Make machaca the next time you get tired of pot roast

Californian Linda Rahman won the bake-off that year with her blueberry-poppyseed brunch cake — a decision I still remember as one of the most contentious judging sessions I’ve ever taken part in.

But the bake-off wasn’t my main memory from that trip. The hotel where the judges stayed offered machaca at breakfast as an alternative to bacon, ham, or sausage. I’d never seen machaca or tasted it, so I had to give it a go.

It was so good that when I returned to my food writer’s desk at the Detroit News, I called the executive chef at the Phoenix hotel and begged him for the recipe. He was cheerful about sharing it but, of course, his recipe was written with a yield of 50 pounds. Yikes! It was terrific, but I didn’t need to make 50 pounds at a time.

Sometimes recipes scale down easily; sometimes they don’t. In this case, I had to fiddle around with the recipe a little to get to a family-sized yield.

In the intervening years, whenever I can get my hands on a nice-sized pot roast, machaca is the first thing I think of preparing with it. Although the recipe specifies top round, I’ve also used sirloin tip roast, chuck roast, blade roast, brisket and rump roast. You just want a cut of beef that will shred when it’s well-cooked.

A bowl of machaca on the table, served with warm corn and flour tortillas, shredded radishes, chopped onion, cilantro, guacamole, salsa and other garnishes, makes for a friendly, interactive meal that’s appropriate for both family and friends.

More typically, however, I make a batch and freeze most of it in two-cup containers, which is about the right size in my household for a couple of meals.

Whatever isn’t frozen goes into a dry skillet the next morning to warm up and to eat alongside eggs and warm tortillas for breakfast – just as I ate it the very first time.

Over the years, my recipe has evolved from the Phoenix chef’s original. Its latest incarnation is spicier because my palate has evolved to appreciate chiles in new ways. I find that a chipotle’s smokiness really enhances machaca.

If you find them too hot, substitute roasted mild chiles to contribute that smokiness without heat. Roasted poblanos or mild Hatch chiles will work.

Machaca

Makes six to eight servings

Try machaca as an alternate breakfast meat, as a filling for quesadillas, burritos, tacos or enchiladas.

I also use a mixture of cooked rice and machaca to fill stuffed peppers. You can prepare this in a crockpot; cook on high for six to eight hours, or until the beef is falling apart. An Instant Pot will also work; cook for 40 minutes on high pressure and allow pressure to drop naturally.

Ingredients

2 onions, chopped

½ cup diced mild green chiles, such as poblanos

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce plus 2 teaspoons adobo sauce

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice or puree, or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes

2 pounds beef top round or beef chuck roast, trimmed of fat and cut into four or five large pieces

Preparation

In a large heavy pot with a close-fitting lid, place the onions, red pepper flakes, chipotles, adobo sauce, black pepper and cumin. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender, about 10 minutes, adding just a little water if needed to keep the mixture from sticking.

Add the tomatoes and their liquid and stir well. Cook for three to five minutes, until the tomatoes have darkened and most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the beef.

Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and cook, stirring occasionally and turning the pieces of beef once or twice, until the beef is thoroughly tender, about two hours. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. When the beef has cooled, refrigerate it in the cooking juices overnight.

The next day, remove the beef from the cooking liquid and shred it, using your fingers or two forks.

Skim any fat from the cooking juices. Moisten the shredded beef with some of the cooking juices, stopping before the mixture gets too wet; you don’t want there to be juices in the bottom of the bowl, but you want all the shredded beef to have been wetted.

If you wish to freeze some of the machaca, transfer it to a freezer container and add cooking juices to cover. It will keep in the freezer for up to three months.

To serve, reheat the machaca over medium heat on the stovetop, covered, or in a dry skillet, or in a covered casserole dish in a 325-degree oven until hot, about 30 minutes.