Thread: Cheapo chuck steak beef curry.

I started with a bit over a kilo of beef chuck steak.
This is the meat on the ribs under the shoulder and up the start of the neck, it is full of connective tissue and slow cooked it is melt in the mouth tender and delicious.
Slow cooker on high.
Browned the chuck steak on very high heat in a pan with high smoke point oil.



Sliced up into large( otherwise it will fall to bits and be soup) mouthful sized bits....into slow cooker.



I used a continental cup a soup hearty beef flavor and a vegetable oxo cube in boiling water to almost cover but whatever you have in the pantry or fridge.

Cooked a couple of slices of bacon in the same pan and rough diced and added to slow cooker.



Added about a third of a roccoto chilly (done out of sight of the wife)


And about a table spoon of curry powder.



And a few good grinds of cracked pepper.

Rough diced a big onion and browned in the pan, added about a teaspoon of ginger paste and a table spoon of garlic paste(very mild galic).



De glazed the pan with some quality beer....you could also use a red wine I guess.



And into the slow cooker...you want all the meat just covered with stock.



Also added some chopped carrots and would have added some mushroom and leeks but didn't have any.
Leeks are great for oniony flavor but have the huge benifit of being a thickener in stews/currys.

Lid on and pour some hot water on lid just a bit....this hurrys up the water seal of the lid.

It really doesn't matter what goes in here(oh I added some mustard powder too) but get it all in at the start and let it go for at least a few hours.
After that check/taste. Add salt if needed more heat if needed and veg if wanted

After about an 40min-hour or the first sign of bubbling down to low and let it chooch for minimum 3 hours or more.......will update soon ish.

Only a third? That's pretty tame for your chilli taste isn't it

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Only a third? That's pretty tame for your chilli taste isn't it

Yes.
There were complaints about last nights deviled sausages.

if you are adding chili the correct amount is the amount needed to turn your sphincter into a japanese flag !

At about 2.5-3hours I added about a tablespoon of cornflower mixed with water to thicken the brew as no leeks to do it.
Par boiled chunks once again large mouthful sized for 8-10 min of spuds and kumara then fried in the pan again to crisp up.





Now you could do this and serve on the side but I am going to combine just before serving.....crispy veg covered in gravy
No greenery in sight @gonetropo.

@veitnamcam Still one of my favorite style of hearty winter feeds ,l do similar all the time during winter & have let overs for lunches.This style is also very good with a nice fat goat, Thar or Chammy & whole venison neck goes really well. These Old School farm casseroles is where l use all my off cuts from our beef home kills on the farm .We make pancetta from any nice fat pigs we hunt & this goes perfect as a tasty thickener in these types of dishes or soups .

I like my Veg's so l normally add the kumara & some pumpkin as it breaks down & makes a great creamy kumara flavor & throw in a pack of the frozen winter vegs from the store to make it a perfect KISS recipe.I do this when ever we want to go out for most of the day & not have to bother cooking tea when we get back in . I pan brown all the meat etc & use the peelings off the onions,pumpkin,kumara celery heads etc to make a stock the night before ,(simply simmer while getting other gear ready,for half hour or so with pepper corns & bay leaves & add soup mix split peas etc) then deglase the pan etc, load up a bowl with all the gear ready to go, place in fridge the night before so it also marinates, really bringing out the curry flavor ,then as we leave in the morning whack it in the slower cooker, to cook all day on low while we are out,l like to just add a couple of spoons of instant gravy before serving to thicken up,field picked mushrooms,stalks & all pan seared in butter are also really good for flavor /thicken if added before serving .

My missus would have nothing to do with chili when we first got together by slowly introducing it through these old school farm house casseroles she is now more a chilli fiend than me ,so might be worth trying for some if they have missus /kids who carry on about chilli.

We also have our own chooks on the farm so when we thin the flock ,l bone out any of the older ones using the flesh for similar farm house chicken casserole & use the carcasses by adding a couple of carcasses to a boiling pot of water (l roughly chop carcass with meat cleaver )with any veg getting to end of use in the fridge,add onions & garlic, salt & pepper & strain & use it to make our own chicken stock ,freeze in 2 cup lots in zip lock plastic lunch bag & you get a years worth of hearty stock that you simply pull out of the freezer & add to any dish as cooking, this adds heaps to the flavor of any dish & better than any store brought dish water & much better for you.To make it worth while l normally end up with the slow cooker full & that gives around 8 hearty meals,l actually think the left overs taste better the next day or so for lunch etc .

Originally Posted by gonetropo

if you are adding chili the correct amount is the amount needed to turn your sphincter into a japanese flag !

You do realise that chillies are......VEGETABLES!!!

Originally Posted by gonetropo

if you are adding chili the correct amount is the amount needed to turn your sphincter into a japanese flag !

Or the top right ring of the Olympic symbol.

The finished article.
Like any good stew/curry there was at least half left to add to for tomorrow.

It was 6hours from go to whoa, about minimum to really render all that connective tissue into delicious gelatinous goo.

Originally Posted by bunji

@veitnamcam Still one of my favorite style of hearty winter feeds ,l do similar all the time during winter & have let overs for lunches.This style is also very good with a nice fat goat, Thar or Chammy & whole venison neck goes really well. These Old School farm casseroles is where l use all my off cuts from our beef home kills on the farm .We make pancetta from any nice fat pigs we hunt & this goes perfect as a tasty thickener in these types of dishes or soups .

I like my Veg's so l normally add the kumara & some pumpkin as it breaks down & makes a great creamy kumara flavor & throw in a pack of the frozen winter vegs from the store to make it a perfect KISS recipe.I do this when ever we want to go out for most of the day & not have to bother cooking tea when we get back in . I pan brown all the meat etc & use the peelings off the onions,pumpkin,kumara celery heads etc to make a stock the night before ,(simply simmer while getting other gear ready,for half hour or so with pepper corns & bay leaves & add soup mix split peas etc) then deglase the pan etc, load up a bowl with all the gear ready to go, place in fridge the night before so it also marinates, really bringing out the curry flavor ,then as we leave in the morning whack it in the slower cooker, to cook all day on low while we are out,l like to just add a couple of spoons of instant gravy before serving to thicken up,field picked mushrooms,stalks & all pan seared in butter are also really good for flavor /thicken if added before serving .

My missus would have nothing to do with chili when we first got together by slowly introducing it through these old school farm house casseroles she is now more a chilli fiend than me ,so might be worth trying for some if they have missus /kids who carry on about chilli.

We also have our own chooks on the farm so when we thin the flock ,l bone out any of the older ones using the flesh for similar farm house chicken casserole & use the carcasses by adding a couple of carcasses to a boiling pot of water (l roughly chop carcass with meat cleaver )with any veg getting to end of use in the fridge,add onions & garlic, salt & pepper & strain & use it to make our own chicken stock ,freeze in 2 cup lots in zip lock plastic lunch bag & you get a years worth of hearty stock that you simply pull out of the freezer & add to any dish as cooking, this adds heaps to the flavor of any dish & better than any store brought dish water & much better for you.To make it worth while l normally end up with the slow cooker full & that gives around 8 hearty meals,l actually think the left overs taste better the next day or so for lunch etc .

We could be brothers from a different mother.
What you describe is how I grew up, unfortunately I am not in a position to live that life now.

I do the same as above with venison shanks - freeze them, then when you go to do your cook, pull them out of the freezer and immediately cut them into 3/4"slices with the meat saw, through the frozen meat and the bone. Throw the frozen 'discs' into the pan and sear them while frozen, then into the pot with diced bacon and onion which has been pan fried. Add a vegi stock cube (with 250ml of water), mild curry, pepper, salt, spices of your choice, a table spoon of cider vinegar, hand full of raisins, diced carrots, kumra and spud, and more recently a cup of whole cornel corn, then top it off with home made honey mead.

@veitnamcam Even served on toast, a shearers wet dream In all seriousness the latte sipping "foodies" carry on about Italian cuisine ,but while l was working in the Italian Alps this was exactly basically the type of winter meal they eat ,just good, simple tasty meals & where l learnt to love goat meat & picked up to try these types of Old School Farm casseroles with goat meat & venison & chammy neck & of course adding Pancetta.

I went to shear in OZ when l was 18 & one of the 'old' blokes (probably early 40's ) was a real bushy, about 6ft 8"& same across the shoulders,when we got a good cook who would cook decent meals like this he would take a mouthful & get a big grin on his face & say "you cant make love on jam sandwiches mate " bastard drank himself in the grave long ago but he would be looking up with that same shit eating grin at the sight of that feed (mind you he would eat 3 of those plates )

The stew also makes for an easy camp meal. Cooked in the Potjie pot and served with baby potatoes and rice ......

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

We could be brothers from a different mother.
What you describe is how I grew up, unfortunately I am not in a position to live that life now.

Yeh l grew up like it but the missus was a city girl who thankfully liked riding horses & camping so l was able to show her how us Kiwi outdoors-man live.Then me & the missus spent years travelling around the world & actually living with the locals & now could not be more happy with how we choose to now live.If more people got out & saw the REAL world,l would like to think they would stop trying to change our country into just another one of the shit holes.