Mince, mince and more mince!!!!

[GenT]

What are good things to do with mince.... fresh or frozen?

I have some mince that I want to cook today. DH like chili, so I fry off the mince, make some for a meal. The remainder I can thicken up a bit, add more stuff like veggies and slap into a pan, put some pastry on top, and ta-da there is another meal.

Sometimes I make meatballs or hamburger patties with fresh mince.

What do you do with mince? Like to do something for dd too who only has 2 teeth but loves food, not finely pureed either.

Any suggestions from you brilliant mums or dads?

Spag bog

mince & dumplings

Mince casserole with mashed potato

Mmmmmmmmm ....................

Nigella's How to Cook book has a whole section entitled something like this. I'm in a bit of a rush at the moment, but I'll have a look later.

How about bolognase sauce that you can have either on its own with spaghetti, or with pasta/white sauce/cheese as lasagne.

Lasagne, meatballs, shepherds pie...

stuff a marrow, very seasonal. pasta sauce, part cook the pasta, then throw into oven dish & mix in 3 or 4 eggs, throw some cheese on top & bake. helps if the pasta is big tubes, ie like big macaroni then the eggs 'set' inside.(this is even better fried up the next day, especially if the mixture has peas in it)

this is something i do, but have to be in the mood.

Cook the mince ie fry onions first, add mince, crushed garlic, minced ginger and cumin seeds,pinch of cumin powder, and little water. Meanwhile boil potatoes in skins. Once cooked and cooled, peel off skins and mash with a little water. Add finely chopped onion, corriander leaves, salt, pepper (chilliflakes - optional), lemon juice, cumin seeds, mix this together with mince. Form into egg shaped cutlets. Then heat oil in frying pan, dip the cutlets into a beaten egg and fry. They are so yummy, old middle eastern recipe , not sure if dd would like it.

I can give you a receipe for mince meat pillau rice if u would like.

This sounds weird but is actually very quick and very yummy.

Brown onion,garlic and mince in pan.
Add mushrooms and peppers. Lightly fry (no more than 3 mins).
Add enough rice for no. of people eating (e.g. enough for 4 servings) and stir ir round until coated in olive oil (about 5 mins)
Cover with beef stock, add tomato puree. Put lid on and leave for about 15 mins (or until rice is nearly cooked).
Stir through crushed chillis
Take off the heat and cover with grated cheese.
Stick pan under the grill until cheese is melted and starting to brown.

Alternatively there's bobotie (this isn't a particularly authentic version).
Finely chop onion and garlic. put in mixing bowl with raw mince, a slice of white bread that's been soaked in milk, a spoonful of lemon juice, couple of handfuls of raisins and chopped almonds and an egg.

We used to make the 1st recipe and take a portion out for DD before we added the chillis from the time she was about 6 months 9she was weaned very early).
Mix round.
Empty mix into an oven dish. Beat 2/3 eggs and pour on top.
Put in oven to cook for an hour at gas mark 5.
Serve with pilau rice and chutney.

I know these sound weird but they taste really nice!

that sounds interesting fimbles, will try the other are getting all the ingredients

bundle -- what is a marrow? Is there another name for that? Would canneloni shells work in this recipe?

Can you get shortening over here, you know the vegetable based cooking stuff? I use it to make pastry. If found I could do a pastry base and make something like a cornish pasty... not sure if that's what it is called. Maybe a pattie is another name, Caribbean at least.

Will need to get some cheese for the lasagne as I have the shells already lou33.

fimbles - mmm, sounds lovely. What would you traditionally serve it with?

GenT a marrow is like a huge overgrown courgette

Courgettes are zucchinis and green, what colour is the marrow? Need to keep an eye out for that.

dark green like a courgette. one of my colleagues brings some in sometimes & we all admire the size of his marrows

I have a few comebacks on that, but won't go there

This dish can be as a starter maybe one each as they r quite filling or several as a main course. They are eaten on their own with fresh salads and different dips, mainly a spicy yoghurt dip made as follows.

plain yoghurt, salt crushed galic, crushed fresh green chilli and the all important fresh coriander leaves - blend together.

Another dip is pureed fresh tomatoes and onions, corriander leaves, green chilli, salt. these work very well.

Gosh i feel hungry now.