What did I do with that Boiling Beef?: Ad Hoc Massaman Curry

So, the wind-down of the 2011 Beef Draft is upon us.  I have three packages of beef left in the freezer:

• 2-3 pounds of "boiling Beef"
• a center-cut beef shank steak (well, two of those)
• a cow's tongue.

On my own on a Monday night, so I figure I'll save the steaks for some sort of fancy ossobuco-like thing to share with a friend.  The tongue is gonna take all day to cook,  so I'll tackle it next Sunday.  That leaves me with the ever exciting:

Boiling Beef

Thawed it out all day...  Looks like a mess of random bones, some fat, some suet (maybe? WTF is suet, anyway?) some really thick fat cells that might come from just below the skin, and some decent little chunks of meat mixed in there.  

So stewing it seems like the best thing to do.  Most stews are pretty boring, and there won't be enough beef in this one to really form a base.  Maybe a curry?  Yes: Massaman curry.  As far as I can tell (with almost no research), this is a Thai curry that draws its roots from the cuisine of Indian Muslims (hence the beef).  When I've had it in America, it often has big chunks of potato and meat.  Sometimes there have been pineapple chunks, cashews, and carrots.  It's a deep red sauce with a very savory quality.   I think this would best be made in a crock pot, but I don't have one big enough for the job.  So here we go:

Click here for Ingredients list (roughly...remember, this was totally ad-hoc)

Massaman Curry (or something new that I like to call by that name).

Step 1: Mirepoix

• I'm making a stew, after all.  So I take out the mandoline and the cut-proof gloves and I quickly dice a few cups of celery, onions, and carrots.  About an inch's worth in the bottom of my ~12 quart pot, roughly:  
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 yellow onions
• and about 4-5 small celery stalks
• Set the heat to high, add grapeseed oil, and sizzle down those aromatics

Step 2: pepper and sear the beef. not so sure why I did this step, but it seemed right

• ground a bunch of fresh pepper an rubbed it into the meat.
• quickly seared it in a cast-iron skillet on both sides.

Step 3:  While the beef is searing, start to spice up the base

• Crush in 3-4 cloves of garlic
• dump in two small cans of red curry paste
• more fresh black pepper
• ~1 TBSP garlic powder
• some crushed cumin seed
• simmer simmer simmer

Step 4, add the beef and start making the broth.

• Keep it on high heat for now
• dump in half a can of tomatoes, 
• 2-3 TBSP of tomato paste,
• the rest of the two bulbs of garlic (no need to fully peel it, just separate the cloves and dump them in peel and all)
• a good TBSP or more of Tuong ut Toi
• stir it up and let simmer for a bit (8-10 minutes).
•  Add the remaining liquids
• pour in 1.5 cans coconut milk, stir
• roughly a cup and a half of fresh apple cider, stir
• a handful of the frozen Indian peppers (7-8), just poke them down into the liquid)
• Bring whole thing to a boil
• Cut carrots into 3-inch segments, and cut potatoes to roughly the same size as the carrots
• Put the whole thing (covered) in a 250-300 degree oven (lower if it is a really good oven and the liquid starts to boil a lot) and let it cook for at least a half-hour. Then:
  • add thick cut potatoes and carrots, stir
  • 2 cans of chick peas, stir
• Back into the oven for about a half hour, then carefully remove beef from pot and set it on your cutting board. (you'll want gloves for this)  Cut off excess fat and trim meat from bones.  Reserve bones to bake with tomato paste for stock, or just toss them.  Don't give dogs cooked bones. Return beef to the pot.
• , then add:
• frozen bell peppers
• any other veg you desire
• pepitas
• And back into the oven(covered)
• chop pineapple into chunks (if needed)
• chop up herbs
• Pull it out every half hour or so to check the tenderness of the meat and.or potatoes.  when the potatoes and carrots are to the desired softness, remove from the oven.  While still hot, add:
• pineapple (2 cans chunked or equivalent frozen/fresh)
• chopped basil
• chopped cilantro.
• Let cool a bit (it'll be super-hot from all the fat), and salt/season to taste. You may wish to add more powdered garlic at this point.  

Serve with rice.  Maybe steel-cut oats in a pinch.

Remember, like any curry, it will really be at its best in a couple of days.

This makes an awful lot of curry, so be sure to dole it out into freezer-safe containers and freeze what you won't eat in the next week.