[Sponsor Note (via Seth): Lantana buys all of Joe’s ingredients so he can make these awesome recipes for us.

We haven’t gone two weeks since starting their sponsorship without someone telling us they finally tried their hummus and found it amazing. Also it’s not made of kitens!]

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With the holiday season winding down and family members pushing every last button, I find myself hiding out on the back patio with cigars, Booze and bbq.  It’s one of the only things that completely relaxes me as of late. Fortunately for me, my back patio is covered with grills, smokers and pizza ovens. Over the last month, I have had some fun with Beef and booze and want to pass some of it along. This pulled beef recipe couldn’t be any easier and the booze it simple too.  Give them a try and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

• Chuck Roast - 3 to 5 lbs
• Your favorite Beef Rub
• Sweet Onion
• Jalapeños - OPTIONAL
• Beef Broth
• Buns

[Hit THE JUMP for melted meat]

Directions:

Fire the smoker up to 250 degrees and toss on a few chunks of Pecan or Hickory wood.  I still have the Memphis pellet grill on loan and will use it.  Season your chuck roast with your rub or go with a simple combo of salt and pepper.

Once the smoker temp hits 250, toss your beef on the pit.  After a few hours, it should start to develop a nice crust and matching color.

This is going to go for a few hours or until it hits 155 internal. Once it hits this temp, it’s done taking smoke, so we can expedite the cooking process.

Place in a Foil Pan and add 2 cups of beef broth.

Foil tightly and place back on the pit. Keep the temp at 250 degrees.

Go until the roast hits an internal temp of about 210 degrees.  This one went for another 2.5 hours giving us a total of 5 hours from start to finish. Once you hit 210 degrees, remove from the pit and vent one corner of the foil pan. This will help stop the cooking process.

After 10 minutes, start shredding the meat with a set of forks.  Remove any large hunks of fat and throw them away. Keep those juices in the foil pan!

Take the shredded meat and throw them back in the pan with the juice.

If you want to grill some onions and jalapeños, feel free.  They make a great topping for these pulled beef sammies. I had some horseradish sauce laying around, so I added that to the top.  Sooooo gooooood.

If you want to experiment, try this. Grab some fresh jalapeños and toss them on the smoker. Set the pit up for 180 degree and use a light flavored wood.  Pecan or apple works great. Smoke them for 24 hours. Yes, 24 hours.

This will turn them into chipotle peppers.  Chipotles are smoked jalapeños and are fantastic. They don’t look sexy, but are packed with flavor.

Once these are done, toss 3 - 4 into your favorite bottle of vodka or tequila.

After about 10 days, you will have a much darker colored booze that has a nice smokey kick to it. I used these for smokey margaritas and Bloody Mary’s. Rim your glass with a spicy bbq rub and you are in business.

Experiment with more or less peppers and try them with serranos and habanero peppers as well.  You can leave the peppers in the alcohol up to 3 weeks if you want. It will just have a stronger flavor. You will love the flavor when you are done. Make sure and remove the peppers and run the booze through a strainer to eliminate any seeds.

This smokey treat also goes great with a few tubs of Lantana Hummus. I love the edamame with this along with the Sriracha Carrot.  Thanks again to Matt and the Lantana gang for sponsoring us this season.

Enjoy the Outback Bowl and stay warm. GO BLUE!!!!