Polpette, meatballs, or ….

Once again, I reached into the gastronomic lucky dip that is our freezer, that great storage zone for all things local and perishable. The day before yesterday I fished out a bag of locally produced beef mince. I used it to make polpette. This is probably not worth making with cheap mince, but they were great with what we had. I used the mixture to make polpette (small meat balls) the first night, and then formed the rest of the mixture into patties and had them as burgers in buns. The following recipe will serve six. I got it from ‘Italian Food’ by Elizabeth David.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 450g good quality organic local mince
  • 2 slices white bread
  • milk
  • 1 egg
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • nutmeg
  • a little lemon rind
  • plain flour
  • olive oil

METHOD:

  • Cut the crusts off the bread, and soak for fifteen minutes in milk
  • Squeeze the excess milk from the bread, which should be really mushy.
  • Add the garlic, parsley, tiny strips of a little bit of lemon peel, seasoning and spices and blend in a food processer. It is possible to do this by hand as well.
  • Add the bread mixture to the mince, and beat in the egg, until everything is well mixed
  • Next, flour a board and your hands. Form little slightly flat meat balls from the mixture, each just over an inch across, and coat with flour. Make a little dent in the top of each meat ball.Fry in hot oil. I think you can deep-fry these, but I just fried them in a pan. When they are done drain them on paper before serving.

I served these with pasta and tomato sauce. The book suggests serving them with a green salad. The next night, as I said, I made small burgers out of the mixture, possibly a culinary crime, but it was very tasty.

Butternut squash with tahini sauce and meatballs.

Just testing out some of the recipes in the ‘Cook for Syria’ – some of them look quite complicated, or involve ingredients that I can’t get. This recipe was tasty, but I think the original meatball recipe in the book needs a little boost.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 450g minced beef
  • 50g breadcrumbs (I used panko) OR stick one slice of stale bread in a blender.
  • 2 handfuls of parsley, chopped
  • 1 onion, roughly chopped
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 egg yolk
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 butternut squash, peeled and deseeded
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 2 tbsp tahini
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 2 tbsp plain yoghurt
  • 2 tbsp water
  • pine nuts
  • butter

METHOD:

  • Heat the oven to 180C
  • Chop the butternut squash into cubes, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile put the roughly chopped onion in a blender with the parsley, and blend until the onion is finely chopped.
  • In a large bowl, mix the mince, breadcrumbs, parsley, onion, cumin, chilli, and egg yolk. Season with 1 level teaspoon of salt and a good grating of black pepper. Get your hands right into the mixture and really knead it together so that it is smooth and consistent.
  • Shape into small meatballs about the size of a ping-pong ball, and put onto a roasting tray.
  • When there is still 15 minutes left for the squash to cook, put the meatballs into the same oven, and roast the meatballs and squash for a further 15 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, mix the tahini, crushed garlic, yoghurt, lemon juice and water in a bowl until it is very smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Toast the pine nuts in butter for a couple of minutes, until beginning to brown.
  • In a warmed serving dish, layer the meatballs and squash, drizzle over the tahini sauce and garnish with toasted pine nuts. The dish should be placed on the table so that guests can serve themselves.

Beef Burgers

I’d never made beef burgers before – so now that we have this huge supply of mince from a local herd that was down-sizing, I thought I’d give it a go. Who knew – these are like making meatballs that I’ve made many times in many versions. I suppose you could make meatballs with the mixture too.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g minced beef
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 egg
  • a handful of panko breadcrumbs
  • 1 heaped teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix them together well, using your hands to make a thick paste. If you don’t like the onion bits in your burgers, you can mix the mince and onion, and put it through a mincer, before adding the other ingredients.
  • Put the mixture in the fridge to chill until you need it.
  • Divide the mixture into rounds, about 15mm to 20mm thick. Any burgers that you don’t need can be frozen.
  • Fry the burgers in a little oil, around 5 to 6 minutes on each side.

Serve in a roll, with salad, cornichons, tomato ketchup, etcetera. Try lightly toasting the roll in the frying pan before putting the burger in.

Aberdeen Roll

I made this for this weekend, delicious. As well as the delicious mince from Dr L, I used some left-over bacon as well as some lardons that we had in the freezer.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 225g bacon
  • 225g beef mince
  • 1 onion
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 75 g rolled oats
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • up to 150mg stock.

METHOD:

  • Chop the bacon, onion and garlic and mix with the mince
  • Put the mixture through a mincer.
  • Mix in the oats, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, salt and pepper.
  • Add the egg, and up to 150ml of beef stock, to make a firm paste.
  • Leave to settle in the fridge until needed.
  • Heat the oven to 180C. Grease a loaf tin, and press the mixture in. Cover with foil.
  • Put the tin into a roasting dish, and fill with hot water.
  • Put the dish into the oven and bake for 2 hours.
  • Turn the roll out into a serving dish. Be careful: there will be some delicious liquor, so do not turn out onto a chopping board or there will be a mess.
  • Slice and serve with mashed potatoes, fried onions and vegetables.

This is also delicious cold.

Bolognese Meat Loaf

Also known as polpettone. The mixture can also be used to make meatballs. Part of the knack of making this is to keep the mixture quite dry, and to chill the mixture after preparation. The flavour develops well if you give it time.

INGREDIENTS: 

  • 500g minced beef
  • 3 tbsp grated parmesan
  • a pinch of cinnamon
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 tbsp white breadcrumbs (I used panko)
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Grated rind of half a lemon
  • Around 5 tbsp milk
  • 1 large onion, sliced
  • 2 tbsp butter

METHOD:

  • In a large bowl, mid the meat with the parmesan, cinnamon, salt and pepper, breadcrumbs, eggs, lemon juice and lemon rind. Add enough milk to make the mixture moist but not sloppy or sticky.
  • Kneed it well, shape it into a fat sausage shape, coat with more breadcrumbs, cover and chill in the fridge.
  • Heat the oven to 200C
  • Fry the onion in the butter until caramelised, and put it into the base of a tin, or other oven-safe dish of a suitable shape.
  • Put the mince mixture on top of the onions, and bake for around 35 minutes in a hot oven.

Slice and serve hot, with a tomato sauce, or cold, with a salad.

Meatballs recipe 1 (Italian style)

I’ve a few meatball recipes to try, this one was delicious. It is adapted from another recipe that I have, but I needed to cut the quantities down, and make it simpler.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 450g minced beef
  • 50g breadcrumbs (I used panko) OR stick one slice of stale bread in a blender.
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1 egg yolk
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tomato sauce recipe
  • Fresh basil, if available, or use good quality green pesto sauce
  • 1 pack of mozzarella cheese
  • 50g grated parmesan

METHOD:

  • In a large bowl, mix the mince, breadcrumbs, oregano, cumin, chilli, rosemary and egg yolk. Season with 1 level teaspoon of salt and a good grating of black pepper. Get your hands right into the mixture and really knead it together so that it is smooth and consistent.
  • Shape into meatballs. I divided the mixture into 16 meatballs, but you could make these into 24 smaller meatballs. Put on a tray, and chill in the fridge until needed.
  • Put the fresh tomato sauce into the bottom of a large shallow casserole dish or other oven-safe dish.
  • Preheat a large flat-bottomed pan, and put in a good quantity of olive oil. Fry the meatballs quickly until they are browned all over. When they are done, put them into the tomato sauce.
  • Cover the meatballs in sauce, top the dish with the cheeses and pesto or basil.
  • Bake in a hot oven 200C for 20 minutes and serve with pasta. We got some posh tagliatelle from the co-op which worked well.

Bobotie – a 19th century recipe for baked mince.

We had this tonight – part of the mince recipe challenge. Very good indeed. I had two helpings. The recipe looks a little odd, but trust me, it is fine.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 thick slices of white bread
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 2oz raisins or sultanas
  • 25g flaked almonds, or chopped almonds
  • 2 tsp wine vinegar
  • 2 tsp soft dark brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp madras curry powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp mixed herbs
  • black pepper
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 beaten eggs

METHOD:

  • Take the crusts off the bread, and soak it in the milk. Squeeze the milk out of the bread, and keep it for later.
  • Heat the oven to 180C
  • Peel and chop the onion finely
  • In a large pan, fry the onion in the oil and butter until it is softening but not brown. Remove from the heat.
  • Add the bread, sultanas, beef, almonds, vinegar, sugar, curry powder, salt, herbs, pepper, lemon juice and 1 tbsp of the beaten egg. Mix this all together well, and spread it into a greased oven-proof dish.
  • Mix the remaining egg with the reserved milk, and pour it over the top of the mixture.
  • Bake at 180C for 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Cut into portions to serve. This is apparently good cold the next day. It is delicious warm. We had this with toast and some braised cabbage.

Chille con Carne

I didn’t make this tonight, but I have tested this recipe often enough to know that it is the best. It is from The Organic Meat Cookbook by Frances Bissell. I’ve had this book for a while, and just about everything that I have made is delicious. This recipe can be made with beef mince, or with finely chopped venison.

This can be served with rice or bread, with yoghurt as a side dish.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 680g minced beef or diced venison
  • 1-2 cans of borlotti beans, or red kidney beans, or 450g dried beans, scalded and then soaked overnight
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp mild paprika
  • 1 tbsp dried marjoram
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 3 tsp ground cumin
  • 3 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 60g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (optional)
  • 280ml stock
  • salt and pepper
  • chopped coriander or parsley

METHOD:

  • In a large casserole dish, fry the onion in the olive oil until it is golden.
  • Add the mince or finely diced meat, and cook until browned. Stir in the spices so the meat is well-coated.
  • Add the tomatoes, stock and beans, and enough water to ensure all the ingredients are covered.
  • Simmer very slowly in the oven for 3-4 hours.
  • Check the seasoning just before serving, and garnish with chopped herbs.

Minced Meat Curry

One of my stand-by recipe books is a rather unglamorous and battered book, called the Complete Farmhouse Kitchen Cookbook. In my quest to cook about 40 different recipes with beef mince, I tried this, and it was delicious. I served it with plain basmati rice, and used up some coconut milk that I had, rather than following the recipe exactly.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 green chillies, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp chopped fresh ginger root
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp turmerig
  • 450g minced beef
  • 1 tbsp tomato puree
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 1 cup of frozen peas

METHOD:

  • Heat the oil, and gently fry the onion.
  • As it becomes well cooked, almost beginning to brown, add the garlic, ginger, chillies and the spices, and stir together until well mixed.
  • Add the meat and continue to cook over a low heat.
  • Once is browned, add the tomato puree, and the coconut milk, mix together and bring back to a simmer.
  • Cover and simmer slowly for around 1 hour.
  • Add the peas and cook for another 10 minutes before serving.

Risotto with Beef and Tomato Ragu

You can make this with any left-over bolognese Ragu, or do as I did – make the ragu from scratch. I made double, ate some for tea with pasta, froze some, and made the risotto with the rest. This is from Risotto Risotto.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
  • 1 stick of celery, diced
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 slices of unsmoked bacon, chopped
  • 250g minced beef
  • 1 glass of red wine
  • 400g can of tomatoes, pureed in the tin
  • 1 bayleaf
  • salt and pepper
  • 500g risotto rice
  • 1.5 litres of stock
  • 25g butter
  • 50g grated parmesan

METHOD:

  • Make the ragu sauce first, preferably the day before. Fry all the chopped vegetables and bacon in the oil until the vegetables are soft.
  • Add the mince and the wine, and fry until the meat is brown and the alcohol has boiled away.
  • Add the pureed tomatoes, bayleaf, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and leave to simmer for 2 hours until rich and dense. Check frequently to ensure that it is not ‘sticking’.
  • Next, add the rice to the ragu, and stir at a simmer until the mixture looks dry.
  • Keep the stock on the boil, and add a ladleful at a time, stirring constantly and allowing the liquid to be absorbed before the next ladleful is added.
  • Continue in this way for around 20 minutes; the rice will be firm and cooked through, and the risotto will be creamy. Take the risotto off the heat, remove the bayleaf, and stir in the butter and parmesan cheese.
  • Cover and leave to rest for a few minutes, before transferring to a warmed platter and serving.