Chipotle Beef Taquitos

I got this recipe from my Our Best Bites cookbook. These yummy taquitos begin with a basic roast beef. The authors used the same recipe for French Dip Sandwiches and suggested simply using the leftovers for the taquitos, but I just used the whole roast for the taquitos.
Here's how they said to make the roast:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 (2 1/2 to 3 pounds) beef roast
kosher salt
black pepper
2 (1-ounce) packages dry onion soup----but since I knew I was going to use this only for the taquitos and that they would be seasoned well with other seasonings, I only used one packet of onion soup
2 cups water
2 (14.5 ounce) cans beef broth

By the way.....this seemed like a ton of liquid to me. I think you could do this with way less liquid. I'll have to try it next time.

Anyway:

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, sprinkle all sides of the roast with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

2. When the oil is very hot, carefully place the roast in the pan and sear it on all sides. This shouldn't take more than a few minutes--you just want to quickly brown the roast to add flavor and seal in the juices.

3. Transfer the roast to your slow cooker. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the roast and add water and beef broth.

4. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hour or on low for 8 to 10 hours.

5. Shred the meat then follow the directions below for taquitos (or you can stop here and put on a roll with swiss cheese for a french dip sandwich)

3 C cooked, shredded beef roast
4oz green chilies, undrained
1/4-1/2 t minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (1/4 for mild spiciness)
3 t adobo sauce from the canned chipotle peppers
1 t garlic powder
1 t coriander
1/2 t cumin
1 t chili powder
zest from one lime
1 T fresh lime juice
1 package Queso Fresco (about 12 oz)
6″ white corn tortillas (about 20-30)
olive oil or cooking spray
kosher salt

Note: If you don’t want to work with the chipotle peppers, or can’t find them, try adding some Chipotle Chili Powder. You can find it by the other spices in the grocery store. It will still give you a smoky spice, so start with a little and increase to taste.

Combine chilies, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, garlic, coriander, cumin, chili powder and lime zest and juice in a bowl. After stirring to combine, gently toss together with shredded beef.

Wrap a pile of about 10 tortillas in damp paper towels and microwave for 1 minute to soften. (after those are used, do the next 10). Or you can be like Brooke and no matter what you do, you get cracked tortillas....but they taste good anyway.

Working with one tortilla at a time, crumble about 1T queso fresco in a line across the center of the tortilla. Top with 1-2 T shredded beef mixture and roll that baby up.

Place seam-side down on a lightly oiled/sprayed baking sheet. Use cooking spray or lightly brush olive oil on the top of each one. (I use olive oil in a mister and it works perfect.) Lightly sprinkle kosher salt on the top of each one.

You can bake them now, or put the baking sheet in the freezer. After they are frozen, place in freezer bags to bake later. The instructions say to bake at 425 degrees for 20-30 minutes, but Haylee and I both burned ours, so this can't be right. We'll figure out how to make them golden brown someday.

Serve them hot with your choice of dips: sour cream, salsa, guacamole, etc.