I think most of you reading this blog are people who watch cookery programmes and maybe you will be watching Tom Kerridge's Lose Weight For Good. If so, you will already know of his tip to get more flavour into (or maybe I mean out of) mince.
All you do is cover a baking tray with parchment and spread out the mince (I didn't wash it, I just broke it up with my hands). Then roast it in the oven for about 40 minutes at 180-ish.
This is copied from the BBC food site.
"Preheat the oven to 190C/180C Fan/Gas 5. Put the beef mince in a colander and rinse under the cold tap to separate it into smaller pieces. Drain well and pat dry with kitchen paper. Transfer the mince to a roasting tray and roast for 35-60 minutes, or until completely crisp and golden-brown."
(I also did what Tom recommends elsewhere and stirred it up a few times as it roasted)
On Googling, it appears to be quite a known thing (who knew?) and it says you can do it for other minces too. I have some pork mince in the freezer so when I get to use that, I shall try the same thing because it really did make the mince absolutely delicious yesterday with a depth of flavour that everyone enjoyed very much.
There is, of course, the issue of using oven heat which can mount up. However, I always do my bolognaise-y, mince type mixtures in bulk and freeze some so I reckon I can organise it to be baking some bread at the same time which will be a better use of the oven heat.
So, if you accept one of my definitions of being frugal as making the very best of what you have already got, this fits nicely into that.
And I'm very glad I did enough to make a delicious, trouble free cottage pie for this evening!
I tried the roast mince technique too - a combo of 500 g turkey mince and 200 g lean beef mince to make a very inauthentic bolognese. It does make the meat flvour better I thought, although I had the same doubt about using the oven. I think I'll do it again but if I manage to be organised enough I'll try to do it on a day when I'm already using the oven!
ReplyDeleteMy bolognaises are never, ever authentic but they do taste good so who cares! :-D
ReplyDeleteNice to know it works for other minces too.
J x
Interesting I've never heard of this technique.
ReplyDeleteHmm, interesting. I've never heard of this technique but will give it a try, also when the oven is already on. I'm still catching up on Tom's programme but already have picked up a few new cheffy techniques
ReplyDeleteI'd not come across it either but when I googled about it (as one does) it's been around for a while but not in a big way.
ReplyDeleteI will always do it from now on. Not only did it deepen the flavour (I think) but also the meat ended up soft and melt in the mouth but not 'mushy'.
J x