It's Easy - Italian Drip Beef

I love to cook. I love to feed people. I love for people to come over and eat what I've made.

As much as I love to cook, I hate food that involves hours of active work time and a plethora of ingredients. The joke is that when my friends tell me how good my food is, my answer is always "it's EASY". In fact, to me, the biggest compliment to my cooking is when people take my recipes and try to make the same food at home.

I read Cooking Light, I frequent the Cooking Light Bulletin Boards, I read food blogs and I peruse cookbooks. I mark recipes I want to make. Looking through the recipes I have tagged, there is a running theme. There aren't too many ingredients and I have most of the ingredients at home (or can easily substitute).

One of my favorite blogs is The Pioneer Woman. Her food always looks AMAZING and super tasty. The best part about her recipes - they are all low on the number of ingredients and pretty darn simple to make (or at least she makes it look that way).

This weekend I made her Italian Beef Drip. Wow!! For about 5 minutes of work and a couple of ingredients, this is about as good as it gets.

I modified her recipe just a little bit to use what I had on hand, but I don't think that she would be too upset. If you read her blog, she's all about the simplicity and using what's on hand.

If you want to see pictures of what this looks like, check out the link above. I tried to take pictures of mine and they did not turn out well.

Italian Drip Beef
Servings: 10

Ingredients
1 whole Beef Chuck Roast, 2.5 To 4 Pounds
1 can Beef Consomme Or Beef Broth – used 2 cups Turkey broth, because it’s what I had
3 Tablespoons (heaping) Italian Seasoning – used 3 tablespoons of Pasta sprinkle and 1 tablespoon of Northwoods seasonings from Penzeys, because it’s what I had
1 teaspoon Salt – omitted because the Northwoods blend has salt in it
¼ cups Water
½ jars (16 Oz) Pepperoncini Peppers, With Juice
Buttered, Toasted Deli Rolls

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a heavy pot or dutch oven. Stir lightly to combine seasoning with the liquid. Cover and bake in a 275 degree oven* for 5 to 6 hours, or until meat is fork-tender and falling apart. Remove from oven. With two forks, completely shred all meat, leaving no large chunks behind. Serve immediately, or keep warm over a simmer on the stove.

I used my crock pot – combined all ingredients and set on low for 8 hours.
May make the day before, then store in the refrigerator. Remove the hardened fat from the top before reheating.

Serve on buttered, toasted rolls. Top with cheese and melt under the broiler if desired. Serve with juices from the pot.