Pulled Beef and BBQ Sauce Sandwich

Recipe: Pulled Beef and BBQ Sauce Sandwich
Page: 109
Date Cooked: April 14, 2011

I've said it before and I'll say it again: slow cooking/braising = rich and tender meat! That is the punchline to this recipe. In terms of days for preparation and waiting among the recipes I have done thus far, the Pulled Beef and BBQ Sandwich, is in first place.

Ingredients: Onions, garlic, Anaheim chiles, beef chuck, salt, pepper, olive oil, lager, parsley, sweet onion, San Marzano plum tomatoes, cilantro, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and potato buns (not shown)

This recipe took a little bit of planning, especially when I realized that "the beef should be made 1 to 2 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated." So in order to get that beef all ready, I had to prepare the ingredients for the braise:

1. Chopped onions 2. Stemmed, seeded, and chopped chiles 3. Minced garlic

Luckily for me, I got my butcher to chop the chuck into 2" chunks. Accordingly, I seasoned the beef with salt and pepper and seared it on all sides in a Dutch oven with some hot olive oil.

Searing the beef

The seared meat was removed from the Dutch oven and set aside. The onions, garlic, and chiles were added to the casserole and sauteed. Then the beer (I used a PA beer, Stoudts) was added to the onion mixture. The beef was place back in the dish, along with the parsley and some water. Finally, the lid was placed on top and the meat simmered for 7 hours.

Beef with its braising liquid

After the 7 hours passed, I removed the beef from the mixture and shred it with two forks. It was then covered and refrigerated for 2 days. I also reserved some of the braising liquid for later.

Pulled beef

Now that the pulled beef part of the recipe was taken care, it was on to the BBQ sauce part. I have interesting mishap, well not exactly a mishap, concerning the BBQ sauce (it all got sorted out). The day I was going to serve the sandwiches is the day I created the BBQ sauce. I initially placed only the chopped sweet onion, tomatoes, Worcestershire, and Tabasco into the blender - thinking this is all I needed for the sauce. I loved this mixture. It was on the spicy side, but I like when my BBQ sauce has some kick to it.

However, a few minutes later, I re-read the directions and realized I also needed to add the reserved cooking  liquid and cilantro to this blended mixture. I did that and thought the BBQ sauce still tasted good. But it tasted more like salsa, a spicy salsa, but a salsa nonetheless.

BBQ Sauce

Finally, it was time to combine the two items and make the sandwich. The potato buns were toasted. The bun bottom was topped with the beef and then some of the sauce.

Pulled Beef and BBQ Sauce Sandwich

The first bite of the sandwich fell a little flat. Me and my guests were all trying to figure out what was missing and then a suggestion was made: Salt! So for our second sandwich helpings (it was definitely still good enough for seconds) we added salt to the beef and then proceeded to make our sandwiches. This was definitely the trick! You could taste all the flavor and everything came together quite nicely. However, we were all in agreement, though the BBQ sauce was good, it still felt like salsa.

All in all, I would make it again. And it is relatively little work, other than setting aside the 7 hours to allow it to braise. But it's a great item for a BBQ. I would however consider sticking to my mishap BBQ sauce. It was really good...maybe I'm on to something!

Enjoy!