toppings.

Serves 8

Adapted from Everyday Food, March 2009

Coming Soon: Raspberry Buttermilk Cake