Cooking in my new pots - Beef Short Rib Curry

After that long day of shopping and hauling the heavy pot around, I decided to put myself through 5 more hours of strenuous tasks. I stewed up a Beef Short Rib Curry just to break in and test out my new pots! I started by chopping up some carrots, yellow onions, green peppers & potatoes. I put the carrots on the bottom of my new steamer topped with the potatoes, then the onions and peppers because I wanted the carrots to cook faster than the onions and peppers. I filled the water to just above the bottom of the steamer so the carrots were wet and I boiled/steamed it for about 20 minutes then removed the strainer from the heat. While those vegetables were steaming, I cubed some Gala Apples and chopped more onions and green peppers. In my new Martha Stewart oval pot I added several tablespoons of canola oil and lightly browned a fresh chopped garlic clove over medium heat. Next, I add the diced onions and peppers and get them to caramelize. I also add a few tablespoons of curry powder. I use Tone's brand. I cook it over the medium heat to break down the onions and peppers while slowly extracting the curry spices flavors. I used to add the flour at this step to create a roux, but since I need to eliminate wheat flour from my diet, I left it out. While the roux was cooking, I cubed my beef short ribs into nice 1.5 inch chunks. I moved the roux toward the outer areas of the oval pot and added a little more oil to brown the short ribs. I brought the heat up a little to around a medium high to properly sear and brown the beef. After all the pieces were nicely browned, I added the cubed apples, mixed in the roux and cooked them together a couple more minutes. I also added about a 1/4 teaspoon of fresh lime zest to it. Then, a boxed quart of free range chicken broth was added in. After adding in the chicken broth, I let it simmer covered for about 1.5 hours over low heat to get the short ribs nice and tender. In the mean time, I still had the water that was used to pre-cook the vegetables boiling in the multi pot. I was reducing it down to concentrate whatever flavors or minerals from cooking the vegetables while making sure not to boil it dry. After about 1.5 hours of simmering the beef with the curry roux and chicken stock, I added the partially pre-cooked vegetables into the curry, stirred and let simmmer for about another 30-45 minutes. Making sure my vegetables wouldn't be over cooked. When the vegetable stock was reduced to a couple cups, I added that to the simmering curry. After simmering for a couple hours, I seasoned to taste with some salt and sugar making sure to season it just slightly less than what I expect it to taste like when served. This is because I'm not serving it immediately. I'm pre-making this and refrigerating some and freezing several portions of it. The flavors will deepen after being allowed to cool and sit at least over night. After seasoning it, I added corn starch to thicken the curry. This replaces the flour that is left out in the roux stage. I removed the heat and let the curry cool in the pot for a couple hours. Then I tranferred some to a few Zip Lock Freezer Bags (to be frozen) and some into a container to be refrigerated consumed sooner. Through the week I can just heat over the stove top and serve within minutes. Delicious! Nothing like the smells of home made curry flowing through your kitchen or your whole condo... making all your neighbors hungry! Hahaha! PS - I'm so excited. Finally, my granite counter tops are here and being installed on Wednesday! It's been years without a completed kitchen!