Basic Braised Mince Recipes

Steps:

• Dust the beef in flour, then set aside. Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions and fry for 5 mins. Add the sugar and cook for 5-10 mins, stirring frequently, until the onions are caramelised. Stir in the garlic for the final few mins.
• Pour in the stock and stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Add the beef and mushrooms, then season, adding plenty of black pepper. Cover and cook gently for 2 hrs until the meat is tender. Can be chilled for up to 3 days. To freeze, cool and store in freezer bags. Thaw and reheat in a pan. Serve scattered with parsley.

Steps:

• Heat butter or oil in a large pan, add onion and garlic.
• Sauté until onion is transparent.
• Increase heat, add mince and dash of Worcestershire sauce- stir often to break up the lumps of mince and cook until mince has browned.
• Drain fat or liquid residue.
• Add the crumbed stock cube, herbs, gravy powder, salt and pepper.
• Make sure the gravy powder is combined with the mince so it does not go lumped when the water is added.
• Slowly add the water to the mince mixture stirring all the time.
• Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• If mince needs thickening add a little cornflour (ie 1 tsp) in water to the mix to thicken.
• Serve on buttered toast or with rice or mashed potatoes and steam vegetables.

Steps:

• Heat half of the vegetable oil in a large pan over a high heat. Add the onions, garlic and herbs and fry for 3-4 minutes, or until softened and golden-brown. Turn off the heat and set the pan aside.
• Heat half a tablespoon of the remaining oil in a separate pan over a medium heat. Add a third of the beef mince and fry for 4-5 minutes, or until browned.
• Transfer the browned mince to the pan containing the onions, garlic and herbs.
• Repeat the process twice more with the remaining oil and the remaining batched of mince. (NB Overloading the pan will not speed things up because the pan will lose heat, so take your time.
• Return the pan containing the cooked mince and vegetables to a medium heat. Add the canned tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce and stir the mixture well to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer.
• Meanwhile, crumble the stock cubes into a large heatproof jug and add 1 litre of boiling water. Stir until the stock cubes have dissolved.
• Add the stock to the beef and tomatoes mixture and bring to a simmer. Simmer for one hour, uncovered or until the volume of liquid has reduced slightly and the sauce has thickened.
• The braised mince can be eaten straightaway, serviced with rice or spaghetti.
• To make cottage pie: Spoon half of the mince into a baking dish, top with about 750g mashed potato and bake at 190c for 30 minutes, until bubbling and golden-brown on top.
• To make chilli: Stir a can of kidney beans in chilli sauce into half of the mince mixture and warm through. Serve with soured cream, tortillas and guacamole.
• The remaining mince can be set aside to cool then frozen or chilled in the fridge until needed (it can be kept in the fridge for up to three days).