Mince. Not exactly haute cuisine, but lately I have been experimenting with mince and trying to inject some life into the old gal. Why? It’s cost-effective and rather prosaically: bloody tasty.
Ingredients
- 500g minced beef
- Water
- Black pepper
- Sea salt
- Smoky paprika
- Ground cumin
- Ground nutmeg
- Ground ginger
- Allspice
- Caster sugar
Method
- It all begins with how you cook it. I don’t believe in browning mince without some kind of liquid to simmer it in, so I break up half a kilo of mince and splash in some water so it’s all covered but not drowning. It should resemble pink papier mâché mixture; lumpy and unappealing. Move it around with a wooden spoon as it begins to cook. Keep it moving. Don’t let it stand still for too long.
- Grind in a good amount of pepper and salt. Have these on hand to adjust seasoning later on. Mix through.
- Shake in the smoky paprika until the entire surface area is covered in the gorgeous red dust. Add the same amount of cumin too, and halve that amount for the other spices. Mix well.
- Taste the mince. It should be cooked enough by now to taste. It is at this point you ask yourself, what does it need more of? Is it balanced? Add a sprinkle if sugar to give it a hint of sweetness, and continue sprinkling and shaking until your tastebuds are satisfied. For me, that usually means more pepper and salt.
- When cooked through, turn the heat off. You don’t want it to boil dry. You want the mince to be seved with its lovely juices it’s been cooking in. Serve with veggies, I enjoy a sweet potato and broccoli mash, and lick your lips. Hurray for mince!
