THAI

FRAN'S THAI-STYLE BEEF CURRY
2 tablespoons oil
3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste *
2 1/2 cups coconut milk, 20 ounces (see my comments below)
2 1/2 pounds chuck roast, cut in 1" cubes
Salt, to taste
1/4-1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum, optional
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over low heat. Add the curry paste. Cook and stir 5 minutes; add the coconut milk. Cook 3 minutes longer. Add the beef cubes; bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low heat 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Cook until the beef is very tender. Don't add any salt at this point because the sauce will be reduced later and may end up too salty.

With a slotted spoon, remove the chunks of meat to a serving bowl. Pour the liquid into a fat separator and let stand about 10 minutes or until most of the grease has risen to the top. Return the meat to the cooking pot and pour the liquid back in keeping the grease out. You can also just skim the grease out of the pot, if you choose. Bring back to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, another 30 minutes to thicken the sauce. If the sauce isn't as thick as you'd like it, add the xanthan gum. Adjust the seasoning with salt and add the cilantro.

Makes 4-6 servings
Do not freeze

* You'll need about half of a 4 ounce jar.

Per 1/4 Recipe: 934 Calories; 79g Fat; 47g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 6.5g Net Carbs
Per 1/6 Recipe: 623 Calories; 52g Fat; 31g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

This is from Fran McCullough's "The Low-Carb Cookbook". I had to use two cans of coconut milk to get 2 1/2 cups, but I think that one can would have been sufficient. There was too much liquid for the amount of meat and I'd rather not waste part of a can of coconut milk if I don't have to. Fran didn't say to skim off the fat but there was so much of it that I hated to leave it in. The flavor of this is very similar to my Rendang Pedang recipe, but you're saved the trouble of buying all the spices. I see that the Rendang calls for only one can of coconut milk, so I will definitely use that amount in this recipe next time. I've adjusted Fran's cooking time a bit. My meat wasn't quite tender enough even after adding an extra 20 minutes to Fran's time. I added some xanthan gum to mine. I found that it helped blend the remaining oils into the sauce and made it creamier. This is a spicy dish so you may want to cut back on the curry paste if you don't like your food too hot. Click the photo to see a close-up.

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