braised beef with asian spice and coconut

Braised Beef with Asian Spice and Coconut is the first meal we chose to try from Food and Drink magazine’s current Spring 2013 issue. This is essentially a Thai flavoured beef stew. Cooking it according to recipe instructions took us all afternoon to prepare. The major issue I found with this dinner were all the extra steps that can be eliminated if you simply use a slow cooker. I don’t know how you feel, but I find stewing beef is tough and requires a very low and slow cooking process to soften the meat. Because this made so much food I used the slow cooker the next day to reheat the meat and sauce and what a difference it made! The flavours came together so much better and the meat was so tender. Served over rice the flavours of this stew are very nice I’d have to say we have a winner.

Here is the recipe with our revisions:

Braised Beef with Asian Spice and Coconut
3 lbs stewing beef, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1/4 c  cilantro, coarsely chopped
1/4 c Thai curry paste
1 tbsp freshly grated ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 box no salt or low sodium beef stock
1 can light coconut milk
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 tbsp fish saucesalt & pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
Pat beef dry with paper towel and season with salt & pepper. In a large skillet heat vegetable oil and brown beef in batches on all sides (2 minutes). Place beef in slow cooker along with all ingredients up to sweet potatoes. Cook on low stetting for 6 - 8 hours. Just before serving stir in lime juice, brown sugar, fish sauce and s&p. Taste for final seasoning. Add green onions and cilantro as garnish over rice or noodles.