# March 2015 Challenge: MINCE



## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Bought, hand chopped, home ground.....

Give us your mince dishes /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Meat loaves, lasagne, meat balls, burgers and loads more..

Use pork, beef, chicken, fish or any other meat, or a combination of meats

And in case of home ground, show us the mincer or knives as well.

Here's to a new challenge /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drinkbeer.gif

[edited on 2 March to make clear that the challenge is about minced meats, including fish, but not minced fruit, pesto ot whatever else]


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

I don't think bought items should be allowed in the challenge it's not really a challenge if you buy something.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Nicko said:


> I don't think bought items should be allowed in the challenge it's not really a challenge if you buy something.


I have to disagree. I don't have a way to mince meat at home, I get my friendly greek butcher to mince my meat for me and I don't want to be left out because I don't have the appropriate gadgets.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

I am happy with store bought.

I am looking at recipes made with mince,such a versatile ingredient.

it's just that I know some people can and do mince their own, so I would like to incorporate that as well.


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## hayden (Dec 1, 2013)

Just to clarify, is it just the raw mince product that is acceptable as store-bought, or are we talking about "final products" as well, ie. sausages etc?


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

Yes that's where I was getting confused can somebody go by meatballs and enter them?


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@Hayden

You are correct: the raw mince is the ingredient.

You can use the raw mince to make a sausage though (maybe I should just have gone the sausage route as suggested by teamfat).

So mince is the ingredient and anything made with it.

(Like tomato could be the ingredient and if you grow your own tomatoes, it would be great and I would like to see them).

And here is me, thinking this was straight forward /img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif

Let's put it this way: I wanted an ingredient everyone knows, everyone cooks with, used in a lot of different regions of the world, and readily available to everyone.

Trying to get everyone in this community involved (and hoping to see a lot of regional dishes: larb, mousaka, gehaktbal, hamburger, samosa, whatever).

I do not know of a country/region that doesn't have a mince based speciality

Some examples:





  








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thai mince butternut ****** lime tomato fish sauce




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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

butzy said:


> You are correct: the raw mince is the ingredient...
> 
> And here is me, thinking this was straight forward /img/vbsmilies/smilies/confused.gif


LOL My straight forward thinking (at least the way I see things) gets me in trouble all the time!!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/bounce.gif

Not to throw another curve ball out there, but what about leftovers (not raw, such as cooked chicken breast) minced and then proceeding.

Any time there is more than one person involved, _things get so complicated._ *bwahahaha!!!*


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@cheflayne:

Yeah, really helpful (just joking)....

Guess we better get all this out of the way at the beginning.

I would allow minced cooked product as well.

After all, mince is mince (or is it?)

So: mince it (in whatever way) and cook it (in whatever way, whatever style and just whatever).....


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Nicko said:


> Yes that's where I was getting confused can somebody go by meatballs and enter them?


Would any of us do that? /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mullet.gif


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Cornish Pasties

Minced rump roast, onion, potato, rutabaga, parsley, s&p





  








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Italian Sausage





  








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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@chefbuba

Awesome: That's what I am looking for /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif

Those pasties and sausages look very appetising.

Question: what meat are you using for the Italian sausages? I assume pork, but what part?


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Shoulder


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

Koukouvagia said:


> Would any of us do that? /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mullet.gif


After 15 years of running the forums KouKou I find clarity is the best for everyone especially new members. I was not clear and I was simply asking for clarification.


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Stuffed pork flank steak with caramelized onions.

Family recipe. There's pork mince in the stuffing.





  








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## eastshores (Oct 23, 2008)

We've had plenty of challenges where we needed to ask a few questions up front, after all the host is expected to "judge" the entries so at the least they have to have some criteria to judge with. It's a good thing!

I think butzy's intent was if I go to the store and buy ground beef, and then I create a beautiful "Shepard's Pie" using that ingredient it would be a welcomed entry.

Given the language variables here, we are talking about "Ground Meat" or hand minced right? Basically a meat broken down into very small pieces?


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Carne picada mamacita. Carne picada.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Nicko said:


> After 15 years of running the forums KouKou I find clarity is the best for everyone especially new members. I was not clear and I was simply asking for clarification.


Since we're talking about clarity, what about other kind of minces, like pesto?


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Pesto could make for an interesting challenge in and of itself, late summer when the tomatoes are getting ripe. Of course, summer isn't the same time for all of us.

mjb.


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## cerise (Jul 5, 2013)

butzy said:


> Bought, hand chopped, home ground.....
> 
> Give us your mince dishes /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
> 
> ...


And variety meats? Wish I could find Bison, and had a meat grinder.

Buffalo Cognac Liver Pate

http://www.bisonbasics.com/recipes/appetizers/bison_cognac_pate.html

My Grandmother had a handcrank grinder that attached to the windowsill, years ago. She would cook up liver and onions, pass it through the grinder, encase the liver mixture in cooked mashed potatoes, and fry in chicken fat. So good. They were called liver knishes. Just reminiscing


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

> Originally Posted by *eastshores*
> 
> I think butzy's intent was if I go to the store and buy ground beef, and then I create a beautiful "Shepard's Pie" using that ingredient it would be a welcomed entry.
> 
> Given the language variables here, we are talking about "Ground Meat" or hand minced right? Basically a meat broken down into very small pieces?


Yes, exactly. But it got to be mince, not thin slices or so. So no carpaccio or shoarma, but steak tartare is fine


Koukouvagia said:


> Since we're talking about clarity, what about other kind of minces, like pesto?


Very good question. Initially I was going to allow them, but I actually think it is better to keep it to meat & fish only

As @teamfat points out: a lot of those could be a challenge on their own.

I will amend in the first post


Cerise said:


> And variety meats? Wish I could find Bison, and had a meat grinder.


Yes, all type of meats are in, and you can hand chop your meat to mince /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif


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## cerise (Jul 5, 2013)

I was curious... has anyone tried Bison  What did you think?  Yay or Nay?


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@ordo: That looks very appetizing. Wish I could take a bit of it right now!


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## fablesable (Oct 11, 2014)

@Cerise Yes I have Bison all the time as I live in the Prairies area of Canada it is easily accessible. I LOVE it, as it is very lean but it does taste more like beef then a gamier meat like venison, caribou, or moose. I get it from a local rancher. So for me it's a YAY /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

@butzy I'm a Belgian and as you know better than anyone else over here, we simply love to be creative with -read stretch- the culinary rules... and many others like taxes etc.. Although there's hardly anything to stretch in this contribution as long as people agree that you can put anything in your own meatloaf.

Posted this a good week ago in the dinner thread; 50% meat, minced and 50% veggies, also minced. Meat mince courtesy of my butcher, veggie mince of my own doing. Sort of lean-guilt meatloaf when you think of the fat content of a normal one.

Here it was with some more pictures; http://www.cheftalk.com/t/69652/what-did-you-have-for-dinner/4770#post_497884





  








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Fantastic idea for a challenge, butzy, most democratic ingredient and so easy to work with... and hundreds of recipes around, so who would not participate in this challenge?


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Baked Shells using the Italian sausage made previously. Ricotta, Provolone, Parmesan & Pesto.





  








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## happyhound (May 19, 2014)

Funny thing Bison. I just happened to be cooking some this morning in a Tomato based sauce. Also included is Italian sausage, mushrooms, white wine reduced to almost nil, basil, rosemary S&P and a bit of leftover clam stock. All items store bought (herbs, I grew the herbs!). $9 a pound for the ground bison! No hormones, blah, blah, blah. The water. OMG the water. Had to be 20% of the weight. Won't be buying that product again. Anyway, here's a picture of the beginning of what should be a four + hour reduction to yummy-ness. I'll probably serve it over polenta, with a green salad and some nice crusty bread. Still pondering what libation to serve it with. Chianti perhaps? A nice fruity Chablis? Perhaps a nice hoppy beer. Decisions, decisions... P.S. Ordo that stuffed pork looks fantastic. Wow!





  








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## nate (Aug 2, 2014)

Smoked Fatty. A Mixture of Pork Shoulder and Beef Chuck, with jalapenos, cheddar cheese and grilled onion. Coated with a BBQ rub and Smoked with apple wood. I used my kitchen aid attachment to grind the mixture together.





  








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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

That would make one tasty sandwich!


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Talking about tasty sandwiches. Beef steak burger with eggs.





  








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## happyhound (May 19, 2014)

Nate said:


> Smoked Fatty. A Mixture of Pork Shoulder and Beef Chuck, with jalapenos, cheddar cheese and grilled onion. Coated with a BBQ rub and Smoked with apple wood. I used my kitchen aid attachment to grind the mixture together.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Smoked Fatty...Love it!


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## everydaygourmet (Apr 4, 2012)

Humbly, my successful N'duja hack

smoked pork jowl





  








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sliced ready for the grinder





  








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ground and letting it rest with the spices





  








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close up





  








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just into the bain Marie





  








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test batch finished, ready for our impending epiphany of the "hack"





  








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finished product after letting it rest and stabilize, actually reabsorbed

some of the fat and liquor from the cooking process





  








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Test batch with some aged parm, mignonette and giardiniera





  








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## everydaygourmet (Apr 4, 2012)

House ground turkey brat stuffed poblano peppers with currywurst





  








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## everydaygourmet (Apr 4, 2012)

House ground turkey parm meatloaf





  








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## everydaygourmet (Apr 4, 2012)

Scallop, sea bass and shrimp quenelles w nantua sauce as part of a surf and turf





  








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house made pasta cannelloni served with yellow tomato and roasted red pepper cream sauces





  








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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Meatballs, fried in my aebleskiver pan. Served with broccoli, chopped green onion and an onion flower (from my backyard).





  








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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Way back before Wolf and Viking, before Kenmore and Kitchenaid, way WAY back, a meal might have consisted of tearing some meat off the bones of the kill and just eating it. Not a very complicated recipe. This submission is only slightly improved.

*The Players*





  








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The main ingredient - a couple of pork chops from Christiansen Farms out in Tooele, next valley to the west. Pasture raised heritage Berkshire pork. Black pepper, salt, egg yolk, garlic and onion.

*The Procedure*

In the Perfect Burger thread I minced some beef by hand using my chef's knife [ Insert plug for New West Knifeworks ] and was somewhat satisfied with the resulting texture. Since then I purchased a cheap, $20, Chinese made cleaver. It works better for hand made mince.





  








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Boned the chops and started whacking away. Fun. When the texture looked about right, into the bowl with the remaining stuff. I also used the cleaver to finely mince the garlic, my chef's to do the onion. Could have done a smaller dice on the onion.





  








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After I took this picture I lost the fork, used my hand. I also used my hand to spread my version of _*mett*_ on some buttered sourdough bread. Probably not the traditional base.

*The Product*





  








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It was quite good. Added just another grind or two of pepper. The mix could have used a bit of acid, perhaps a dash of the juice from the fermented pickles.

So there. I ate raw pork. If you don't hear from me after a couple of days...


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## nate (Aug 2, 2014)

Teamfat... that's hardcore


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Wow! Raw pork! Teamfat... are you still with us? Teamfat? Team...


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Mett is a classic raw pork German dish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Yes. And I am hoping a certain person with access to high quality pork from his local butcher posts a version that puts mine to shame.

mjb.


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## eastshores (Oct 23, 2008)

> So there. I ate raw pork. If you don't hear from me after a couple of days...


When I was little.. like around 6.. after everyone went to bed I would sneak into the fridge and pull a slice of raw bacon out and chew on it. I don't remember ever coming down with trichinosis.. but who knows.. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

> Originally Posted by *eastshores*
> "I have an onion flower in the garden now! How do they taste? I just picked some broccoli too "


Hmmm I don't remember how it tasted to be honest. It was more for garnish... I wish I had more to taste again! But give it a try!


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

> > So there. I ate raw pork. If you don't hear from me after a couple of days...
> 
> 
> When I was little.. like around 6.. after everyone went to bed I would sneak into the fridge and pull a slice of raw bacon out and chew on it. I don't remember ever coming down with trichinosis.. but who knows..


We are one of the few countries in the world where people still consume raw pork minced meat! I've seen and done it quite often in the past. A crispy roll with raw minced meat was very common. In those days, there was an artisan butchery in nearly every street and people judged the butcher's quality by the quality of his minced pork meat! I'm not eating it anymore since many decades but a lot of people still do with some mustard or piccalilly on top.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

*Curry "worstenbroodje" - Curry sausage roll*

It's not a Berliner currywurst, but it tasted fantastic of curry too. Made this yesterday with minced 50/50 pork/beef and added only a few ingredients; an egg and a hand of breadcrumbs to keep it all together nicely and a seasoning of s&p, dried dill and mild Madras curry powder. Then roll in puff pastry and bake @ 210°C (400°F I presume) for 30 minutes.

I'll share a little secret with you. A long time ago I helped in a bakery as a student for pocket money. The baker taught me how he put a bit of his morning coffee that was now cold, into the egg wash that went on top of the puff pastry. Looks glossy, tastes fantastic and gives a much darker crust...

Served it with minced finely chopped raw Belgian endives in a bit of mayo and... another bit of dried dill.





  








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Also, please use Madras curry. It's nothing like that harsh supermarket yellow stuff that colors everything yellow.

Like most of my spices, I use this TRS brand, bought at an ethnic store. I love the quality of their spices and they have so many.





  








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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

That looks great @ChrisBelgium !! I'll definitely have to try those. Thanks so much for the coffee-in-eggwash tip too, I'll have to try that.

Regarding curry powders, have you ever tried Maharaja curry? It's a bit expensive as it contains some saffron, but it tastes fantastic!!


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Thanks for the tip! I think I need to look that Maharaja up. I love mild curry powder, which doesn't mean it isn't spicy, it's just more elaborated.

On that eggwash; use about 1 teaspoon on one egg, that's more than enough.


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Great coffee tip! Thanks!


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

If I were contending, I would have pictures, but here 's what I have in process ...

I coarsely ground about 2 lbs of "cross rib roast", mixed it with about 1/3 cup ground celery, 1 t salt, 1 T ground smoked paprika, 1 T ground pasilla chile, 1 t. ground cayenne, 2 eggs and 1/3 c cup rolled oats. I don't know a whole lot about cooking in general, but I do have an appreciation for different kinds of chiles and what they individually add.

It's going in the oven now.


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Burgers.... 80/20 fresh ground chuck from the butcher.





  








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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Dinner tonight, Tamale Pie

Filling: Ground pork and beef, onion, chili powder, cumin, stewed tomatoes & paste.

Crust: Stone ground corn meal, chicken broth,granulated onion, s&p, frozen white corn, canned (Ortega) roasted green chilies, cheddar & jack cheese





  








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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Some absolutely amazing entries sofar!
Keep them coming.......


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

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Tonight's dinner. Some of my recent products - only two with mince, though.

Left hand side - more or less an experiment. 70/30 lean/fat pork, ground through 10 mm, seasoned with green peppercorns, crushed pepper, majoram, paprika, mace, poached, dried, smoked 3x8h over beech.

Top middle: Bavarian-style smoked shoulder, matured for 3 months now.

Lower middle: air dried pork tenderloin

Right hand side: air-dried cold smoked polish, needs a bit more drying.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

teamfat said:


> So there. I ate raw pork. If you don't hear from me after a couple of days...


Nice one. And perfectly normal stuff around here (Mett / Hackepeter) - besides what else are air dried sausages or salamis than raw pork


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## happyhound (May 19, 2014)

"So there. I ate raw pork. If you don't hear from me after a couple of days..."

FYI

"Trichinosis from domesticated pork is all-but absent these days, which is why the USDA - an organization well known to be overly cautious and is believed by many to be scientifically suspect when it comes to meat safety in the real world - dropped the "safe" cooking temperature of pork from 160°F to 145°F in 2011." -Hank Shaw. Hunter Gardener Angler Cook or www.honest-food.net


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

HappyHound said:


> "So there. I ate raw pork. If you don't hear from me after a couple of days..."
> 
> FYI
> 
> "Trichinosis from domesticated pork is all-but absent these days, which is why the USDA - an organization well known to be overly cautious and is believed by many to be scientifically suspect when it comes to meat safety in the real world - dropped the "safe" cooking temperature of pork from 160°F to 145°F in 2011." -Hank Shaw. Hunter Gardener Angler Cook or www.honest-food.net


Trichinosis is not the main problem these days. Raw ground just spoils fast. Only thing to care for is clean and fast processing - and proper techniques when going for air-dried stuff.


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## pete (Oct 7, 2001)

Pastitsio- I love this dish almost more than Lasagna and that's saying a lot!!!





  








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## everydaygourmet (Apr 4, 2012)

Thanks @butzy!

The N'duja hack was a long time in the making. If you've never experienced N'duja (Un Do ya) put it on your bucket list. I've been honing my charcuterie skills and decided to try my hand at N'duja. The problem is some can be, well rather one dimensional, fatty and just hot. Made some verbatim and was okay with it but not pleased. Quite frankly was sort of a buzz kill.

So in search of a better mouse trap off I went in search of something with more depth, less fat and a better mouth feel. Got this inspiration from a charcuterie forum. In "the inspiration" post he was going to hang and age like "normal". I bain Marie'd a sample and was floored by the taste. The low slow heat really sped up the ageing process and (very humbly) was some of the best I've ever made or tasted, hence the "hack".

N'duja "purists" of course cried foul as I dared not to use peppers from Calabria, "cooked it" and was able to produce a product in 2 days in lieu of 2 months+ so to appease the N'duja gods it's technically a sausage in the style of N'duja, lol.

What also made it unique is the peppers and salt used. We make our own smoked salt and 2 kinds of what is called "American Espelette" (_oh no here we go again_) one sun dried and the other fresh dried. (very close to the Calabrian peppers though, just not imported) Different flavor and heat profiles, sun dried is hotter and hits more on the back of your tongue while the other is much sweeter with a front heat. Also used Chipotle in Adobo and a lean smoked hog jowl for the protein. Traditional recipes use everything from all the awful, to the head and or trimmings and back fat.

What we got was what I was looking for, subtle smokiness with a deep rich flavor with a complementary and complex heat profile instead of what was in some cases just heat used to mask the "protein" used.

Appreciate the kind words.

Cheers! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drinkbeer.gif

EDG


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

@Pete that looks absolutely amazing!

Here's my first entry, made from scratch meatballs. A very mild recipe with onions, garlic, eggs, fresh breadcrumbs, parsley, mint, salt/pepper. I floured and fried them and then served with crisped pita bread and tzatziki.





  








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## mike9 (Jul 13, 2012)

We have folks from Texas and Florida staying with us so yesterday I made meat balls. Beef (Delmonico), pork sausage and venison -

Remembered to take a picture before washing the grinder -





  








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Ready to mix -





  








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The rest was a blur, but I made 26 meatballs, a gallon of sauce, and two pounds of fettuccine and this is what was left -





  








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They sure can put the feedbag on /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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## hayden (Dec 1, 2013)

This thread needs more seafood... /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif





  








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*bzzzzt*

*Shake to hotate no kushiyaki* ("salmon and scallop grilled skewer") with a tahini-miso sauce for drizzling, and a kale & broccolini gomaae on the side:





  








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The mince was thickened with ground cashews, almonds, and coconut flour with a handful of spring onions, some minced garlic and ginger thrown in, then seasoned with salt and pepper before being delicately wrapped around some soaked chopsticks, grilled on the barbeque, then given a light glaze with tare.

Scallops tend themselves to being quite sticky and thus good binders when minced, so they make for a good addition to seafood skewers/sausages/etc; the fattiness of the salmon probably helped quite a bit as well.

Also, if you've never tried tahini and miso mixed together before...do it! Thin it out with some water and you can have yourself a nice sauce for dipping or drizzling. In the right ratios (which I ashamedly didn't take note of...) it sort of resembles a peanut butter taste, likely due to the saltiness and umami of the miso and the nuttiness of the tahini.


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

That's spectacular Hayden. Nice dish, nice recipe tips, nice photos. Great entry!


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

I learned how to make kebabs a meat and potato thing in one, from an Iranian friend--ground meat and shredded potatoes, mixed with spices and made into kebabs. In India, ground meat kebabs are called seekh kebabs. The shredded potatoes, Iranian style, really add to the flavor and texture. Penzey's rogan josh spices will make it really tasty, and I am adding yogurt because rogan josh spices need yogurt.

https://www.penzeys.com/catalog/product.aspx?catalog=24&product=149

Now I have to wait a painful week to get the spices. I can't believe I ran out. I ordered some berbere and Hungarian paprika from Penzeys too, since I was ordering.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

I try to make use of the challenges as a means to get me to branch out, experiment, try something different. And tonight I did something I've never done before - ravioli.

*The Players*





  








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This is for the filling - shallot, garlic, sweet peppers and some of my pancetta. Not shown are the ingredients for the pasta, which included eggs, of course, flours and roasted red peppers. And the sauce was a pretty basic can of tomato sauce with some minor doctoring.

*The Procedure*

The first thing I did was wrap a chunk of the pancetta in foil and put it in a 250 F oven for about an hour. While that was going on I took some nice chunks of store bought roasted red pepper and blitzed them with my stick blender. Then into a pot to reduce over low heat for a while.





  








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Looks like tomato paste, but it is the red pepper puree with sweet paprika. It was added to the eggs and flour, which was 4 oz. of semolina and 8 oz. unbleached all purpose.





  








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First time I've used the dough hook in the Kitchenaid, I am pretty sure. The dough was prepared and rested, so I went to work on the filling. The first picture with the pancetta was taken after it had come out of the oven and cooled a bit. The heating did render out some of the fat, didn't want too much in the filling. Sliced, then whack whack whack!





  








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A nice mince, just what I wanted. The veggies got the same treatment.





  








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Pancetta in the pan first, when it started to sizzle added the veggies and some dried herbs. After they softened up a bit, off the heat and mixed in some mozzarella and parm.

Rolled out the pasta dough and made use of the new toy I bought today, a ravioli mold. I got it because it was $26.95 at Williams - Sonoma and I had $28 left on a gift card.





  








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Can you tell this is the first time I've made ravioli? Rolled out the top sheet of dough, put it on top and used the little rolling pin to seal the top. The big pot of salted water was at a rolling boil, showtime!

*The Product*

Sorry folks, nothing to see here, move along. I had trouble getting the ravioli out of the mold, not enough flour dusting of the mold and the sheets of dough, I guess. The blobs that ended up going in the water were not very photogenic. The flavor was good, though. Karen thought the filling was nicely seasoned, I thought it could have been kicked up a bit. The red pepper pasta dough was nice, have a blob of it left in the fridge, will roll out some noodles tomorrow.

So final verdict - presentation was a disaster. Flavor, though, well, here's what Karen's plate looked like shortly after sitting down to our meal.





  








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I'll keep practicing.

mjb.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

This is from about 2 years ago, when I first put my hand at trying to make sausages:





  








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The pork was chopped and mixed with the spices, then pushed through the grinder straight into the casing





  








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Anyone else using a hand cranked mincer?

Below is the result.

I have since upgraded to an electric mincer and a dedicated stuffer/img/vbsmilies/smilies/wink.gif





  








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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Hayden said:


> *Shake to hotate no kushiyaki* ("salmon and scallop grilled skewer") with a tahini-miso sauce for drizzling, and a kale & broccolini gomaae on the side:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I will try not to dream about it. Sounds fantastic.


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## hayden (Dec 1, 2013)

Another from me! I started off with 2 Salmon fillets (1x body, and 1x tail for a bit of sweetness) minced by food processor, roughly 3/4 that amount in smoked salmon minced by knife, 2 green onions, a handful of finely diced parsley and cracked pepper, then decided to throw in 1/4 tsp sweet paprika and 1/2 tsp chilli powder:





  








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What do we have here?





  








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Quail eggs! These were eventually steamed for 2 minutes then placed in an ice bath. Peeling them? Never again! I estimated about 10 minutes per egg...

Coated in a mix of 1-part cashews, 1-part pine nuts, 2-parts almonds, and 2-parts polenta (after the usual flour/egg coats):





  








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*Salmon scotch quail eggs*, with a caper-parsley mayonnaise:





  








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I'm not one to deep-fry things, nor do I even have a deep fryer at home, so I initially opted to at least shallow-fry in about 1cm of oil but found I couldn't control the temperature anywhere near as adequately as necessary, so I moved on to simply pan-frying with a little bit of ghee - absolutely perfect! Flipping/rotating every ~45 seconds onto each of the 6 "sides" worked a treat.

Really glad I decided to throw the paprika and chilli powder into the mince at the last minute as well - it added a subtle kick.

Unfortunately this is probably my last entry for quite some time, as I've got a flight to India being booked for me tomorrow; work has offered me a package almost impossible to refuse so I'll be heading over to the land of curry for 9-12 months and living in a hotel without my own kitchen. Might have to get acquainted with the hotel chefs! Good luck to everyone for the rest of the challenge; there's some serious competition so far.


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Ding,Ding,Ding.......That's a winner for me!


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

@Hayden Absolutely love these two creative contributions!! And such great pictures!


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Hayden is on fire! Very inspiring recipes.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

> Unfortunately this is probably my last entry for quite some time, as I've got a flight to India being booked for me tomorrow;


Make sure to get some seekh kebabs. And if you go to Goa, make sure to get their version of Portuguese sausage./img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif And look for keema curry. Those are three of India's mince dishes. Maybe you already knew all that.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@Pete: good looking Pastissio.

I have had it a couple of times and really like it!

@Koukouvagia:

If I would have an image of a Greek meal in my head, this would be it.

that just looks so appetizing!

@Mike9:

Glad to see another mincer /img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif

Even those leftovers look good. Makes me wonder what the whole meal looked like. Must have been good!

@Hayden:

Those dishes you are posting look so amazing! I would like to try every single one of them!

Sad to see that you will be away for a while, but you can always send us pics of street food /img/vbsmilies/smilies/crazy.gif

Hope you are going to enjoy your time in India!

@OregonYeti:

Hope to see your entries when the spices come in. There are still 3 weeks left in the challenge, so you should have enough time.....

@teamfat:

I tried my hands on ravioli once or twice, and it ain't easy!

Glad that it all tasted nice!

Great entries all /img/vbsmilies/smilies/peace.gif


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

*South African "Bobotie"*

I found this recipe in the dutch translation of a recent book written by one of Australia's best female food writers who publishes in the Australian "delicious." food magazine, Valli Little. The dish is called "bobotie" (pronounce bobotee) and originates from South-Africa. I heard about it many years ago but never made it. So thanks to an Australian food writer and an American food forum challenge, I'm making this South-African dish in Europe, Belgium... how global is this? @butzy you might know the dish or a variation of it in Zambia too?

Little did I know how much flavor you can pack in such a simple mince dish! Absolutely incredible. There's some unusual ingredients in there too like apricot jam. Basically bobotie consists of two layers; a mince preparation topped with some sort of custard layer and of course, baked in the oven.

- Mince layer

I used pork/beef mince instead of lamb mince. Other ingredients; I used onion, garlic, raisins steeped in grappa, grappa, mild curry powder, tomato puree, apricot jam, s&p.

All these ingredients are cooked before adding them to the baking tray.

- Custard layer

Consists of an "appareil" of eggs, extra egg yolk, cream, sour cream, grappa, pinch of sugar, s&p.

After baking it -using a hot waterbath- at 180°C/350°F oven (I used 160°C fan) you will find an intense tasting mince topped with a velvety custard layer...

Bobotie is usually served with a green salad, I used Belgian endive which is not such a good match this time.

I'm thinking of making small boboties in ramekins and serve these as appetizers or as a... tapa.





  








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_The bobotie has to be baked in a waterbath._





  








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Valli Little's book called "delicious.slow" ; http://browseinside.harpercollins.com.au/index.aspx?isbn13=9780733333392


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## hayden (Dec 1, 2013)

For me it seems like there's a lot of British influences in the dish as well - first and foremost it resembles a Shepherd's Pie, albeit with a custard top instead of mash, and then the base itself is very reminiscent of a typical British curry (curry powder, raisins/apricots). I like it a lot, good choice @ChrisBelgium!


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Tonight it's a simple thing. Slices of turkey "Italian sausage"  simmered with fresh garlic and thinly sliced dried pasilla chiles and Classico marinara. Fresh Thai basil in it too. I added some tofu since there was a lot of flavor to go around and for texture. I think it's yummy. Red, white, dark purple (basil leaves) and green (some of the other basil leaves). A little sesame oil sprinkled on top.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@ChrisBelgium

Yeah, bobotie..... !!!!

Yours is looking great/img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif

And the way you found the recipe is absolutely international/multi cultural (spoken by a Dutchie in Zambia /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif)

@OregonYeti

I like the sound of that dish... Sounds like my kind of food!


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

I made some frikadelles with sweet and sour red cabbage tonight. Which I had a working camera. Then again, not taking photographs means I can focus more on the food itself!


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

We'll just have to make a mental picture then 

Sounds tasty.

This is sort of a sausage shaped meat ball, isn't it?

In Dutch, a frikandel is a fast food item, deep fried and made out of all kind of offcuts of meat (you don't really want to know what goes in there....)


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

> Originally Posted by *butzy*
> 
> Anyone else using a hand cranked mincer?


I used electric, but I switched to a #22 hand cranked Weston by now. Much more happy with that one. Dedicated stuffer (vertical Beeketal), though. Stuffing with the mincer is just... forgetaboutit.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

teamfat said:


> Yes. And I am hoping a certain person with access to high quality pork from his local butcher posts a version that puts mine to shame.
> 
> mjb.


Hehe, missed that one. Next weekend, perhaps, already did my shopping by now. Thinking classic German style. Raw egg on top, to get the squeamish ones to really squeal.... Pickles, onions, capers, paprika on the side to season at the table.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

And I bet you might have some fresh baked bread of the proper variety as well.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Here's something I've not done for a while, a stuffed pork roast.

*The Players*





  








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To make a stuffed pork roast, you obviously need a piece of pork. Here's a sirloin roast, I trimmed off the ends to give a nice sized piece for the two of us.





  








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The ends, along with some salt pork chunks and trimmings from some chops the other day get minced, along with some garlic, marjoram, salt, pepper and a bit of paprika to make a sort of Hungarian keilbasa. The shallot and sweet peppers come into play later.





  








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*The Procedure*





  








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I've already posted an entry where this is the final stage of processing. More cooking involved here.





  








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The knife work is done, another cutting board that will need to be cleaned. Time for some stress relief, neanderthal style with the mallet. Then a layer of spinach followed by the sausage which has been browned a bit with the shallot and sweet peppers.





  








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Wrapped and ready for the oven. I thought about using the Weber Kettle to roast it, but decided otherwise.





  








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So while all this was going on, there was a stock pot with some pork neck bones, ginger, onion, pepper, bay leaf,, etc. on the back burner. A cup or so of this broth was used for the gravy.





  








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Okay, it is done.





  








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Let it rest while I make the gravy in the skillet and finish mashing the sweet potato and doing the final touches on the salad.

*The Product*





  








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No pictures of the final plating, but this was good. About 4 yummies from Karen, she really liked the gravy with that touch of ginger and star anise from the broth. That stock is for another meal, but it did come in handy here.

mjb.


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Looks good TF.


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## mike9 (Jul 13, 2012)

Nice pork TF. I deconstructed some sausage - pork and venison for an eggplant lasagna. I peeled and sliced two eggplants 1/4" thick then between paper towels for a while then into a 275 oven for an hour - that made my "noodles". The mince went into the fresh sauce and then I assembled the lasagna with a layer of sauteed crimini mushrooms in the middle along with the usual suspects - ricotta, parm, mozzarella, etc.





  








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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

How finely chopped does it have to be, to be considered mince?

Hehe just kidding.

I got my rogan josh spices from Penzeys and made beef rogan josh, but with the sirloin steaks cubed about 8 mm. Almost mince but not quite.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

OregonYeti said:


> How finely chopped does it have to be, to be considered mince?


I plan to present a dish later this week that may not quite qualify. We shall see.

And I am a bit surprised that halfway into the challenge we have not seen steak tartare.

mjb.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Very nice @teamfat

Beautiful pictures as well.

@Mike9:

That's a different "lasagne" /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

It's actually getting close to a moussaka. Looks tasty!


OregonYeti said:


> How finely chopped does it have to be, to be considered mince?


How long is a piece of string?

I dunno: So it is identifiable as mince? It's gonna be a tricky one /img/vbsmilies/smilies/laser.gif

Nice entries by everyone:

Like teamfat, I also expected a steak tartare early in the race, and I suppose some Mousaka as well.

Still 2 weeks to go, though...


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

butzy said:


> How long is a piece of string?
> 
> I dunno: So it is identifiable as mince? It's gonna be a tricky one /img/vbsmilies/smilies/laser.gif


I was kidding, as you know /img/vbsmilies/smilies/biggrin.gif

It would take a lot more work on my part to seriously contend with so many great entries here. My friend who loves beef and isn't fond of what he knows as curry, loved it. But it wasn't mince.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

So, when is a mince not a mince? When does a dice become a mince? Let's say we start with these ingredients.





  








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Then the veggies and the liquids get processed:





  








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And now, the crux of the biscuit:





  








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I meant to put something in to give a measure of size, but it is the same cutting board as the first photo, so that should help with the sense of scale. Is that a small dice? Is that a mince? Does it qualify, is it small enough? Is it too big to be considered a mince?

Whatever the answer may be, when mixed together with some fresh lime juice, chopped cilantro and furikake, it made a really tasty Hawaiian poke! ( K Girl knows how to pronounce it.)





  








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So, mince or no mince?


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

It's a miniature plate, miniature knife, miniature half of a lime, miniature bottles, etc. Of course it's mince.

Mmmm, poke. My favorite was made with ahi, at Waikaloa, on the Big Island.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@teamfat
That's a lovely looking dish, but to me that's more a dice than a mince. But like you and Yeti point out: it's pretty arbitrary.........


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

butzy said:


> @teamfat
> That's a lovely looking dish, but to me that's more a dice than a mince. But like you and Yeti point out: it's pretty arbitrary.........


I was just kiddin' around. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/tongue.gif I think teamfat is too. But at least teamfat put up some nice pictures.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Yes, the intention of my post was not to produce an actual entry, but to assist in clarifying "the rules" so to speak. And of course to produce some tasty eats. That goal was achieved! In truth when making poke I use larger cubes for the fish. I seem to recall posting a couple in the fish challenge [ not shellfish, hint hint ] a while back.

mjb.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@OregonYeti and @teamfat:

I figured that to be the case, but as it is clarifying the rules I decided to respond anyway /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smoking.gif

And here an other old entry

(I got pork defrosting to be cut up and thrown through the grinder, so hopefully I can also post a recent dish in the next couple of days)

Mici (looks like cevapcici to me, but apparently there are some differences)





  








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2 chopped garlic and used beef soup instead of sto




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Some of the ingredients:

Missing is the mince, baking powder, and the soup was used instead of a stock cube (that's what the recipe said)





  








4 ready to go on braai - burger is left over mdm j




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Ready to go on the fire: I put them on skewers to make it easier to turn them





  








13 served - fairly ok picture.jpg




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And plated (sorry about the glare)


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

*Courgettes (zucchini) stuffed with minced beef, feta cheese and pistachios*

I promised myself to no longer post dishes in these challenges that I have posted here before.

But I couldn't resisit to post this one that I'm really proud of; entirely my own recipe with a lot of ingredients and it makes use of the pulp of the zucchini to turn into a sauce instead of throwing it in the bin. This is what I posted in the recipe section;

_"...Start by hollowing the courgettes. Keep the pulp, we will use that to make the sauce. I sprinkled some salt inside the hollowed courgettes and left them upside down to lose some moist._

_Stuffing; minced beef, a little dried ham (prosciutto or whatever) cut in tiny bits, finely cut small shallot and garlic, pinch of chili flakes, an egg, a small handful of breadcrumbs, a handful of chopped pistachios, quite a lot of feta cheese, a few leaves of chopped fresh mint, some dried lemon verbena, s&p._

_Cook in the oven at 180°C/350°F for 35-45 minutes._

_Sauce; sweat a chopped onion and some garlic. Add the pulp of the courgettes and leave to sweat for a few minutes. Add half a cup of water or chicken stock and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. I added a few saffron threads and a good pinch of a Moroccan spice mix. Those will provide that nice yellow color. If not available, use no more than 1/4 tsp of turmeric. Mix finely into a sauce."_





  








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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

ChrisBelgium said:


> *Courgettes (zucchini) stuffed with minced beef, feta cheese and pistachios*


Oh man, I think I would love that. I have not seen that type of zucchini; all the more reason that I want to try it.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

I agree!

That looks fabulous Chris /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Baked rice, not much of a contender I suppose but it's such a great weeknight dinner and this happens to be hubby's favorite meal. I dice and sweat green bell peppers in olive oil and butter and toast the rice. Then I stir in left over bolognese, a cup of grated parmesan and water. Cover and bake.




  








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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

OregonYeti said:


> Oh man, I think I would love that. I have not seen that type of zucchini; all the more reason that I want to try it.


Thanks OY! These courgettes are now available in my country. I have no idea where they come from, certainly not from here. Best place to find them are in ethnic stores.

Thanks butzy!


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

@ChrisBelgium yeah, those started to show up a couple of years ago at the Turkish stores around here. Got my hands on some seeds for that sort, so they are available in my garden, too 

Talking about mince...

Hand-cranked Weston #22 - haven't found a place to put it up permanently, so it gets clamped down. Works, though





  








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Some Swabian-Hall shoulder and belly.





  








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Salt, pepper, sugar, paprika, chili, coriander, fennel, majoram, rosemary, garlic.





  








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Stuffed into 30/32 pork casings. Resting over night now, to be cooked tomorrow.





  








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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Oh man, that´s a killer sausage GM.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

ordo said:


> Oh man, that´s a killer sausage GM.


We'll see - final judgement after cooking them tomorrow


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@GeneMachine:

Those are definitely good looking. I am working on a batch of sausages as well. Going to make some Goan Chorizo (again, as I really like them) and since I will have enough mince, I will make another type as well.

@Koukouvagia:

That looks like such and easy and tasty dish /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

@GeneMachine I counted your sausages! There's enough for us to taste too! They look so appetizing...


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

And here they are. Smoked over cherry, mashed sweet potato with balsamico and garlic, field salad.





  








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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

grilled seekh kabab (ground lamb, onion, serrano chile, mint, cilantro, cumin, and garam masala) with a tomato chutney sauce

jasmine rice salad (jasmine rice, mango, quick pickled English cucumber and red cabbage, toasted coconut and almonds, mint, parsley with a mango citrus vinaigrette) with a toasted coconut and almond drizzle

asparagus with a lemon turmeric yogurt and balsamic red onions





  








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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

@GeneMachine spectacular! Is there balsamic in the sweet potatoes?

@cheflayne that's is art on a plate, you did a wonderful job elevating a humble street food.


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

*Balletjes in tomatensaus*

If you like meatballs, you really need to try this dish. If you have kids, they will absolytely love it! Served with homemade mashed potatoes. So different from other meatball styles. Fantastic taste, soft and juicy meatballs;

- Preparing the meat; this is 50/50 pork and beef. We don't add egg nor breadcrumbs. The only things I added were chopped parsley and a little piment d'Espelette, s&p.

- Roll bitesize balls.

- Poach the meat in slightly salted water. The moment they float on the surface of the water, they're done. It only takes a few minutes. Save the cooking water that now has turned into a light broth for making the sauce!

- Sauce; is a roux (butter/flour) based velouté made with the cooking water of the meat and tomato purée.





  








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_Ready to be poached. No egg, no breadcrumb, keep it simple._





  








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_ When the meat floats on top of the water, they are done._





  








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_Absolutely delicious, kids love this dish!_


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

Koukouvagia said:


> @GeneMachine spectacular! Is there balsamic in the sweet potatoes?


Thanks. Yes, the sweet potato mash is seasoned with garlic, salt, pepper and a dash of balsamic. Thought I'd complement the Italian style seasoning of the sausages there.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Poached meatballs. Maybe I should revisit the Persian meatballs and pitas I did for the Middle East challenge....

mjb.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

BACALAO BRANDADE CROQUETTES

Today is Greek Independence Day and it is customary to eat fish and specifically salt cod (bacalao). I decided to do something special with it this year and push my technique a little. It all began with a whole head of garlic confit! This was my first time making garlic confit and I have a feeling I will be doing confit a lot from now on.

I chopped up the bacalao into small pieces and desalted for about 36hours





  








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Then I covered it with milk and simmered it with bay leaf and thyme





  








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After it strained and cooled I put it in the food processor along with the garlic confit, parsley, and a couple of eggs to bind. I combined this with fresh mashed potato and added enough of the reserved cooked milk to make the consistency soft. Then I spread the mixture into a pan and put it in the fridge to cool for a few hours.





  








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Shaped into croquettes and rolled in panko then deep fried.





  








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I served it with tartar sauce and salad. Sorry I didn't plate it up, we wanted to dig in while they were hot!


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

Those look pretty darn good koukou.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Just a couple more days left in this challenge, time enough for meatloaves, more meatballs, moussaka's, kebabs, some mince stir fries, steak tartare and whatever else van be made with mince.

So, grab yourselves a drink for some inspiration /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drinkbeer.gifand start cooking /img/vbsmilies/smilies/chef.gif

@cheflayne:

That's my kind of food and beautifully plated !!!

@ChrisBelgium:

Balletjes in tomatensaus, what else can I say?

They look tasty and I can see why kids will go crazy about it !

@Koukouvagia

That looks so good!

I can totally understand why you didn't plate them as I also would have loved to just grab and eat them straight away!


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## french fries (Sep 5, 2008)

Koukouvagia said:


> BACALAO BRANDADE CROQUETTES


WoW!!! I will _have_ to try that dish now. A couple of questions if you don't mind:

1) What's your recipe for garlic confit?

2) What was your approximate ratio of fish to potato puree?


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Yep. Those croquettes are awesome.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

French Fries said:


> WoW!!! I will _have_ to try that dish now. A couple of questions if you don't mind:
> 
> 1) What's your recipe for garlic confit?
> 
> 2) What was your approximate ratio of fish to potato puree?


I placed the garlic cloves in a small baking dish, covered with olive oil and baked on low for about 35 minutes. They browned a little bit so I might try the stovetop method next time. Anything goes, herbs and chili peppers, there is a whole world of possibilities and I can't wait.

I used equal parts potato to fish and it was good. But next time I'm using less potato more fish. Adding plenty of liquid back into the mixture so that it's too soft to be handled without being well chilled.


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Prep a cottage pie.





  








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Ground beef, onions, red pepper, mushrooom soy sauce, stout beer, herbs, oilives.

Two details: first i stir fry the ground beef until all water evaporates and take a nice brown color.

Then i do de same with the veggies in order to concentrate the flavors.

Mix meat and veggies, add the soy sauce, and the stout at the end, let it cook. Terrific!





  








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The mashed potatoes have butter, olive oil, grated parm, S&P and NO milk.





  








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Result later.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

Another sausage project. Pfefferbeißer, southern German style.

65/35 lean/fat Swabian Hall.





  








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Ground at 10 mm.





  








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Seasoned with salt, pepper, green peppercorns, sweet and hot paprika, majoram, nutmeg, garlic, brown sugar.





  








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And stuffed into 20/22 mm sheep casings.





  








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Won't be complete for the challenge - they at least need a day of rest, two days of light smoke and 1-2 weeks to mature and dry.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Very nice. I may get in one batch of fresh sausage before we run out of month.

mjb.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@ordo:

Yes!

Cottage pie!

I was waiting for something like that!

@GeneMachine

They look great. Just make sure to show us the end result as well, even if that is too late for this challenge.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Some results of my sausage making experiment

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Cutting up a whole lot of deboned pork shoulder





  








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Meanwhile cooking some rice with off cuts of meat to run through the grinder first to get rid of any trace of oil or whatsoever, as it is a new grinder.





  








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The grinder all set up and the tray, auger etc just out of the freezer.

Then the fun began:

Even that rice mixture made the machine cutting out. It is an American machine and we use 230 V (or to be more precise: our power is anything between 180 and 210 Volts), so I checked the transformer settings.

All looked good, but the machine kept cutting out.

Connected the machine straight to the mains. Still the same problem.

Threw the meat back in the fridge and put on my thinking cap.

Washed everything and was still thinking.....

Turned on the machine without the auger part and it ran OK. Put on the auger and it was pretty noisy.

OK got it now, I forgot the spacer, so the knife was not tight to the plate and smeared the meat instead of cutting it.

So restarted and made my mince, then put the spices and mixed for a while by hand.

Then everything went into the stuffer and made my sausages.

I didn't soak enough casings so ended up with quite a lot of chourico mince as well. They do make a nice spicy burger, but was pretty annoyed with myself for making all these silly mistakes.

The sausages were not all the same size but at least I ended up with some





  








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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

I need to post an old pick, but it was the same cottage pie.





  








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## jarmo (Jan 11, 2014)

Biff à la Lindström with mashed potatoes...





  








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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Funniest plating ever.


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

MEATLOAF WELLINGTON

My final submission. I came across some Durfour puff pastry in the market the other day and decided I'd make a wellington. I decided to cook the meatloaf all the way through, then chill it before wrapping in pastry and cooking. For the meatloaf itself I kept it simple, I sweated onions and green bell pepper until soft, and added some garlic. Combined that with milk-soaked fresh breadcrumbs, parsley, fresh thyme and a couple of eggs. I used 50/50 beef and pork





  








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Served with roasted asparagus and mushroom gravy.





  








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@Jarmo hats off!

@ordo looks fantastic!


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## mike9 (Jul 13, 2012)

That looks delicious KK.


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Meat loaf wellington! How cool!

mjb.


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## joyo (Jan 16, 2015)

I hope I'm not too late!

Stuffed Squid Stew

Small cleaned squid bodies, minced tentacles, italian sausage, parmesan, fresh basil, fresh parsley, minced shallots, egg, soft bread crumbs, salt and pepper.





  








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Mix everything together, except for the bodies.





  








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Stuff the squid, but be careful to not overstuff or they will pop while cooking.





  








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Seal with a toothpick, being careful to not stick yourself in the process.





  








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I simmered them in a broth made with homemade fish stock, white wine, chopped tomatoes, basil, onions, old bread, garlic and parsley.





  








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I love this dish because the squid are wonderful succulent morsels that are not rubbery like fried squid tends to be.





  








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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Shucks. May not get one last submission entered. But I have picked my favorite, we'll see what the final result may be. I've enjoyed this one.

mjb.


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Great entries!


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Finally got around to looking at the Challenge this month. Well done. Lots of great entries.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

butzy said:


> @GeneMachine
> 
> They look great. Just make sure to show us the end result as well, even if that is too late for this challenge.


First update on the Pfefferbeißer - after intial maturing and a bit of cold beech smoke:





  








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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

*Albondigas tapa*

Made this yesterday just for fun; balls cut from pumpkin, steamed and fried.

Meatballs rolled in dried lime + black cumin, almonds, hazelnut, black sesame, white sesame





  








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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Thanks all for participating.
Some lovely entries!
April fools day is almost over here and I will anounce the winner of this challenge shortly. I do find that the most difficult part of the challenge as it is soooo difgicult to choose.....


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

I thought for sure we'd see steak tartare early on.

Now, what can the next challenge be? There are some things I am surprised have not yet been chosen.

mjb.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Okay, it has been a very difficult decision!

So many nice entries and a couple of new players as well /img/vbsmilies/smilies/bounce.gif

Remember, everyone is a winner! and I got some nice mince ideas out of this challenge.

Sticking out for me in this challenge were

@Joyo's stuffed squid,

@chefbuba's Cornish pasties and his burger,

@ordo's stuffed pork flank & cottage pie,

@Nate's fatty,

@EverydayGourmet's N'duja, a dish I had never heard of before

@Jarmo's biff lindstrom,

@teamfat's raw pork

@ChrisBelgium's worstenbroodje & stuffed courgette

@GeneMachine's charcuteria platter and the several sausages. I still got a lot to learn looking at those

@Pete's pastitsio

@Mike9's lasagna

@OregonYeti: for the fun remarks 

@cheflayne's seekh kebabs

@Hayden: For the beautiful contributions. Unfortunately he has disappeared to India, so without further ado:

The winner is @Koukouvagia with some tasty looking meatballs, but the Bacalao croquettes and meat loaf wellington clinched it for me!

Thanks all for participating and can't wait to see what Koukou comes up with /img/vbsmilies/smilies/drinkbeer.gif


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Good choice! Awaiting the choice of our next host @Koukouvagia !!

mjb.


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## hayden (Dec 1, 2013)

Congrats @Koukouvagia! I always think we have so few topics/challenges remaining to choose from, so I'm very interested to see what you come up with.

So many good entries for such a simple ingredient/preparation method. Well done to everyone indeed!

(PS. In India but certainly not disappeared  - absolutely loving it here though)


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

Hayden said:


> Congrats @Koukouvagia! I always think we have so few topics/challenges remaining to choose from, so I'm very interested to see what you come up with.


I can think of a few common, basic ingredients that have not yet been featured. And what about Indian cuisine, for example? And I, for one, would probably welcome round 2 of some of the more popular choices. We shall see.

mjb.


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## hayden (Dec 1, 2013)

Don't taunt me with Indian while I don't have a kitchen! A very good option though as the cuisine is so widespread.

EDIT: And on that note, I just popped down to one of the local places around the corner from the office and grabbed a channa masala - so good!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Thank you @butzy for the recognition and win! I'm tickled that a home cook wins the ground meat challenge, it is after all a humble ingredient we home cooks work with a lot. But wow the competition has been fierce this month, truly.

There is no shortage of challenge topics to choose from, I'll have the next challenge posted this morning!

Thank you for being such a lovely host butzy!


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## ordo (Mar 19, 2009)

Well done KK! And thanks butzy! It was an amusing challenge.


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## joyo (Jan 16, 2015)

Good work Koukou!  

Your meatloaf wellington is giving me lots of ideas.  Everything is better in a crust, even meatloaf!


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## chrisbelgium (Oct 2, 2010)

Thanks butzy, van mij en Ratafrite!


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

Congrats!

As to the topics for future challenges - I can see lots of options. Lots of regions left to explore, one could focus more on preparation techniques than on ingredients. Ingredient combinations could be explored for a more specialized challenge. Don't think we'll run out of topics soon


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

@butzy - the Pfefferbeißer are done now. Final update:





  








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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

They look awesome!

Wish I could have a bite or two (with a good glass of red wine)


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

butzy said:


> They look awesome!
> 
> Wish I could have a bite or two (with a good glass of red wine)


Thanks!

Those are deeply Bavarian style sausages - they demand a good local beer, not some fancy red wine


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Gene, can you recommend a good book in English on german sausages?  Or a site? I've not found anything that gets into these regional specialties. I might be able to get through the german, but the specialized terms would likely be beyond me, particularly where i've not spoken German in 30 years.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

phatch said:


> Gene, can you recommend a good book in English on german sausages? Or a site? I've not found anything that gets into these regional specialties. I might be able to get through the german, but the specialized terms would likely be beyond me, particularly where i've not spoken German in 30 years.


I am looking for good books specialized on German style myself. Rare. The most interesting ones are out of print. My recipes come mostly from various discussions in German forums, from old nqighbours still curing their own stuff and from what is left of the recipe collection of my late Godfather's butcher shop. Which, unfortunately, is mostly lost


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Then you need to start sharing them here!  Please?


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

phatch said:


> Then you need to start sharing them here! Please?


Here you go for the Pfefferbeißer:

65/35 lean/fat pork, ground coarsly at 10 mm , Seasoned with (per kg) 20 g curing salt (European style mixture with 99,6%salt, 0,4% nitrite), 3g pepper, 6g green peppercorns, 5g each sweet and hot paprika, 4g majoram, 1g nutmeg, 1g garlic powder, 2g brown sugar. Stuffed in 20/22 sheep casings, linked, matured for 1-2 days, light beech smoke for 2x8hours.Dried for 2 weeks at 15-18°C, about 80% RH.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Have to build a curing box for handling temps and humidity with an old fridge one of these days.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

In the long run, I need one too - but the ones above I had just hanging in the cellar. Reasonably good conditions there in winter and early spring. They are not fermented, just air-dried, so you do not need perfect control


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

@phatch
There are a number of German sausage recipes in Marianski's book (don't have the exact title in my head, will be able to find it for you if you want).
Also check out the recipes on Len Poli's site: lpoli.50webs.com


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

Marianski's "Home production of quality meats and sausages". Yes, that one has some German standards in it. Overall excellent book.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I'll have to look for it. Thanks.


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## oregonyeti (Jun 16, 2007)

Looks like a coarse grind is common in Deutsche Wurst. Good to know! I like that.


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## butzy (Jan 8, 2010)

Most of Marianski's book can be found here: http://www.meatsandsausages.com/

[product="26614"]Home Production Of Quality Meats And Sausages [/product]

[product="15248"]The Art Of Making Fermented Sausages [/product]

[product="12513"]Polish Sausages Authentic Recipes And Instructions [/product]

There is also a good forum: http://www.wedlinydomowe.pl/en/


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

Marianski's books are excellent I have the one below.
[product="26614"]Home Production Of Quality Meats And Sausages [/product]


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

OregonYeti said:


> Looks like a coarse grind is common in Deutsche Wurst. Good to know! I like that.


Coarse grinds are common in the more rural style sausages - air dried ones like the Pfefferbeißer, or along the same line with different seasonng Bauernseufzer, Dürre, Kaminwurzen. More freshly, a coarse, spreadable Mettwurst. Coarse liver sausage. But we do have our share of finely ground and/or emulgated stuff too.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I had a sausage in Ludwigsburg, I've never figured out what it was exactly. Long and skinny with a sharpness but not hot. Fairly fine grind, but not emulsified. It was really good but not like anything else I've had before or since.


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## genemachine (Sep 26, 2012)

phatch said:


> I had a sausage in Ludwigsburg, I've never figured out what it was exactly. Long and skinny with a sharpness but not hot. Fairly fine grind, but not emulsified. It was really good but not like anything else I've had before or since.


air dried? slight hotness mainly from pepper?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

It was fresh, not dried or cured. Probbly 20 cm length and pinkie finger around.


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