Posts
How to Grind Your Own Ground Beef Mince
A while ago I wrote about why I don't buy ground beef (or any mince meat for that matter). But I love cooking with it. Making it yourself is the only way you can possibly:
- Know exactly what's in it
- Be sure it only contains good cuts of meat
- Know how fresh it is
- Know it's safe to eat medium-rare
- Know it will taste good
The first time I tried it I used an old fashioned mincer like the one in the photo above. It was a total mess, with meat juice going everywhere! So since then, I've worked out how to do it properly with the mincer – but also far faster with my food processor.
How to Grind Your Own Ground Beef Mince:
1) Find a good cut of meat, not too lean – a bit of fat makes all the difference. I often buy a cut that is on special offer, then freeze the ground meat that I make.
2) Depending on what you're making with the mince, you might also grind another type of mince too. For example, I like to make my bolognese with half beef and half pork mince.
3) This is the step I found out the hard way. Cube the meat evenly, then put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Do this, it makes a huge difference and stops your kitchen resembling a crime scene. I've even taken to putting the grinding plate into the freezer too. Without it being super cold it won't grind properly and will be a mushy nasty mess. You have been warned.
4) In small batches feed the meat cubes into the food processor or grinder
5) Check for any un-ground pieces to put through again, and get rid of any gristle that has made it's way through.
6) Whatever you don't use, straight away freeze in small batches for use in a future recipe.
And once you've ground your meat? Try some of these recipes:
Chilli and Cumin meatballs with a mango and pomegranate salsa
Texan Style Sweet Potato and Bison Burgers
Spiced Beef Kofte with a Pomegranate Glaze
Tomato-Free Bolognese Recipe
Mexican Turkey Burgers with Coriander Guacamole
Share this:
Why You Need To Stop Buying Ground Beef
So many recipes call for ground beef (or mince meat, depending on where you’re from). It’s on sale in every supermarket and butcher, but what exactly is in it – and should you buy it?
What Actually Is It?
The point of mince meat, is to use all of the bits of the animal that can’t be used elsewhere. Commercially produced ground beef will typically contain parts from hundreds of different carcasses. This product is also a good way to make use of old dairy cattle, and other animals that wouldn't be used for the popular cuts of meat. A pack of ground beef could contain all sorts of different parts of thousands of cows, yet the ingredients will still say “100% beef”.
The E. Coli Risk
The other significant problem with ground beef, is the health risk.
E. Coli can get into the food chain when the dirty exterior (and particularly any faeces) come into contact with the inside of the meat – the bits that go into the mince.
In a small scale operation cross contamination like this is unlikely, but in a large processing plant, where workers are under pressure to turn around as many animals as possible, the risk is far higher. The way ground meat is made, means any bacteria that has accumulate on the surface of the meat will rapidly permeate through the whole product.
Where so many animal parts are present in one product, the risk is obviously greatly increased. To mitigate the risk, the meat is often vacuumed, washed with hot water and lactic acid, but these measures do not guarantee safety.
What’s The Solution?
For me, the solution is making my own ground beef. I have bought an old fashioned, hand operated mincer, that clamps to my kitchen counter. This means I can buy my own grass-fed organic beef, from my trusted butcher. This way I know exactly what my minced meat contains, I can make it fresh when I need it, and won’t need to store it, which will help the bacteria risk.
Do you make your own ground meat? I’d love to hear your thoughts on minced meat, and whether you’re happy to buy it, or make your own.
Share this:
How to Make Paleo Chicken Liver Pâté
Share this:
Paleo Barbecue Recipes
We've finally started to have a few sunny days – the perfect time to get the barbecue out and try out some Paleo Barbecue Recipes!
There were a few recipes I’d wanted to try in Mark Sisson’s cookbook, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, which had been waiting for some sunshine. I amended the recipes according to which ingredients I could get – and what I already had in my kitchen.
I managed to get hold of some turkey (I don’t know why it’s not more popular in Australia?), an essential ingredient in the Turkey Kebabs I wanted to make. I also made Green Chili Burgers, based on a recipe in the book. Sadly mine were made with regular beef and not bison as the recipe suggests (another type of meat I've not seen in Australia).
Turkey Kebabs
Ingredients:
200g minced (ground) turkey 1 egg (I'm using omega 3 enriched eggs at the moment) 1 tablespoon dried parsley ½ teaspoon each of garlic powder, cumin, paprika & salt ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon & cayenne pepper 1 spoon of olive oilMethod:
It doesn't get much simpler! I simply added the ingredients (except the oil) to the food processor and blended until everything was well mixed in. I then formed the meat into kebabs on wooden skewers and coated with a little olive oil.
The kebabs were then barbecued until cooked thoroughly.
Burgers
Ingredients:
200g minced (ground) beef 1 teaspoon dried chilli 2 tablespoons coriander (cilantro) Half a small finely diced onion 1 teaspoon cumin ½ teaspoon chilli powder & salt 2 eggs
Method:
I put everything except the eggs in the food processor and blended well. I then formed the meat into burger shapes and cooked thoroughly on the barbecue. Whilst the burgers were cooking I fried the eggs and served them on top of the burgers.
Along with the meat, I made a simple salad to complete the meal.
With it being this easy to make burgers and kebabs, I don’t know why anyone would buy them ready-made!
What are your favourite barbecue recipes?
Share this:
