Machaca

Machaca... I get a kick out of saying this word, don't know why.. lol..  Lately I have been watching Rachel vs Guy - Celebrity Cook-Off on the Food Network channel.  Are you surprised???  One person that surprised me with his cooking was Cheech Marin.  I believe it was the first or second episode he made a beef machaca for the hungry people.  I had never heard of machaca.  It looked delicious and the crowd loved it.  I thought I have to make that...  So I found a recipe, cooked it and loved it...

Big Dave's Beef Machaca

Marinade:

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
Juice of two limes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ cup vegetable oil or olive oil

Machaca:

2-3 lb Chuck Roast or Skirt Steak, trimmed and cut into ¼ lb portions.
1 Large Texas Sweet Onion (yellow onion) diced
½ green bell pepper diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1 Fresh Jalapeno Pepper, minced
1 14oz can diced tomatoes or tomatoes with green chilies
¼ cup beef broth
1 Tb dried oregano
1 Tb ground cumin
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce such as Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for searing the beef

Preparation

For the marinade, combine all the ingredients in a bowl then whisk them to form an emulsion. Add the beef making sure every piece is evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate.
Marinate the beef overnight in a bowl in the refrigerator. Before preparing, drain thoroughly and allow meat to come up to room temperature for about 30 minutes.

In a large soup pot, heat a few tablespoons of oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Sear the beef a few pieces at a time to develop a rich brown color on all sides as well as on the bottom of the pan. Do this in several batches if the pot is too crowded.

When all the beef is browned nicely and removed from the pan, add the onions, peppers, and garlic to the hot pan. Sauté for a few minutes then add the remaining ingredients to the pan along with the beef. Bring to a boil, scraping the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer slowly for about 2 hours. The meat should be very tender and should easily fall apart when pricked with a fork.

Remove from heat, remove meat to a cutting board and shred with a pair of forks. Return to the pot and bring to a simmer, uncovered. Reduce the liquid until very thick, almost dry. At this point, adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and whatever additional heat you want to add if any.

Serve with tortillas, cheese, salsa, lettuce and guacamole for a great beef taco. Portion and freeze the remaining machaca in zip lock bags for later use.