Mexican Shredded Beef in the Instant Pot

This week, good quality chuck roast was on sale at my two local markets AND cilantro arrived in my CSA box. It was meant to be that I prepare this old family favorite dish and adapt it for the Instant Pot. Since I can't add heat due to my allergies, I added some more flavor to the basic recipe with beer and tomato paste. I recommend using those even if you do add chile!

Winters used to bring dinners of fried tacos and tostadas in my house, courtesy of recipes learned by my dad's family from their Mexican-American neighbors and others in Phoenix. These days I'm not eating many tortillas, but this is perfect with sides of beans (Vaqueros from Rancho Gordo tonight) and pico de gallo, or over a salad. I was too hungry and sleepy to snap a lot of pics, so please comment or message me on FB with questions.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs beef chuck roast
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsps (ish) avocado or high-oleic safflower oil
• 1 cup Mexican beer or Pilsner (I used Bohemia, but you can use water if you don't do booze)
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 large white onion (white is preferred for Mexican food, but if it's yellow, who's to know)
• 2-3 medium cloves garlic (or one really big one)
• 1 tsp Mexican oregano, or Mediterranean if you can't find Mexican
• 1 tsp cumin
• optional for heat: a couple of teaspoons of your favorite chili powder, a few splashes of hot sauce, or a few chiles tepines--these are what my parents used to bring back from AZ to PA every year for this recipe and for hot sauce 

Directions:

1. Make sure the inner liner pot is in your Instant Pot--you'd be surprised how many people dump stuff in there without it! 
2. Press "saute" on your Instant Pot and add the oil. 
3. While that heats up, season the beef with salt and pepper. You'll probably need to cut it into two pieces because otherwise it'll be too big to fit on the bottom of the pot. 
4. When the IP says, "HOT", add one piece of the beef to the pot and let brown for about 4 minutes, until it's browned and lifts up from the bottom easily. Turn and repeat on the other side, then remove and repeat with the second piece. 
5. Remove beef from pot and add beer and tomato paste, stirring with a wooden spoon to deglaze (scrape up all the yummy brown stuff from the bottom of the pan). Let simmer for a couple of minutes to cook off the alcohol. 
6. Slice the onion and peel the garlic. Arrange them on the bottom of the pot and put the beef back on top. Sprinkle on the oregano, cumin and optional chile. You don't need to add any more liquid since you're cooking it under pressure. The onions and meat will release a lot and there will be plenty of liquid once it's done. 
7. Press "keep warm/cancel" to turn off the saute function. Lock the lid in place and press "manual" or "meat/stew". Increase the time to 60 minutes. 
8. When the 60 minutes are up, let the pressure naturally release rather than opening up the valve. It'll need at least 10-15 minutes. I took a nap and mine went for almost an hour, and it was divine. 
9. Release any remaining pressure and open the pot. Use two forks to "shred" the meat inside the liquid. You might prefer to take out the big chunks and shred them on a cutting board. 
10. Serve as desired in a delicious meal, making sure to include fresh tomatoes and onions! 

Pico de Gallo: 

• Chop 1 pound tomatoes and 1/4 to 1/2 c red onion
• Add 1 finely chopped jalapeno and/or 1/4 to 1/2 cup cilantro leaves if desired
• Sprinkle with 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt and juice of 1/2 lemon or lime (no bottled stuff, promise me!)
• Let sit for a few minutes and enjoy!