BBQ Braised Beef Sandwiches

We really didn't do much for the 4th except relax. I did some baking astonishly enough. I tried my hand at pretzel making and baked a couple loaves of chocolate zucchini bread (no pictures, sorry! Maybe next time!). We had sushi at our favorite sushi place for dinner and watched fireworks from the roof of our patio. It wasn't so bad climbing the ladder to get up there but I was pretty petrified to climb down. I made it to survive another day! The reason we took it easy on the 4th is we had a big party at our friends house to get ready for on Saturday. My husband loves to get together with his friends to watch the UFC fights and I really didn't want to cook a huge spread two days in a row. Since we were going to someone else's house I wanted something that could be cooked in advanced and easily transported. I have never made bbq beef but they sounded like a great way to satisfy both my criteria. I did some searching and found this over at Simply Recipes.

As usual I made a few tweaks to the recipe to make it my own. It turned out beautifully and everyone truly enjoyed the sandwiches.

BBQ Braised Beef:
(serves 12)

3-4 lbs boneless chuck roast (I used 2 separate cuts one about 2.2 lbs and the other about 1.7 lbs)
2 medium yellow onions, diced
1 can whole peeled tomatoes, hand crushed
1 18 oz jar bbq sauce (I used Stubbs Smokey Mequite as it didn't have any HFCS)
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
12 of your favorite sandwich buns

Heat a dutch oven over medium high heat with a good coating of olive oil. Season one side of the beef (if you have a large cut, you may one to cut it into smaller pieces to allow it to brown best) and place it seasoned side down in the pot. Leave it alone for at least 4 minutes allowing it to brown really well. Season the top of the beef with more salt and pepper while the bottom is browning. When well browned flip the beef to brown the top side about another 4-5 minutes. Remove beef and set aside on a plate. Continue to brown all beef seasoning each side as you go.

Once all beef is browned, reduce the heat to medium and add a bit more olive oil and add the chopped onions. Season the onions with more salt and pepper and saute the onions until they brown really well. The juice of the onions will help deglaze all those good brown bits off the bottom of the pot. Use a wooden spoon if needed to help loosen them up and mix them in with the onions. This is flavor!! Once the onions are well browned add the tomates and the bbq sauce. Mix well and bring to a boil for about 5 minutes. Add the beef, ensuring it is covered by the sauce. Cover, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook for 3-4 hours. I went the full four hours, stirring occaisionally (~every 30 -60 minutes) and flipping the beef in the sauce.

Once the beef is falling apart, remove it from the pot. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce until the sauce is nice and thick, then turn the heat off. Shred the beef using two forks. Once the sauce is reduced add the beef back in.

At this point I transferred the mixture to a crock pot for transport and kept it on warm during the party. Serve on your favorite buns - I prefer them a bit toasted alongside refreshing glass of vodka spiked homemade lemonade!