Beef Brisket Stew (recipe of my husband)

The cool thing with stews is that the best ones are made with the cheapest cuts.  An expensive cut of meat will always be ruined by stewing.  The fat melts away and you're left with dry lean tasteless fibers.  What you really want, is gristle, fat, tendon, all the hard working parts that have the connective fibers that will hold up to - no - require the low and slow heat from a stew. 

So...  here's a recipe that you can't fudge.  The cool thing is - just modify the staples as you wish! 

Ingredients
5 pounds of brisket, seasoned 

1 can of tomato sauce

1 can beef stock

1 can of coconut milk

4 medium large potatoes - cubed

Cup of peas

3 large carrots or equiv - sliced

5 stalks of celery - - diced

1 large onion - diced

garlic

1 cup flour

dash of worchestershire

dash of soy

1 tablespoon of curry powder

pat of butter   

For the rest of the seasonings I just used a McCormick pouch.  This is a better option:
1 teaspoon salt

2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Steps to Cook
1. Trim away all but a thin layer of fat on top, then seasoned and aged, on a rack, in a pan, tented in foil for 1-3 days.  The morning of the day you wish to serve, place fat side down in the hottest steel pan you have for 4 minutes, then flip for another 4.  Slice in batches if you have to first.  Place in wide casserole dish, cover in foil and bake at 250 for 6-8 hours.  2.5 hours before serving, take it out.  Cube the meat and drain all the drippings.  Place the drippings in the freezer - you'll need it later. 

2. Melt the butter on high flame in a heavy stockpot if you don't have a large cast iron ceramic glazed french oven.  Add your beef and diced garlic and allow to brown.  Pour in the worchestershire and soy and tomato paste.  Just before it starts to burn, deglaze with a can of coconut milk.  Mix.

3.  Add your carrots and potatoes and turn the flame to med-low.  Retrieve the drippings from the freezer.  Save the butter puck, and add two large ladles of beef drippings and your spices.  Mix and simmer.   

4. An hour before serving, add the peas, celery and onions.

5. At this point its all about consistency and saltiness.  Salt to taste, and if there's not enough liquid add the beef broth.  If its too runny, sprinkle a small handful of flour, mix and cover, and repeat to suit.

You will end up with a big pot and have some you can freeze.