Peter Gordon: Ground rules |
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Mince: it can conjure up images of sloppy, tasteless, grey meat served on toast in a roadside cafe, perhaps a watery bolognaise or even dry meatloaf. But that needn’t be the case; even the finest wagyu beef or fish can be made into mince. Here are some really tasty ways to use mince that will create only happy memories. If you don’t have a mincer at home, ask your friendly butcher to grind up the fresh meat for you.
Baked Potato and Pasta Bolognaise
In Bologna, a beautiful Italian city, their famous sauce is often made from many different meats. This baked pasta dish made with veal and venison pays homage to its ancestry.
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2 onions, thinly sliced
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2 tablespoons vegetable oil (plus extra for oiling baking dish)
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4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
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2 bay leaves
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½ teaspoon chilli flakes (more or less, to taste)
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250g minced veal
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250g minced venison
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400g can peeled tomatoes, chopped into large chunks
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3 tablespoons soy sauce
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200g dried pasta (I used orecchiette)
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300g baby waxy potatoes, sliced 1cm thick
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1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (or ½ tablespoon dried thyme)
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3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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¼ cup (about 30g) grated parmesan
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2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
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1 small handful sage leaves |
Saute onions in oil until wilted and coloured, stirring frequently. Add garlic, bay leaves and chilli and cook until the onions start to caramelise. Stir in both lots of mince and mix until meat has separated, add tomatoes and soy sauce and bring mixture to the boil. Turn to a simmer, cover with a loose-fitting lid and cook 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Turn oven to 180°C and lightly oil a 2- to 3-litre baking dish.
While the sauce is cooking, boil pasta and potatoes in separate pans of lightly salted boiling water until both are just cooked, drain and toss separately with thyme, olive oil and half the parmesan.
Once mince is cooked, take from the heat, stir in celery and sage and taste for seasoning.
Spoon two-thirds of the pasta into prepared dish then pour sauce on top. Spoon the remaining pasta and sliced potatoes on top and scatter remaining parmesan over. Bake in the centre of the oven until the top has turned golden and the sauce is bubbling, about 25 minutes. Alternatively, leave dish to go cold, cover tightly and store in the fridge to bake the following day.
Serve with plenty of steamed green vegetables and carrots or a crisp green salad. Serves 6-8
Web exclusive: Ginger Fishcakes with Coconut Pumpkin Sauce
These make a great lunch meal or a first course for a dinner. You can pretty much use whatever fish you like. If you don’t have a mincer, whiz it in short bursts in a food processor but make sure you don’t purée it.
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500g fish (try hapuka, blue cod or salmon or a mixture)
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1 finger fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
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3 spring onions, thinly sliced
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1 tablespoon fish sauce (plus extra for the sauce)
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3 tablespoons desiccated coconut
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1 handful coriander, stalks and leaves finely shredded
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500g pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled weight
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1 tablespoon vegetable oil
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1 onion, thinly sliced
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6 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
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400g can coconut milk
Cut fish into chunks then coarsely mince it with ginger and spring onions. Place in a bowl with fish sauce, coconut, half the coriander and a little salt and mix well. Cover and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to firm up.
Cut pumpkin into 1-2cm chunks. Heat oil in a medium-sized pan and sauté onion and garlic until beginning to caramelise. Add pumpkin and cook with a lid on, stirring frequently to prevent it sticking, for 5 minutes.
Add coconut milk and 300ml warm water, used to rinse out the can. Bring to the boil, cover and cook until pumpkin is barely tender.
Purée half the pumpkin chunks then mix it all together, seasoning as required with some extra fish sauce or salt. Cover and set aside.
Place a steamer on top of a pot of boiling water and place a lightly oiled plate just smaller than the steamer inside. Divide fish mince into quarters then divide each quarter into 3 to create 12 lumps. Gently form these into balls and place on top of the plate in the steamer. Cook on full boil for 3-4 minutes (this may need to be done in batches). To test if fishcakes are ready, prise one open with a small sharp knife.
To serve, place 3 fishcakes in each of 4 warmed bowls then ladle sauce on top and sprinkle with remaining coriander. Serves 4
Turkey Fritters with Cucumber, Celery and Bean Sprout Salad
These delicious fritters are based on Thai fish cakes (tod mun pla). You can also use minced chicken, pork or even fish.
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500g minced turkey
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1 egg, beaten
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3 spring onions, thinly sliced
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2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
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2 teaspoons Thai fish sauce
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½ teaspoon cumin seeds
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½ teaspoon five-spice (or garam masala)
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1 red chilli, finely sliced (more or less, to taste)
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¼ telegraph cucumber
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½ celery stalk
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1 teaspoon sugar
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2 tablespoons lemon juice
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1 handful bean sprouts
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Vegetable oil for frying
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A few coriander stalks, cut into 2cm lengths, leaves reserved |
Place the first 7 ingredients in a bowl and add two-thirds of the chilli. Mix really well then divide into 8. Roll into balls between the palms of your hands then press flat to about 6mm thick and place on a tray lined with plastic wrap. Cover tightly and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
For the salad, peel the cucumber then cut it lengthways into quarters and remove seeds. Slice thinly and place in a bowl. Thinly slice celery and add to cucumber along with remaining chilli. Sprinkle sugar on top and toss together. Add lemon juice and bean sprouts and toss again.
Heat 5mm vegetable oil in a frying pan. Add as many fritters as will fit comfortably without overlapping and fry until golden, about 4 minutes. Carefully flip over and cook other side until golden, 2-3 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and cook remaining fritters the same way.
To serve, add coriander stalks to salad and toss together. Place 2 fritters on each plate, sit salad on top, drizzle with the salad’s dressing and sprinkle coriander leaves over. Makes 8 fritters; serve 2 for a starter or 1 as a canape
What to drink
A large goblet of Instinct Hawke’s Bay Syrah 2007 ($19) will wash down the Baked Potato and Pasta Bolognaise beautifully and good old Sacred Hill Barrel Fermented Chardonnay ($17) will bring out the best in the turkey fritters. The rib-sticking, gutsy Matariki Cabernet Merlot 2007 ($27) makes a triumphant match for the Beef and Baked Bean Meatloaf and those juicy lamb meatballs with butterbeans deserve a mouthful or five of Saint Clair’s spicy Rapaura Reserve Merlot 2007 ($24).
Beef and Baked Bean Meatloaf
Photographer Jean Cazals thought this must be difficult to make but it couldn’t be easier, especially since it uses canned baked beans. You can include any minced meat but I used a mixture of venison and beef.
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- 8-10 rashers smoked streaky bacon
- 500g minced venison
- 500g minced beef
- 2 onions, diced or grated
- 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 4 tablespoons wholegrain mustard
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 300g can baked beans
- 2 teaspoons garam masala (or five-spice or ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 scant teaspoons fine salt
- 300g chopped peeled tomatoes (fresh or canned)
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Preheat oven to 170°C. Line a deep-sided 2-litre terrine or loaf tin (or several smaller ones) with baking paper, making sure there is plenty overhanging the sides. Alternatively, do as I did and cut open an oven bag to use as a liner.
Line the base and sides of the tin with bacon rashers, also letting them hang over the sides.
Combine all remaining ingredients except tomatoes and season with plenty of freshly ground pepper. Place mixture in tin and press flat. Pour tomatoes over then fold bacon overhang on top.
Fold overhanging paper or oven bag on top then seal tightly with foil. Place on a baking tray with sides (the juices will bubble out a bit) and bake in the centre of the oven for 1 hour.
Turn oven up to 200°C. Carefully peel foil off meatloaf and bake a further 15 minutes.
Take loaf from oven and leave to rest in tin for at least 20 minutes before turning it out. Eat hot with vegetables or leave it to go cold and serve as a terrine with salad and chutney. Serves 6-8
Lamb Meatballs with Tomato, Butterbeans and Bacon
This dish is warming and hearty and very simple to make. I used canned beans to save time. If you have a preference for beans other than butterbeans – or even for chickpeas – then feel free to use them.
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- 800g finely minced lean lamb
- 1 teaspoon dried rubbed mint (or use chopped fresh mint)
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 scant teaspoon fine salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small carrot, peeled and finely grated
- 4 tablespoons cold water
- ½ cup flour
- Vegetable oil for cooking
- 8 cloves garlic, thickly sliced
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
- 200g fat bacon lardons*
- 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 750ml tomato passata**
- 400g can butterbeans, rinsed and drained
- 200ml water
- Chopped parsley for garnish
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Place the first 7 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Divide mixture into 6 even portions then each portion into 5 to make 30 pieces. Roll these into balls and toss in the flour to coat.
Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a wide, deep pan and cook meatballs until evenly browned. Do this in batches so as not to crowd the pan and remove them with a slotted spoon to a platter while you cook the rest, adding a little extra oil if needed.
Once the last batch are browning, add garlic and rosemary to the pan and cook until garlic and meatballs are golden. Remove meatballs from pan and add bacon. Cook until coloured then add onions and saute over moderate heat until caramelised.
Add passata, butterbeans, water and a little salt. Bring to the boil and stir well then gently return the meatballs to the bubbling sauce. Turn to a rapid simmer, cover and cook 25 minutes. Taste for seasoning then serve scattered with parsley. Serves 4-6
*Small strips of thickly cut bacon. Alternatively, use thick rashers of streaky bacon, sliced.
**Sieved pureed tomatoes, available in jars from delis and some supermarkets.
Story: Peter Gordon
Photographs: Jean Cazals
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