Pulled beef rolls in cola BBQ sauce
Picnics should be remembered for food and not for the sudden thunderstorm which made everyone sprint under the bus shelter halfway through eating. That’s why when Oliver Denton hears there’s a picnic coming up, he starts preparations early. Twelve hours early in fact, so that he can make some mouthwatering slow-cooked pulled beef rolls in a BBQ sauce.
Ingredients
- 2.2kg top rump of beef
- 4 onions , approximately 300g
- 600ml of cola, (we’re using the cola as a substitute for sugar in this recipe, so don’t go ‘diet’ on this. If you’re not a fan then you can try lemonade -sharpens it up, Dr Pepper or ginger beer for a real kick)
- 300ml of tomato ketchup
- 4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
- 2 tbsp of cider vinegar
- 4 tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp of chilli flakes , (If you don’t like spicy food, please don’t put this in! You can use smoked paprika in its place for a more mellow taste)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
Method
1
The hardest part of the recipe (and I use the term ‘hard’ loosely) is dicing the onions, so get them cut up as small as you can first. The onions will form part of the BBQ sauce, and you’ll find that they soak up the flavours of the other ingredients, especially the spice of the chilli peppers. If you have a food processor, then use it to dice the onions for you
2
Line the bottom of your slow cooker with the onions. My slow cooker has a capacity of 4.2 litres, and fits this piece of beef perfectly but I couldn’t have gone bigger. Keep that in mind when buying the meat
3
Sprinkle over the crushed chillies, salt and pepper, then add the Worcestershire sauce, balsamic and cider vinegars to the bowl
4
Pour the cola (or other fizzy drink) into the slow cooker. It should bubble up a bit but if you take your time you should avoid getting it all over the kitchen ceiling
5
Add the ketchup to the pot. If you bought the right-sized bottle then you should just need to empty the whole thing in, especially satisfying if it’s a squeezy one. Stir all of the ingredients together
6
Take your joint of meat and make sure it is free of all netting or paper that you bought it in. When you’re happy, slowly lower it into your barbecue sauce base liquid
7
Some slow cooker recipes may tell you to fill the bowl to two-thirds or three-quarters full, however as you’re going to be leaving this on for 12 hours (in my case, overnight), I like to cover the meat fully because some of the liquid is going to be lost
8
Place the lid onto the slow cooker and turn it on - making sure you use the ‘LOW’ setting. Leave for 12 hours
9
The next day, prepare your rolls. If you can find a bakery nearby, ask them for rolls which are quite ‘bready’ and chunky. This will act as a sponge for your BBQ sauce, but it won’t disintegrate like a thin roll can. I reckon that a joint of beef this size is enough for at least 15 well-stuffed large rolls, so buy enough
10
Remove the lid from the slow cooker and gently lift the meat from the pan and into a large bowl. The meat should be very tender (falling apart), so it should be easy to tear it apart using two forks
11
Transfer a quarter of the remaining BBQ sauce from the slow cooker into the bowl with your meat and stir it in. This will make it nice and moist without being watery
12
Now stuff your bread rolls with your pulled beef, and make sure you pile lots of meat in there. I like to add a little spoonful of coleslaw from the local deli to each roll, especially if it’s a particularly spicy batch
13
Wrap each roll in foil, fill up a bag and get out in the sunshine!
You can add yellow mustard or more potent chili sauces to vary the kick of your own offering - just make sure you take extra for everyone, because one is never enough...
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Pulled beef rolls in cola BBQ sauce
