Today's Dinner: Crockpot Balsamic Pulled Apart Roast Beef

Tried my hand at a Pinterest find. This balsamic roast beef is so delicious. After eating our regular, naturally flavoured beef stew - this puts it to shame! I didn't add any carrots or potatoes to this dish today because it was a first attempt (I followed the recipe to the T). Personally, I love Worcestershire sauce and vinegars, so I knew this would be right up my alley. My husband, however, detests vinegar - but he loved this meal!

I feed an "army" (with 7 people in our family and we always have other people over as well), so I tripled the ingredients. I set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. as I was shooting for a meal by lunchtime rather than dinner. It took me about 30 minutes to prepare everything and get it in the crock. I set my heat to start at 225° and at about 9:30a I turned it up to 350° and left it to cook until 1:00p.

As I was experimenting, I got three different boneless roasts. A regular cut, a rump cut, and a shoulder cut. By 1:00, they were all tender and falling apart (I could, literally, cut them with a spoon)! The shoulder cut shrank a lot, so I wouldn't recommend this cut. The rump really didn't have much fat on it and might have been a little drier than the regular cut, but I pulled them both apart and mixed them together (see above pic). It was perfect!

I noticed in the comment section on the website that I obtained this recipe (link provided after the recipe below) that a couple of people had asked what kind or brand vinegar to use with this recipe and I didn't see a response to the question - so below is a photo of what I used.

When I first mixed everything and began to heat, I could smell each of the ingredients (the vinegar, Worcestershire, soy sauce, and honey) all warming and I enjoyed it. By the time it was ready to dig into, the ingredients had mingled nicely and no single ingredient was seriously overpowering. The taste is a savory tangy flavour that even my young picky-eaters enjoyed.

I prepared mashed potatoes as a side dish and used some of the broth to create a gravy. (1 cup of broth, 1 cup of water, and about 1/2 cup of flour. Stir quickly and constantly over heat until it is blended and the texture is consistent. I actually remove from heat until blended somewhat and then return to heat until ready.) I, myself, do not eat mashed potatoes (the rest of the family does), and my husband enjoyed the gravy so much that on his second plate he covered everything with it. 

So, I don't think I'll ever make my regular roast beef stew the "old" way again. These ingredients have now become a must!

Balsamic Roast Beef Recipe

(Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 4 hours | Total time: 4 hours 5 mins)

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 3-4 pound boneless roast beef (chuck or round roast)
• 1 cup beef broth
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

Instructions

1. Pour broth into slow cooker. Peel garlic cloves and chop finely, then add to broth. Add the vinegar, Worcestershire, soy sauce, honey, and crushed red pepper to broth. Turn on the heat on low (about 225°) and stir until well blended. Place roast beef into the slow cooker and spoon broth over the top of the roast. Set the timer for 4 hours. Spoon more broth over the top of the roasts, turn up the heat to 350° and cook for an additional 3 ½ hours.
   
   
2. Once roast beef has cooked, remove from slow cooker with tongs into a serving dish. By now, it should be very tender and falling apart easily. Break apart with two forks and then ladle about ½ cup of the broth over roast beef.

Note: If you prefer a more pronounced flavor, once the roast beef has been removed, use a fat separator on the gravy and then pour the gravy into a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the gravy has reduced by half.  

CREDIT: I found this recipe at Add A Pinch blog!