Slow Cooker Chile Colorado with Pico de Gallo

Mmm... even as I type this, it's been a few hours since we ate and I still have the awesome, awesome flavour of the chile sauce in my mouth.  I was tired of chicken and ground beef in my tacos and enchiladas, we'd been eating a lot of pork lately and I didn't want that, so I thought I'd do something with a little more pop.  Came out so good!

I woke up today with Nerf Herder's "Pantera Fans In Love" stuck in my head... no idea why!  So it's what I'm using for the recipe tunes.  -jen

SLOW COOKER CHILE COLORADO
Prep Time: 15-20 minutes
Cook Time:  6-8 hours
Difficulty:  Medium
Serves:  6-8

• beef chuck roast, 3.5-4 pounds
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 3 teaspoons ground cumin
• 6 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large Anaheim chile, julienned
• 1 large poblano chile, julienned
• 1 jalapeño chile, julienned
• 1/2 large onion, julienned 
• juice of 1-2 limes
• 12 oz beer of choice (I used PBR because that's what we had)
• 1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce (see recipe below)

Trim excess fat from chuck roast.  In a small dish, mix together salt, pepper, oregano and cumin.  Sprinkle evenly over entire roast (bottom too!)  Place roast in slow cooker and cover the top with the minced garlic.  Add chiles and onion, making sure to cover the top of the roast with them.   Pour lime juice over veggie-covered roast and then add the beer, pouring it on the side of the roast (not over it!)

Cook on high for 6-8 hours, until you can shred the roast easily using two forks.  While roast is cooking, make your chile sauce and pico de gallo (see recipe below).

When roast is done and shredded, drain over a bowl and set broth aside.  Put the beef back into the crock pot and add 1 and 1/2 cups red chile sauce, as well as 1/2 cup of the reserved broth.  (You can refrigerate or freeze the broth to use later in a delicious soup, like Spicy Mexican Pepper Soup!)  Turn slow cooker to low and cook another half hour.

Serve in tacos, tamales, burritos, enchiladas, over rice, on nachos, whatever!

CHILE SAUCE
Time: 10 minutes
Difficulty: Easty
Makes:  3 cups

• 1/4 pound dried guajillo chiles (if you like it hot, use 1/8# dried guajillo & 1/8# dried chipotle)
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 9-10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/3 cup packed cilantro
• 1 jalapeño (optional, for spiciness!)
• juice of 1-2 limes 
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon Caldo de Pollo (or 1 chicken bouillon cube)
• 2 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  If you want a hotter chile, tear off stems but leave seeds in dried chiles.  If you want a mild one, tear off stems and empty out seeds.  (I recommend at least keeping half the seeds.)  Place seed pods on baking sheet and roast for 3-4 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Let chiles cool to touch before packing them into a large blender.  Add the onion, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, cumin, oregano, Caldo and carefully pour the hot water over everything.  Blend until completely pureed. 

PICO DE GALLO
Time: 5 minutes
Difficulty:  Easy
Makes:  about 2 cups

• 1 large tomato
• 1/2 medium onion
• 1 jalapeño
• 1/4 cup packed cilantro
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon salt

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and pulse until desired consistency (I like mine like a relish).  If you don't have a food processor, just dice everything small.