Mysterious and sexy Moroccan Mince

How many times a week do you cook mince for the family?  In my house it’s about twice a week because the kids just adore it and well, it’s economical, so who am I to argue!

Last night I had a fabulous group on my famous Eat Yourself Sexy cooking class and we did a little session about how to cook mince properly!  I do this ‘mince tuition’ for a few reasons but mostly because I have seen some epic mince disasters in my time!

Guys, mince that is grey, watery and limp is not deemed as a culinary success!  Also, let’s put to bed that urban legend that evil butchers are spending precious hours pumping water into mince to cheat you out of your hard-earned cash.  Alas, they are NOT! If you are getting grey liquid pouring out of your mince you are to blame.  This might sound like tough love but I am here for you and simply want you to live happily ever after and join us on the sexy mince side!

If you mince is throwing grey liquid off there are usually three culprits:

1. Your pan was cold when added the mince
2. You are stirring too much
3. You have overcrowded the pan

This is the best way to do it!

Most recipes call for you to add the onions and some oil to the pan and then cook the onions first.  Pointless!  Unless you want your onions caramelized and the hero of the dish then they don’t need to go in first.  If they are chopped nice and small and fine they can be added after the mince is brown and sexy and delicious you have my permission.  So here’s how it’s done…

1. Get the pan ‘swear-word’ hot.  Only use a vegetable or rice bran oil in the pan OLIVE OIL DOES NOT HAVE A HIGH HEAT THRESHOLD so be careful if you are using it burns faster than most.
2. Once the pan is greased and ‘swear-word’ hot then add the mince (it can be straight out the fridge).  DO NOT STIR!!
3. Allow the first side of the mince you put into your pan brown off first before you stir and NO YOU WON”T GET LUMPS!
4. Once the first side has a lovely suntan and the pan is still sizzling hot you can start to break apart the mince using two forks (I use my larger salad  server forks…they are the perfect mince flutters!)
5. Always keep some of the pan naked so that if there is any liquid it can cook away, it’s always good to keep that heat really on high in the pan until the meat is browned and sealed. Keep working the mince and the heat until it is all browned and cooked.
6. When the mince is browned and fluffed you can now add your onions and seasoning and cooking liquid or tomato passata and live happily ever after!

So now that we have done our MINCE TRAINING let me give you that recipe!  I’m going to repeat some of the mince notes in the method…some will say I’m nagging I maintain I’m just making sure you don’t get grey mince ever again!

Mysterious and sexy Moroccan Mince

(I make a 1kg batch so there is enough for another meal later in the week!)

20-30ml oil to grease the pan

1 kg chicken or beef mince

2 onions finely chopped

2 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 small level tablespoon turmeric

1 teaspoon Ras El Hanout (OR use half a teaspoon cumin powder and half a teaspoon cardamom and a pinch of nutmeg)

1 tablespoon beef or chicken stock powder

400-500ml tomato passata or paste

1 tin chopped tomatoes

1 tin chick peas, optional

Method:

1. Get the pan ‘swear-word’ hot.  Only use a vegetable or rice bran oil in the pan OLIVE OIL DOES NOT HAVE A HIGH HEAT THRESHOLD so be careful if you are using it burns faster than most.
2. Once the pan is greased and ‘swear-word’ hot then add the mince (it can be straight out the fridge).  DO NOT STIR!!
3. Allow the first side of the mince you put into your pan brown off first before you stir and NO YOU WON”T GET LUMPS!
4. Once the first side has a lovely suntan and the pan is still sizzling hot you can start to break apart the mince using two forks (I use my larger salad  server forks…they are the perfect mince flutters!)
5. Always keep some of the pan naked so that if there is any liquid it can cook away, it’s always good to keep that heat really on high in the pan until the meat is browned and sealed. Keep working the mince and the heat until it is all browned and cooked.
6. When the mince is browned and fluffed you can now add your onions and turmeric and spices, tomato passata, chopped tomatoes and stock/seasoning and stir through (and live happily ever after!) Reduce the heat and add the chick peas and allow to cook through over a low heat for about ten more minutes to allow the flavours to develop and then serve!
7. You can serve this on cous cous, rice, with kale-slaw, on a bed of roasted veggies, or like i did on a roast vegetable stack with some lovely tomato and capsicum puree!

Who wants the recipe for the tomato and capsicum puree?

Enjoy!

I’m WILD about cooking…

Mel, The Vanilla Zulu