Savory mince can be used in so many different recipes that it is essential to have your own custom base recipe from which you can springboard into so many other dishes with the confidence that only a rock solid foundation brings.

The big trick whenever cooking mince is to brown the meat well over a high heat while avoiding getting the meat burnt. The secret to achieving this is to use a large cast iron fry pan and cook in batches. Do not overcrowd your fry pan. Let the meat brown on the one side before beginning to stir and breaking up the chunks into smaller pieces.

I prefer to use a wooden spoon when browning mince meat of any sort including beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, kangaroo or whatever. This is really important. Master this skill and you have the world of mince dishes at your feet.

Ingredients:

• ¾ Kg (about 1½ Pounds) of Ground Beef (for other dishes simply substitute the meat that you will be using and apply the same rules as with the beef)
• 1 Large Onion
• ½ Cup each of Carrots, Celery, Bell Peppers and Ketchup
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 15 Ounce Can of Whole Tomatoes
• 2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon each of Olive Oil (feel free to substitute sunflower oil if you prefer), Worcestershire Sauce, Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon of Vegetable Extract
• ½ Teaspoon each of Dried Thyme and Basil
• 1 Pinch each of Ground Cloves and Cayenne Pepper
• Salt and Black Pepper to Taste
• Oil for Cooking

Preparation:

• Medium chop the onion
• Finely mince the carrots, celery and bell peppers
• Mince the garlic. A garlic press is the easiest way to do this
• Puree the can of tomatoes juice and all

Cooking:

Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron frying pan over a medium heat

Add the carrots and sauté for 5 minutes

Now add the bell peppers, celery and onions

Cook while occasionally stirring until the onions become translucent (about 5 minutes)

Now add the minced garlic and cook for another 45 seconds

Remove from heat and transfer the vegetable mix into a medium sized bowl and set aside

Immediately return your cast iron fry pan to the heat and spread about ¼ of a teaspoon of salt across the bottom

Turn the heat to high and once fry pan has become hotter begin to crumple in the first batch of ground beef. Important: Do not stir the ground beef yet, just let it cook and turn brown. Once this side of the ground beef is nicely browned flip it over and brown the second side. Once the first batch of ground beef is nicely browned on both sides remove it using a slotted egg flip and put it into the bowl containing the vegetables.

Repeat for the next batch of ground beef (re salt the pan each time) and continue until all of your ground beef has been browned in this manner.

Drain off all but about 1 teaspoon of oil/melted fat

Now return all of the ground beef and vegetables to the pan.

Add the ketchup, pureed tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, vegetable extract and brown sugar to the pan

Stir and mix well. Now is the time to really break up any of the clumps of ground beef that may be present. This is so that your savory mince will be nice and evenly textured and versatile for use in practically any mince based dish.

Add ground cloves, thyme, and cayenne pepper and continue to stir well

Once mixed lower the heat to medium low and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. Stir sporadically.

Adjust seasoning to taste.

To Serve:

Serve with mixed vegetables, potatoes (mashed or chips). You can serve on toast or toasted hamburger buns. If serving on hamburger buns remember to use a colander spoon when adding the savory mince mix to the bun to avoid having an over runny bun mix that kids of all sizes will spread all over themselves and the furniture.

You will find that this mix will make about 7 to 8 large hamburger buns loaded generously with savory mince. Potato fries go down real well when served as a side dish here. Cheese is another obvious favorite accompaniment. Some even prefer a little sour cream as well.