Mexican Shredded Beef Wraps

Mid-May. The asparagus came in. The patch is twelve years old now — I planted it in 2034 — and it's mature, productive, sending up spears every morning. We harvest about three pounds a week through May. Some we eat fresh. Some I pickle. Some I blanch and freeze. The asparagus is one of the most reliable producers on the property, and it's the kind of crop you plant when you're young because you won't see the full harvest for years, and the long view is the right view for asparagus and for everything else worth doing.

Smoked a brisket Saturday. Eight hours, oak and pecan, served sliced thin against the grain with bean bread and pickled wild onions. Caleb and Miriam came for dinner. Miriam ate brisket and said: this is the best brisket I've had. I said: thank you. She said: my father smoked. He died ten years ago. He smoked beef. He didn't do brisket. He did chuck because brisket was for white people. I said: chuck is a good cut for smoking. She said: I miss him. I said: I miss my father too. The conversation moved. The wood-smoke kitchen is a place where dead fathers come up easily. Hannah and Caleb watched us talk and didn't say much. After Miriam left Caleb said: she likes you. I said: she's easy to like. He said: she said you remind her of her dad. I said: that's the highest compliment. He said: she said I remind her of you. I said: that may not be a compliment, depending on the day. He laughed. He said: it's a compliment.

The garden is exploding. The peas are flowering. The lettuce is at peak. Spinach is bolting — the late spring heat is too much for it, and I cut it all and made a giant batch of saag with venison and served it over rice. Saag with venison is not Cherokee food. It's not Mexican food. It's Indian food filtered through an Oklahoma kitchen. James — James who married Lily's friend, the doctor — taught me the basics of saag four years ago and I've been making it ever since. The cumin and the coriander and the ginger and the long-cooked spinach with venison cubes — the dish is comfort food in three cultures. Hannah ate two helpings. I ate three. The third helping was always going to happen.

The food forest is producing. Mulberries are starting. The first cherry tomatoes are flowering. The pawpaws have set fruit. The persimmons have set fruit. The pecans are growing leaves at full speed. The orchard is doing the work it does, which is being itself, which is what I asked it to do.

The brisket on Saturday took eight hours and fed something that needed feeding — not just hunger, but the kind of quiet grief that comes up in a wood-smoke kitchen when people feel safe enough to say they miss someone. I’ve been thinking about that dinner all week, about Miriam’s father and chuck roast and the way beef cooked low and slow carries memory in a way other food doesn’t. These shredded beef wraps are weeknight food, not Saturday ceremony, but the long braise does the same patient work — and they’re the kind of thing you make when you want that feeling again without committing to a full fire.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 8 hours | Total Time: 8 hours 15 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 lbs beef chuck roast
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 cup beef broth
6 large flour tortillas, warmed
Toppings: shredded cabbage, sour cream, pickled onions, fresh cilantro, lime wedges

Instructions

Season the beef. Pat the chuck roast dry and rub it all over with chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, salt, and pepper.
Layer the slow cooker. Place the sliced onion and minced garlic in the bottom of a slow cooker. Lay the seasoned roast on top. Pour the diced tomatoes and beef broth over and around the meat.
Cook low and slow. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours, until the beef is completely tender and pulls apart easily with a fork. Do not rush this — the long cook is the point.
Shred and return. Transfer the beef to a cutting board and shred with two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the slow cooker and stir it into the braising liquid. Let it sit on WARM for 10 to 15 minutes to absorb.
Warm the tortillas. Heat tortillas one at a time in a dry skillet over medium heat for 30 seconds per side, or wrap in a damp paper towel and microwave for 45 seconds.
Assemble and serve. Pile shredded beef onto each tortilla. Top with shredded cabbage, a spoon of sour cream, pickled onions, and a few sprigs of cilantro. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime. Fold and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Mexican Shredded Beef Wraps — When the Smoke Clears and Someone Misses Their Father