Hybrid Deliciousness

Some of our favorite people, the Goodlings, were coming over for lunch after church on Sunday and I was out of ideas. While thinking and distracting myself from the need to think of something and being disinterested in my usual go-to "company recipes," I checked my GoogleReader and came upon this one from one of my favorite food people SmittenKitchen. (Another delicious recipe of hers I posted is here.) I often forget the "magical powers" available when you use your crock pot. This recipe was good enough for me to want to make again within the week. We served it tostada style with pan fried corn tortilla, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes, pickled onions (also a SmittenKitchen recipe), and all the usual taco extras. It was so good that it took Dre and I all day to clean up from lunch because every time we went back to the pot we ate more.

Southwestern Pulled Brisket

3 pounds beef brisket *I couldn't find brisket at Giant so I went with a roast instead.
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 Spanish onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chili powder
2 teaspoons ground coriander *I didn't have this so I used Penzey's fajita seasoning.
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups water
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices
1 to 2 whole canned chipotle chiles en adobo (I used one; two will give it a real kick)
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup molasses

In a pan lightly coated in olive oil: "Add garlic, onion, chili powder, coriander, and cumin to drippings in the skillet and stir until fragrant, about one minute. Add vinegar and boil until it’s almost gone (and seriously, get your head out of the way of the steam; inhaling vinegar is no fun!), scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Stir in water and pour the mixture over the brisket. Crush the tomatoes through your fingers into the slow cooker; add the tomato juices, chipotles, bay leaves, and molasses. Cover the cooker, set it on LOW, and cook the brisket until it pulls apart easily with a fork, about 8 to 10 hours."

SmittenKitchen's original recipe called for browning the meat on all sides but to save time and because I couldn't find brisket and was using a roast instead I adapted the cooking technique a bit by combining with this one from AllRecipes. I froze the roast for a few hours (from when I got home from the store until when I pulled it out to cook it) instead of browning it on all sides. Then set my alarm for 3:30 am to get up and put the roast and pre-mixed flavoring combination into the crock pot and turned it on low. When we got home from church (second service) it was ready to go and unbelievably tender.