BBQ Pulled Beef and the Calgary Stampede Parade

Toronto drivers are fast and assertive, exhibiting a bravado which challenges any traffic or road issue to battle. Transferring these skills to “one-freeway Calgary” in July 1981 was one thing that didn’t trouble me as a spunky 28 year-old  moving west. Mind you, after I'd accepted a teaching job in Calgary, I'd had to search a Canadian map to find Alberta; I knew nothing about the prairies other than stories of pioneer settlers and cowboys. However, as luck would have it, I would be rolling into town the opening day of the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” – the Calgary Stampede!

With my early afternoon arrival, I had just missed the morning kickoff to the celebrations - the 69^th annual Stampede Parade.  The second largest parade in the world had chuck wagons, marching bands, western-themed floats, rodeo clowns, cowboys and horses; the earliest parades had had thousands of horses, but this parade had likely had more than 700 horses. However, at this hour there wasn’t a horse to be seen.

It was a” blue-sky Alberta day”, and I was ready to go “stampeding” – time to head to the grounds. Fast and assertive, I began ploughing my way through the downtown streets which had been the parade route only hours before. Unlike Toronto, these roads didn’t have names - the streets were numbered, the avenues were numbered, and I was muddled to which number was which: every street corner had numbers, and I was lost. 

Flustered, I stepped on the gas to zip through a yellow light, but instead of blasting through, the tires spun on the spot; there wasn’t any traction! As the car slid sideways, my brain shrieked in disbelief,   “I’ve lost control on a dry street in the summer?!” 

My eyes fixated on the curb as I drew closer and closer. A thud, gentler than I had expected, accompanied the sudden stop. Embarrassed, disorientated, and completely confused I stepped out of the car; my feet never found the pavement. A thin crusty shell crunched under my sandals, and gave way to a warm, dense, squishy, slippery, hay- laden pile of horse manure. It oozed over my open shoe, found its way between my toes, and encased my heel as I slid, and flipped, landing on my butt in the smeared track of manure ending under my tires. I, and my car, had found what the clean-up crew had missed – a generous outpouring of souvenir material from the stars of the Stampede parade – the horses.

Okay, so not quite everything in this story is the gospel truth; the Stampede Parade is the second biggest parade in the world,  there are hundreds of horses in the parade nowadays, I did get brutally lost in downtown Calgary, the car did slide and fish tail on piles of horse manure, but I didn’t actually land in any until years later, in a horse corral, during spring thaw, on my hands and knees ...but it could have happened...

In the meantime, celebrating the festivities with friends, pancakes, beans and beef is what Calgarians do during the Stampede. Beer seems to be an important dietary supplement. Here is the very best BBQ pulled- beef recipes you’ll likely ever find. It comes from one of the ole-timer ranching families just southwest of Calgary. I can’t remember the first time I wolfed down one of these overflowing, wipe -off -your- chin juicy, hearty buns, but I’ll wager my boots it was at one of our community’s annual foot-stamping, whoopin' hollerin', “Cowboy Dances”.

This recipe is a true dish of kindness; it takes a bit of extra time and work. However, the shouts of  excitement, and the groans of delight as your family, friends and neighbours chow down will be more than enough reward, pardner.

Warmly,

Wendy

Pulled BBQ Beef                       
 Serves 10-12

4-6 lb. beef roast

1 cup of water

A dozen fresh large buns

Sauce

3 tbsp. oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 cup ketchup

½ cup chili sauce

¼ cup cider vinegar, or wine vinegar

¼ cup packed brown sugar

3 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp. lemon juice

2 tbsp. mustard

1 tbsp. dark molasses

2 tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

¼ tsp. cayenne (optional if you are NOT using the spice rub)

Spice Rub Mixture (optional)

Mix together :

2 Tbsp. EACH:

Salt

Sugar

Brown sugar

Ground cumin

Chili powder

Black pepper

Paprika

1 tbsp. cayenne

Instructions

Beef: (Can be done beforehand and either refridgerated overnight, or frozen)

1.     Bring the roast to room temperature.

2.     Preheat the oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit.

3.     Massage the spice rub mixture onto the roast – use the entire mixture.

4.     Place the roast on  a rack in a roaster, add the water to the bottom of the roaster, and cover tightly with a couple of sheets of aluminum foil.

5.     Cook the roast for 3.5  - 4 hours until the meat is fork-tender and falls apart. Do NOT open the foil earlier than the minimum time recommended.

6.     Once the meat is done, remove it from the roaster onto a large cutting board or platter. Cool slightly.

7.     SAVE THE COOKING JUICES – skim off the fat, then keep the juices.

8.     Chop, shred or pull the meat apart. You want the meat in pieces that will easily fit onto a bun. I use 2 forks to pull apart the meat.

9.     Put the meat into a large roaster that will accommodate the meat and the sauce.

Sauce:

1.     In the meantime, heat 3 tbsp. oil in a heavy pot; sauté the onions until tender.

2.     Add the remaining sauce ingredients and simmer for 20 – 30 minutes over a low heat.

3.     Cover the sauce and let it sit. The sauce can be made the day before; cool, and refrigerate until ready for use.

Assembly

1.     Combine the pulled beef and the sauce in a large roaster. *Add only as much sauce as necessary to hold the meat together without it being too sloppy. Serve the extra sauce on the side.

2.     Heat the mixture in the oven, or in a medium heat BBQ, stirring occasionally. Add reserved pan juices, or extra sauce as necessary to keep the meat moist.

3.     Serve the roaster of meat, with a pile of large, pre-cut buns, and any extra sauce.   

YAHOO!!!!