Shredded Beef Enchiladas

I want to share with you a delicious recipe for shredded beef. This recipe is very versatile. You can use the shredded beef in burritos, tacos, tostadas and enchiladas. The meat is very flavorful and moist. Perfect for your Mexican food favorite. I found this recipe in Sunset’s Crockery Cookbook 1992. I was a little afraid to look at the date of this book because I bought it new! I have used this recipe in particular many times over the years.

This shredded beef recipe makes a bunch. I made a batch of the beef, and I was able to make tostadas one night, enchiladas another night, and I had enough to freeze and pull out a few weeks later to make the enchiladas above. I love making this recipe because I know I can get a couple of meals out of it.

Shredded Beef
Adapted from Crockery Cookbook
1 lean boneless beef chuck roast about 3 lbs., trimmed of fat
4 teaspoon chili powder
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1-4 ounce can of diced green chilies
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1-8 ounce can of tomato sauce
¼ cup of tequila

In a 4–quart or larger crock-pot, combine onion, garlic and chilies. Sprinkle beef on all sides with chili powder and oregano and cumin. Place the beef on top of the onion mixture in the crock-pot. Pour in the tomato sauce and the tequila. Cover and cook the beef on low until the meat is very tender, and can be shredded with a fork, about 9 to 10 hours.

Once it has completed cooking, lift the beef from the crock-pot and shred with a fork. Discard any fat. Skim off the fat from the cooking liquid and return the beef to the crock-pot. Turn the heat to high, and heat the meat until it is warmed throughout.

I found the recipe for enchilada sauce from How to Cook Everything by Mark Bitman. I had a bunch of dried chilies on hand, so I liked that this recipe would use them up. This is a very flavorful sauce without being too spicy. I would have like a little more spice, but the kids thought it was delicious, or at least my daughter and her friend who was over for dinner liked it. My son ate the meat out of the enchilada.

Red Enchilada Sauce
Adapted from How to Cook Everything
2 large dry New Mexican chilies
¼ cup canola oil
2 large onions, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
28 ounce can of diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon sugar
Salt and fresh ground pepper
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

Toast the chilies in a dry frying pan until they are fragrant about 1 or 2 minutes. Pour hot water over the chilies and soak for about 10 minutes. Once the chilies have soaked, take the chilies out and chop them. Reserve the water. Heat the canola oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chilies, onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soften, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Lower the temperature so the mixture bubbles gently. Cook the mixture for about 20 minutes or until the mixture comes together and has thickened. If the mixture gets too thick, stir in some of the reserved water from the chilies. Stir in the lime juice and the cilantro. Use an immersion blender or a blender and puree the sauce.

Enchiladas
16 corn tortillas
1/3 batch of shredded beef
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 recipe of Red Enchilada Sauce

Preheat the over to 375°F. Pour a small amount of enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9 by 13 pan. Heat the tortillas in the microwave until pliable. Place 2-3 Tablespoons of shredded beef in the center of a tortilla. Top with 1 Tablespoon or so of cheese, and roll up. Place the tortilla into the pan, seam side down, and repeat with the remaining tortillas. Once all of the tortillas have been filled, pour the sauce over the tortillas, and top with the remaining cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.