Shredded Beef Entomatadas

I've been on the quest to recreate a dish from my childhood for quite some time now. Unfortunately, it's not a dish my mom made, so straight-up asking her for the recipe is out. Another unfortunate circumstance is that I regularly ate this dish at a restaurant that packed up and shipped out of my hometown, so going to the restaurant and trying to figure out the recipe is also out. And finally, the last unfortunate circumstance is that I cannot find a recipe on the Internet that sounds right. Maybe I'm googling the wrong things? Sigh.

All is not lost though, because I've had some delicious missteps along the way. Last night was yet another delectable try. I made more of a traditional entomatada, which is similiar to an enchiliada. Instead of a chile sauce though, these have a tomato sauce. The tortillas take a bath in the tomato sauce before filling and wrapping the tortillas. So good.

As I was sinking my teeth into these beauties last night, I took note that the sauce is still more tomato-ey than the sauce I ate as a child. It just occurred to me as I am sitting here writing this that maybe I should be googling "mexican brown sauce" instead of an "entomatada sauce". Next time kids, next time. In the meantime, this recipe is more of an authentic entomatadas recipe.

Ingredients:

Shredded Beef-
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 lb beef shoulder
1 tbsp each garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, oregano, coriander, and cumin
1 tsp salt
2 (10 oz) can of Rotel (or canned tomatoes with chile's)
1 tbsp lime juice

Sauce-
1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

Toppings-
tortillas
shredded cheese
chopped cilantro
sour cream
shredded lettuce

Directions:

1. To make shredded beef filling, combine onion through Rotel in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-7 hours, or until beef is tender and can easily be shredded with 2 forks. Stir lime juice in, and set cooker to "Warm".
2. To make sauce, warm olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium high heat. Add garlic to pan, saute 1 minute or until toasted. Add tomatoes through salt to pan. Bring to a simmer, let sauce simmer for 30 minutes. Take an emulsion blender to the sauce, blend until smooth (this step could also be completed in the food processor).
3. Take a burrito sized tortilla and using tongs, immerse tortilla in tomato sauce until well covered. Place tortilla on a plate, and spoon 1/2 cup shredded beef into the tortilla. Wrap tortilla up, spoon 1/4 cup more sauce over the filled tortilla, and top with desired toppings. Devour!