Slow-Cooked (or Oven-Braised) Pulled Beef on a Bun

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...

This is a recipe that B. and I made twice (!) this summer.

The first time, we used a chuck roast we had in our freezer from the failed Beef in Barolo experiment of New Year's Eve 2010, Cattle Boyz BBQ Sauce and did it in the slow cooker. The meat was super-moist and tender, but the sauce was too watery (very much unlike the dark, molasses-like sauce in Julie's photos).

The second time, we used an eye of round roast (as per the recipe), tried some Presidents' Choice Smokin' Stampede BBQ Sauce and did it in the oven. The sauce cooked down to almost nothing and the meat was so tough in some parts it tasted like jerky. We liked the flavour better though. Perhaps next time we won't change so many variables...

I would definitely re-attempt this recipe again, if only to get the sauce thing right. It's super-easy. All you have to do is slice up some onions, crush a few cloves of garlic, brown the roast, then toss it all together in a slow cooker (or a dutch oven) with some beef broth, your favourite barbecue sauce, then some brown sugar, balsamic vinegar and grainy mustard to amp the flavours up a little. Of course, if you are conscious of the amount of sodium in your diet, choose a low-sodium beef broth and BBQ sauce, and you can replace some of the broth with water too. And if you're calorie-conscious, the eye of round is probably the leanest of the recommended roasts for this recipe.




Once it's braised for about 6 hours, take two forks and pull the meat apart in the sauce. So yummy served on top of whole wheat buns, along with some of the caramelized onions in the sauce that have soaked up all the flavour. (And of course, a big scoop of the sauce - if it's thick enough - wouldn't hurt either!)


Yum... time to bring out the slow cooker again, I think!

Slow-Cooked (or Oven-Braised) Pulled Beef on a Bun
Adapted from Eric Akis via Dinner with Julie
Makes ~10 servings (depending on the size of your roast)

• 1 tbsp (15 mL) vegetable oil, for cooking
  
• 1 eye of round, top round or chuck roast
  
• 2 onions, halved and thinly sliced
  
• 1½ cups (375 mL) barbecue sauce
  
• 1½ cups (375 mL) beef broth
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) brown sugar
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) balsamic vinegar
  
• 2 tbsp (30 mL) grainy mustard
  
• a few (we used 4) cloves garlic, crushed

1. In a heavy skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat and brown the roast on all sides.
   
2. Meanwhile, toss everything else together in a slow cooker or ovenproof casserole. (Tip: Measure out the BBQ sauce first then use the beef broth to get any BBQ sauce stuck on the side of your measuring cup.) Top with the browned meat.
   
3. Cover and cook on low (in the slow cooker) for 6-8 hours, or cover and bake at 275˚F-300˚F for 6ish hours.
   
4. When the beef is ready, pull the meat apart using two forks. Serve on soft, whole wheat buns.

Nutrition Info (per serving, with bun): 435 calories, 12 g fat (4 g saturated, 0 g trans), 91 mg cholesterol, 39 g carbohydrate (3 g fibre, 17 g sugar), 36 g protein, 726 mg sodium. An excellent source of niacin (vitamin B₃), vitamin B₆, vitamin B₁₂, iron, zinc, manganese and selenium. A good source of thiamin (vitamin B₁), riboflavin (vitamin B₂), magnesium, phosphorus, potassium.