I've got three Kilos (six pounds?) of minced beef defrosting... what shall I do with it?

October 8, 2004 2:31 AM

Hopefully this will be less controversial than my last question... I've got three Kilos (six pounds?) of minced beef defrosting... what shall I do with it? [MI]

We bought a three kilo tray of mince a while back. My wife noticed it was getting close to code, so she put it in the freezer. Whole. So, I now have a three kilo block of mince that I need to do something with, all in one go.

I'm thinking of turning it into a bolognase (?sp) sauce and refreezing it in portions, but I'm open to other suggestions.

Favourite mince recipes anyone?

posted by twine42 to Food & Drink (14 answers total)

I suppose this is too late, but why do you have to defrost all of it?
posted by lazy-ville at 2:33 AM on October 8, 2004

Response by poster: because it was wet mince that got frozen in one lump. Other than sawing through it, I can't see a logical way to seperate it into portions.
posted by twine42 at 2:38 AM on October 8, 2004

You can make a meatloaf or two or five and meat sauce for pasta and freeze until you want it.
posted by pieoverdone at 3:18 AM on October 8, 2004

Oh wait, I see we have meat sauce covered under bolognaise. My bad.
posted by pieoverdone at 3:19 AM on October 8, 2004

Make chili. It tastes great, freezes well, and gives just about everyone huge volumes of stinky gas. I guess that last part isn't a good selling point. Invite a bunch of people over for dinner, make chili, serve with biscuits and grated cheddar cheese. And beer.
posted by plinth at 3:27 AM on October 8, 2004

Yup, chili it is. More recipes here and some world chili champions here.
posted by AwkwardPause at 3:57 AM on October 8, 2004

Response by poster: Well, now I'm indesicive... Looks like I'll rip the raw meat apart with my hands, make some chilli, some ragu and maybe some meatloaf.

It'll be a few hours before it's defrosted, so if anyone wants to suggest alternatives or favourite recipes, then just shout. ;)
posted by twine42 at 4:51 AM on October 8, 2004

If you're making bolognaise you could also make lasagna or 2 with the same mix and then freeze those aswell.

If you're up for a big cooking session then a big fave of mine is shepherd's pie. I usually cook the mince with some onions and sometimes add some veg, then pour some gravy in to make it moist. Put that in a casserole/pie dish and top with mashed potatoes and top with some butter to make it crispy. It's good to freeze again too.

If you've ever seen the episode of Rachael in Friends make the Thanksgiving dessert of shepherd's pie - it's not made with custard or jam!
posted by floanna at 4:59 AM on October 8, 2004

To a clueless american in the audience, does minced beef = ground beef/hamburger, or is it something different entirely?
posted by FreezBoy at 6:35 AM on October 8, 2004

Response by poster: beef that's ground/minced/somethinged and then shoved through a hole in the end of the machine so it looks like this (except that's lamb).

Doing that GIS, I'm worried how often 'mince' brings up pictures of coins. People aren't that stupid, are they?
posted by twine42 at 6:41 AM on October 8, 2004

Beef tamales freeze well.

Now if you can just find a neighborhood abuela to make them for you...

*drool*

If you can't, there are always Rick Bayless' wonderful recipes (this one being for pork... but you get the idea).
posted by silusGROK at 6:57 AM on October 8, 2004

Translation: British mince = American ground beef
American mince = sweet fruity stuff you make pies with.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:00 AM on October 8, 2004

So, how did it go?
posted by plinth at 5:31 PM on October 8, 2004

Response by poster: So far, only half the damned mince has defrosted. Mind, I think the fridge is currently warmer than the kitchen, so... ;)

I've got a huge pot of Ragu bubbling away in the oven, and I've got instruction to make chilli and meatloaf with the rest.

It's now 3am UK, so I'm going to kill the heat under the ragu and then start up on the other stuff in the morning. I'll report back. Cheers guys!
posted by twine42 at 7:03 PM on October 8, 2004