shredded beef on a bun

This Saturday I had a surprise party for my husband who has just retired. He was taken sailing by a couple friends for the afternoon, and so I could only start cooking after he had gone, so the menu had to be simple and quick.  I did put the beef in the crock pot before he left, but apparently he did not notice that I had put in enough for 20!

This made enough 20 people with sadly no left overs, but it would be easy to shrink down for a more reasonable number.

Beef pot roast (I did one pot roast and 4 large braising steaks)
2 cups of tomato puree
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon of Cinnamon
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of coriander
4 garlic cloves sliced
1 lime cut up

Sauce
2 tablespoons of sirachi sauce (or more to taste)
1/4 cup of tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon of brown sugar

Place the beef in a crock pot along with the lime.

Combine all the  other ingredients in large jug.

Mix and pour over the beef.

put on a lid and cook for 7 hours on low.  Unfortunately when this was finished, I was too busy dealing with 20 people in my not very large kitchen, trying not to burn anyone and find enough space to put anything down, to take any pictures.

But basically I lifted out the falling apart beef and placed it in a large dish and shredded it with two forks.  I spooned a little of the juice over it to keep it moist.

I then covered it with foil and kept it warm in a warm oven until we were ready.  I poured the juices out of the pan and poured off the fat. Then I simmered the remaining juice of which there was quite a bit down to about 2 cups. Then I added the sauce ingredients to make a very flavourful thick barbecue type sauce.

I served this beef with ciabatta buns, roasted peppers and the sauce on the side.

I made a simple coleslaw and green salad to go with it, and I have to say it was very tasty.  Cooking the limes in with the beef gave the sauce a slightly bitter taste, which actually I quite like, but you could omit those or cut them down if you don't.

Rather than concentrating on food for this party I was spending time on creating a game that we played.  My husband loves games and travel, so the game was where in the world is Dave Ungless.  This was a combination of "Where in the world in Carmen Sandiego" and the amazing race.  There were challenges such as bicycle relay, poker game and puzzles to put together. It was great fun and nobody got hurt, a sign of a good party.  Here is a picture of the winners of the bicycle relay wearing their yellow jackets.