Wilson - Mince!: 100 fabulously frugal recipes

How many times do you pick up a pack of minced meat when youre in the supermarket? Quite often, Ill bet! But instead of cooking yet another lasagne or shepherds pie, why not transform it with a few extra ingredients into a spicy curry, a simple hearty pie or a warming main meal soup? Why not sprinkle it onto dough to make some gorgeous spicy flatbreads or try your hand at rolling a meatball? Mince is magic. Its the easiest, quickest meat you can cook with and I guarantee that whatever meal with mince you make, your family will be sure to clear their plates! This book is a collection of invaluable mince recipes; one which celebrates mince in all its forms: beef, lamb, pork, chicken, turkey... even game mince. I hope you will come back to the recipes again and again: mince is that unique staple that feeds families and friends, that can be on the table in minutes with the minimum of fuss, that tastes wonderful... that curious thing that everyone, actually, likes! There is nothing quite like it, and alongside my favourite recipes for lasagnes, chillis, pasta bakes and burgers, Ive included lots of lesser-known wonders, a feast of fresh ideas and a bounty of magical meals from around the world. Enjoy! Mitzie Wilson, London
March 2009 Minced meat is always great value, but the quality can vary.

Mince is generally made from less popular and tougher cuts of meat. The more you pay, the better the meat quality is likely to be and the less fat content it will have. There are, however, no rules about how much meat or fat content there should be in mince, so the mince you get from supermarkets and the mince you get from butchers can vary enormously. Beef and lamb mince Minced beef is generally made from the less popular and tougher cuts of meat from the forequarter, including cuts such as shoulder, brisket, flank, neck and shin which are passed through a mincing machine once or twice. Quality standards The Quality Standard Mince Mark for beef and lamb is a scheme by EBLEX (English Beef and Lamb Executive) that provides high levels of assurance about the meat you buy. The Quality Standard for beef and lamb is the only scheme in the UK to cover eating quality.

All beef and lamb carrying the mark is chosen according to a strict process to ensure it is succulent and tender. Quality Standard beef and lamb is produced to higher standards than required by law and is inspected at every stage from farm to meat counter. The Quality Standard Mark also tells you where your beef and lamb is from. For example, meat from an animal born, raised and slaughtered in England will carry the Quality Standard Beef or Quality Standard Lamb Mark indicating English origin with the St Georges flag. If an animal cannot meet all the criteria, (if it was born in Wales, for example) it will be able to carry the Quality Standard Mark but indicate British origin with the Union flag. The scheme is the only one in the UK to include criteria to improve the eating quality of beef and lamb.

Measures such as setting age restrictions to animals entering the supply chain are designed to avoid the resulting meat being tough or dry. Fat content The Quality Standard Mince Mark ensures that the mince is 100% beef, with no additives, fillers or added water. The fat content must be no more than 20% for standard beef mince; lean mince contains no more than 10% fat; and extra-lean has no more than 5% fat. Mince that contains more than 20% fat cannot carry the Quality Standard Mark. Steak mince should come from prime cuts of meat and be more tender, so is ideal for burgers. A good indication of the fat content of the mince is to look at the colour.

You can see the fat granules in the meat and the redder the meat, the less fat is usually visible. Pork mince There are no quality marks for pork mince. It can have quite a high fat content so dont add oil when frying the mince and if a lot of fat should come out when cooked, you can drain the mince through a sieve. Look for lean mince if you prefer. Turkey and chicken mince Chicken mince is a lean and healthy choice but not so easy to find in supermarkets. Turkey mince is readily available, very economical and very lean.

Venison and game mince Venison and game mince is sometimes available in supermarkets, but is more likely to be available in country butchers and specialist suppliers. If you are unable to buy venison or game mince from your local butcher you can order it on line. YorkshireGame.co.uk and its partner company blackface.co.uk will deliver any game or venison cut you could need, and the quality is superb. Venison is a very lean meat and so venison mince tends to be a little dry, it is a good idea to mix it with good quality, fatty beef mince to add a little fat content. Game mince can be a mixture of meats so check with your supplier before you buy.

How to cook mince Standard beef, lamb, pork and venison mince has around 20% fat content so I prefer not to use oil or extra fat when cooking as it will fry in its own fat.

If you find that a lot of oil comes out of the mince, drain some of it off, or skim it off once it has cooked and cooled. Lean mince, chicken and turkey mince may need to be fried in a little oil, but keep it to a minimum or you are defeating the object! Always get the pan hot before you fry mince, and stir it while frying to break up the clumps. Generally, mince needs only 10 minutes over a high heat until all the meat has turned brown to cook. Further cooking, however, helps to make the mince more tender, and that usually means simmering for at least another 1030 minutes. Longer cooking helps meld all the flavours together and will make it even more succulent. Making burgers Its a good idea when making homemade burgers to make them as flat as possible and not too thick.

The thicker they are the longer they will take to cook in the centre, whilst the outside becomes blacker and blacker. Try to chill burgers for 30 minutes in the fridge before cooking to help them firm up. Cooking burgers All burgers should be cooked until no longer pink in the centre use a knife to pierce the centre and the juices should run clear. A good test is to pierce the centre of the burger with a knife, count to 3, then place the tip of the knife against your wrist, if it is hot to the touch the burger is cooked. Better still, cut one burger in half and check that it is no longer pink. Avoid over-cooking home made burgers as they have a tendency to be dry, and remember to leave them to rest for 5 minutes before serving so that the meat relaxes and the juices distribute evenly throughout.

Beef burgers can be served medium to well done, but chicken, turkey, lamb and pork burgers must be cooked thoroughly. Burger cooking times For 12cm thick under a hot grill or barbecue: Beef burgers 34 minutes each side Chicken/turkey/lamb pork burgers 56 minutes each side If you are cooking or barbecueing lots of burgers for a crowd, fry them for 23 minutes on each side then place in a very hot oven for a further 10 minutes for medium-cooked. Making meatballs Having gone to the trouble of making meatballs, its extremely disappointing to discover that they taste bland when served up. Avoid the scenario altogether by frying just a little bit of your mixture in hot oil ahead of cooking the rest. That way you get to taste a sample of the cooked mixture and can make minor or major! adjustments to flavour and seasoning as desired.

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