Food Friday - Balsamic Shredded Beef

Balsamic Shredded Beef
adapted from Shugary Sweets

This recipe has been sitting in my "need to try this" section of my recipe book for months.  Coming back from vacation, I wanted to use as much as I could from the freezer/cupboards in order to keep the grocery bill down.  Well, I happened to have a roast left in the freezer so I decided it was time to try this recipe.  I loved that I could use the crock pot AND that it is a long cooking recipe (6-8 hours) which means it would work to use on a day we had to be away for the day.  Well, I put this in the crock pot at 10:00.  At 11:30 I came back inside to start lunch and discovered that my crock pot had died.  It wasn't the  least bit warm - don't you hate that???  I improvised and dumped everything into a big pot and just simmered it on the stove all afternoon.  It did work out but most of the juice simmered away, which doesn't happen in a crock pot, so we didn't have much "gravy" for our potatoes.  This was a very tasty meal - my husband said it is his new favorite meal ;-)  I had it for lunch the following day and it was every better.  The seasoning is not over powering at all - it is a very mild flavor.  The people I babysit for walked into the house and said, "Wow, that smells amazing, how about if we watch your kids for the evening and just eat dinner here" HA!  I served this beef with mashed potatoes, corn on the cob and rolls. 

Ingredients

• 4-5lb beef chuck roast
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed

Instructions

1. Whisk together all the ingredients and add to the bottom of a slow cooker. Add roast. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove roast and shred with a fork, return to juices.
2. Serve and enjoy. The gravy is delicious with mashed potatoes too!