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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that when you make a spag bol

328 replies

HelloCanYouHearMe · 07/01/2017 18:00

You fry the mince off first?!

DP rarely cooks & tonight has decided to do spag bol and is following a Jamie Oliver recipe (which in itself is U afaic)

The recipe has him frying off onion, celery, carrot, garlic... so far, so good. Then it goes on to say to throw in the minced beef & 2 cans to tomatoes, water from 2 cans and simmer for an hour.

The hour is up & DP asked me to taste - the casserole dish is swimming in liquid & tbh all i can taste is powdery boiled mince Envy

OP posts:
Serialweightwatcher · 07/01/2017 18:30

Can't find a Jamie one without frying the mince first .... I'd have to do that to drain the fat otherwise it would be slimy - not a clue how it can be rescued apart from sieving the liquid off, frying what's left of the mince to give it some texture and then adding more tinned tomatoes, wine and herbs ... basically starting again Hmm

MusicToMyEars800 · 07/01/2017 18:31

JillyTheDependableBoot agree with what you said, he does add a shitload of liquid to a lot of his recipes, also agree with adding wine and letting it simmer away for a good while cook away some of the liquid hopefully.. I have only ever made 1 successful JO recipe which was wild mushroom risotto but I even tweaked that as I went along with it was bloody good though have it every other weekend now as a treat dinner.

Rainbunny · 07/01/2017 18:31

I tried that recipe from JO - I was not impressed either! Also I don't recommend his recipe for chili con carne, it didn't taste bad per se but it was so far off anything resembling chili con carne that I was to disconcerted to finish it. On the other hand, his easy stew recipes (with no browning required first either) turn out deliciously!

Notcontent · 07/01/2017 18:32

I brown the mince first but not just for flavour and texture but also to get rid of some of the excess fat, which I spoon out before adding anything else.

5moreminutes · 07/01/2017 18:32

If you pick apart and try to rescue his attempt it would be quite hard to blame him for playing up to the "poor useless hapless man can't cook" fable - you are making that a bit too easy. If somebody did that to something I'd cooked I'd be incredibly reluctant to ever cook for them again.

I'd eat it and say it was lovely, but then next time he is about to cook mention an "even better" spag bol recipe you were thinking of trying and suggest he could try it to compare - if its unusual for him to cook you should be encouraging the way you would be if he were 11, unless you want to encourage him not to bother...

InvisibleKittenAttack · 07/01/2017 18:33

Agree, sauce should be done at lunchtime at the latest for a dinner meal. Leave it all day to reduce down and develop a deep flavour. (although I'd brown the mince).

Add some Worcestershire sauce and a beef oxo cube, cook for another couple of hours (feed DC's something else if need be). this will not be edible until at least 8:30pm.

1horatio · 07/01/2017 18:34

What are you people doing to Italian food?! DH has just asked me if something wrong because apparently look very dejected. 45 minutes?!!! That isn't enough time! No way!The sauce won't be thick enough and have the right intensity in flavour! Gah! JO?!!! why?!

1horatio · 07/01/2017 18:34

And with 'you people' I mean the author of the cookbook.😡😡😡😡

InvisibleKittenAttack · 07/01/2017 18:34

oh and while Jamie Oliver is good for ideas,a lot of his recipes leave a lot to be desired on technique.

1horatio · 07/01/2017 18:35

Huh. We luckily don't have a cookbook of him? Grumble. 45?minutes!!!

early30smum · 07/01/2017 18:36

I fry onion and garlic first for about 5 mins, then add any other veg, chopped small, usually peppers and carrots and sometimes courgettes. Then cook for a few mins. Then add the mince and brown before adding passata, tomato puree, sometimes a bit of red wine etc, bring to boil and then turn down to a simmer for about 40 mins.

TheThingsWeAdmitOnMN · 07/01/2017 18:38

It has been a VERY long time since I cooked mince (vegetarian) but yes, I used to brown the mince first.

However, it looks like lots of people don't and make lovely meals. I'd say the two cans of water was the bigger problem. I'd have assumed that was a typo tbh.

Good luck working your way through it.

Tomorrow, cross out the two cans & put 1/4 can of water, then next time it gets made it should be good.

JoyfulAndTriumphant · 07/01/2017 18:38

I just chuck everything into the slow cooker and it seems to be ok?

PickAChew · 07/01/2017 18:40

The spaghetti bol in his restaurants is absolutely bogging, so I'm not surprised.

Stew made with unbrowned meat is surprisingly good, though. No different to boiling a ham, so long as you put plenty of flavour in there.

BarbaraofSeville · 07/01/2017 18:40

Is it the Ministry of Food book? A few things in there have mistakes in the recipes, which is unforgivable considering it's a book aimed at inexperienced cooks who might not realise that 2 cans of water in a spaghetti bolognaise is about 1.5 to 1.75 cans too much and may spoil the recipe and give up with the cooking lark, thinking that they'll never be able to do it and they should have got a takeaway anyway as it would have been cheaper than wasting a load of food and effort for a watery crap bolognaise.

PrimalLass · 07/01/2017 18:40

I'm in the 'cook for 4 hours' camp, and definitely fry the mince first.

BumWad · 07/01/2017 18:41

I always dry cook the mince and drain the fat off then add it to the sauce

wonderingsoul · 07/01/2017 18:42

Am i the only one thinks spag bol as a quick 30 minute job?

Fry mince.. add onion, peppers and leek

Squish tin tomatoes add tomatoe purria some sugger pour over mince shimmer for 10 mins

Whilst cookig fresh pasta. 4 mins..

Quick 30 mins if that meal

2 hours for a sauce... nahhhh aint no body got time for that.

BratFarrarsPony · 07/01/2017 18:45

that might taste ok to you, wondering, but it sounds horrible to me.
a proper one should be cooked down for at least a couple of hours, and certainly would not contain peppers and leeks or a tin of tomatoes....

thelonelyhamster · 07/01/2017 18:45

Last time I made bolognese I followed a recipe (but not JO) that didn't have me browning the mince first, but did add the mince in to the fried off veg and cook that before adding in other liquids (tomatoes and wine, no water). It worked really well!

Dumping in raw mince and then immediately adding in a load of liquid would be wrong though.

ZouBisou · 07/01/2017 18:46

I'd always brown the mince first.

For thickening up the sauce, apart from a long simmer with the lid off, I'd suggest either throwing in a handful of red lentils, or making a paste with a couple of teaspoons of cornflour and water and stirring that in then simmering a bit more.

PrimalLass · 07/01/2017 18:46

You're not the only one, but you are all wrong Wink. It needs to cook for hours to make the mince all lovely and soft. Try it. If I don't have four hours at least then I won't make it at all.

1horatio · 07/01/2017 18:47

wonderin

Well, in this case you made some sort of sauce... it doesn't sound tasty to me, tbh.

wonderingsoul · 07/01/2017 18:47

brat honest question.. not trying to be smart ass but how else do you make a tomatoe sauce with out using tomatoes n squshing em?
Or is it just the tinned tomatoes you wouldnt like?

PrimalLass · 07/01/2017 18:48

I don't bother frying the onions etc though - no need if in four 4 hours.