We all have those
specific foods that make us think of home and bring us back to better
days. Foods that we grew up with, foods that give us comfort. No
matter your age, cultural background, or the country in which you are
born, we all have those specific foods that make us think of loved
ones. For me it is my grandmother's barbecue beef sandwiches. My
grandparents owned both a small country store in a small town called
Etoile in East Texas, as well as a café and pool hall on highway 103
in Lufkin, Texas. Twice when my father was stationed in Korea during
his 22 years in the Air Force we lived for a year each time with my
grandparents.
One of the things
that my grandmother served at her café was barbecue beef sandwiches.
I remember watching her cook the beef all day along with the sauce
just to get it ready for the restaurant. One summer when my father
was overseas I think I ate her barbecue almost everyday at the café.
It is still the food that brings back childhood memories of my
grandparents who are now deceased. Many years back when my
grandmother died, my mother found the index card that contained her
original barbecue beef sandwich recipe and made a photocopy and send
it to me.
Every time I make
this barbecue I think of the goods times we had when we lived with my
grandparents, and that no matter how many days in a row I ate this
barbecue I never got tired of it. But that's how kids are, they get
stuck on such foods and want to eat them constantly. For my grandkids
it was chicken tenders, for me it was grandma's barbecue. In this
article, I will share with you my grandmother's barbecue recipe for
'Chipped Barbecue Beef'. It is not a traditional barbecue sandwich as
it is made with cheaper roast or beef stew meat as opposed to more
expensive beef brisket, but the bold tangy sauce has made it a
favorite among my family, and it is requested often.
The Meat
Back in the East
Texas country where my grandmother lived, there were no barbecue
joints. Etoile was a town of 300 people so brisket was not something
that was readily available and I will be honest I never really knew
what it was when I was growing up. For us barbecue was made from
roast or beef stew meat (roast trimmings). My grandmother could get
beef stew meat relatively cheaply from their meat supplier for her
country store, so that was the meat of choice.
The Recipe
3 – 4lbs beef stew
meat or roast cubed
2 (29 ounce cans)
crushed tomatoes
1 cup white vinegar
¼ cup
Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup sugar
5 cloves garlic,
minced
2 medium onions,
diced (enough for 2 cups)
2 tablespoons dry
mustard
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoon chili
powder
2 teaspoons black
pepper
Dice onions and
combine in batches with crushed tomatoes in your blender and puree
until the two have been thoroughly combined. Then add them to a large
Dutch oven with the other ingredients (except the beef) and cook
until the sauce thickens (Reduce the sauce by about 1/4 of it's original volume).
Once the beef is
cooked, and shredded, then add the thickened sauce to your beef until
you get the consistency that you like. My experience has been that I
generally have about 1/3 cup more sauce than I need. I simply place
it in the refrigerator and use it for something else, but grandma
simply added the beef straight to the sauce. As I was quite young at
the time, I never really learned to make the recipe from her, at
eight years of age my focus was more on “is it done yet grandma”
as opposed to learning the particular steps. So I thicken my sauce to
my preference and simply add the sauce until it suits my particular
taste. If I have a little left over no big deal.
Chef's Notes: While
my grandmother boiled her beef for hours, I prefer to use my pressure
cooker to cook the beef as it is a whole lot faster. Below I have
included instructions on how to cook the beef using either method.
Stove Top Method For
Cooking Beef
Trim the beef stew
meat or roast of any extra fat and then cube (makes shredding the
beef easier). Then place the beef in a Dutch oven or large stock pot
and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and
simmer the meat until it is fork tender. When the beef is done to
your satisfaction, then drain the water off the meat then shred with
a fork or other utensil and add the sauce.
Pressure Cooker
Method
Trim the beef stew
meat or roast of any extra fat and then cube (makes shredding the
beef easier). Then add the cubed beef and 1 ½ cups of water to your
pressure cooker and process for 60 minutes at 15lbs of pressure if
using a traditional pressure cooker. I using an electric pressure
cooker then place on the high setting (Chicken/Meat) and cook for 60
minutes. so that it is fall apart tender. When the beef is done to
your satisfaction, then drain the water off the meat then shred with
a fork or other utensil and add the sauce.
Cost Savings
Beef roast and stew
meat is not as cheap as it was in the past, however generally beef
stew meat, which is are the trimmings from roast are generally
cheaper to purchase that whole roasts. This is not always the case,
but generally this is the case. As big 'comp shoppers' we check our
adds each week and when roast is on sale we buy several and throw
them in the freezer or make barbecue or can it as beef stew or soup
base. This last week we bought four boneless chuck roasts on sale for
$1.99lb, normally $5.49lb at our local Walmart (a 64% savings). Total
cost for making 5 ½ pounds of barbecue beef is $13.55 or $2.46 per
pound or $0.153 per ounce. I have included the cost breakdown of the
ingredients below.
Boneless chuck roast
4.74lbs for 1.99lb, total cost = $9.43 (Walmart)
Crushed tomatoes
(29oz can) $1.00ea, total cost = $2.00 (Dollar Tree)
Onions 5lbs for
$0.99, or $0.198lb, (2 onions ½lb) total cost = $0.10 (Walmart)
White Vinegar 1 cup,
$0.02 per ounce, total cost = $0.16 (Walmart)
Granulated Sugar ¼
cup, $0.06 per ounce, total cost = $0.12 (Walmart)
Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup, $0.10 per ounce, total cost = $0.20 (Walmart)
Miscellaneous dry
spices total cost approximately $1.00 (Walmart)
For cost comparison,
this recipe is very similar to prepackaged barbecue beef in the
plastic containers that you will find in your local meat or
delicatessen. Brands vary per region but in East Texas we primarily
see Lloyd's Shredded Barbecue Beef (15oz) $4.83 or $0.322 per ounce.
At one time Sadlers BBQ also made a shredded barbecue beef product,
but they have since changed recipes and I can only find the brisket
product in our area and it is quite a bit more expensive. So compared
to Lloyd's it is 50% cheaper to make your own shredded barbecue beef
at home than it is to purchase it at the supermarket.
Conclusion
We all have those
foods that make us think of home, those comfort foods that remind us
of loved ones that may no longer be with us. For me it was my
grandmother's shredded barbecue beef sandwiches. Every time I prepare
and eat this recipe I think of my grandmother. The pictures for this
article were taken as I quickly made this recipe for my grandson who
requested it for his birthday last weekend. As I would be working the
day of his birthday, the barbecue beef went straight into the freezer
to be thawed the day of his party. That's the great thing about this
recipe, it freezes extremely well.
I hope you and your
family will enjoy making my grandmothers barbecue beef. It is far
cheaper to make your own than it is to purchase the premade barbecue
at the supermarket (50% cheaper), and way cheaper than taking the
family out for barbecue which for a family of four could easily cost
you $40 to $50 dollars. And keep in mind that this recipe will easily
make 10 sandwiches (½lb beef each) making the cost $1.35 per
sandwich minus the bun, verses $6.00 for a chopped beef sandwich at a
barbecue joint. As always, if you have enjoyed this article, please
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