en_GB http://tobyinkster.co.uk/tag/beef/ http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2008/02/10/mince-dumplings/ <h2>Ingredients</h2> <h3>Mince</h3> <ul> <li>450g minced beef</li> <li>250g beef stock or water</li> <li>1 large onion, finely chopped</li> <li>1 large carrot, finely chopped</li> <li>1 tbsp tomato puree</li> <li>4 strands thyme</li> <li>small bunch parsley</li> <li>1 tbsp Worcester sauce</li> <li>1 tbsp sunflower oil</li> </ul> <h3>Dumplings</h3> <ul> <li>150g plain flour</li> <li>75g suet</li> <li>salt</li> <li>pepper</li> </ul> <h2>Method</h2> <p>Heat the sunflower oil in a pan and fry the onion and beef until brown. Add the carrot, tomato puree, Worcester sauce, herbs and stock. Leave to simmer while you prepare the dumplings.</p> <p>Preheat an over to 200&deg;C.</p> <p>Mix the suet, flour and seasoning in a large bowl. Add a little water and work into a heavy dough. The dough shouldn&#8217;t be particularly sticky&nbsp;&#8212; add a little flour if it is.</p> <p>Divide the dough up into eight pieces and roll them into balls.</p> <p>Transfer the beef mix to a casserole dish. Place the dough balls on top of the beef mixture. They shouldn&#8217;t sink in too far. Bake for about 35 minutes, uncovered.</p> http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2003/08/31/spag-bol/ <p>Yes, I know Spag Bol isn&#8217;t actually Italian, but it is Italian-style. The sauce doesn&#8217;t just have to be served with spaghetti - any other pasta will do, as would chips, baguettes, garlic bread or jacket potato.</p> <h2>Ingredients</h2> <ul> <li>450g tin of chopped tomatos</li> <li>500g of lean minced beef, frozen</li> <li>4 rashers of pancetta or smoked bacon</li> <li>1 medium onion, chopped</li> <li>2 to 4 mushrooms, chopped</li> <li>2 to 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped</li> <li>1 glass of red wine</li> <li>1 1/2 teaspoon of dried chopped basil</li> <li>1 teaspoon of dried chopped oregano</li> <li>a little beef gravy powder or cornflour</li> <li>salt and pepper to taste</li> <li>olive oil</li> <li>150g dried spaghetti</li> <li>2 to 3 tablespoons of mushroom ketchup (optional)</li> <li>10 black olives, sliced (optional)</li> </ul> <h2>Method</h2> <p>Grill the pancetta or bacon until it starts to crisp. Then leave to cool. Once cool, chop as finely as possible.</p> <p>Fry the onions and garlic in the olive oil until they start to become transparent. Then add the minced beef. Cook the beef, stirring occasionally, until it has browned. Now&#8230;</p> http://tobyinkster.co.uk/blog/2003/08/31/chilli/ <h2>Ingredients</h2> <ul> <li>2, 3 or 4 (depending on how hot you like it!) chilli peppers, deseeded and chopped</li> <li>500g minced beef</li> <li>450g tin of chopped tomatos</li> <li>450g tin of red kidney beans or mixed beans, drained</li> <li>1 green pepper, chopped</li> <li>1 medium onion, chopped</li> <li>1 or 2 sticks of celery, chopped (optional)</li> <li>small handful of coursely chopped corriander</li> <li>Mexican spices</li> <li>gravy powder or cornflour</li> <li>oil</li> </ul> <h3>Spice Blend</h3> <p>OK&nbsp;&#8212; I have decided to reveal my tried-and-tested cajan/mexican spice blend exclusively on my website. You might want to make a big batch of this blend in advance. The quantities shown below will make too much spice blend for a normal sized batch of chilli!</p> <p>Level one spices&nbsp;&#8212; use about three teaspoons of each:</p> <ul> <li>cumin (seeds, toasted and roughly crushed; or powder)</li> <li>chilli (dried flakes, or powder)</li> <li>oregano (dried)</li> </ul> <p>Level two spices&nbsp;&#8212; include about two teaspoons of each of these if you have them:</p> <ul> <li>corriander (crushed seeds and/or dried leaves)</li> <li>garlic (dried powder, or crushed)<br> *&#8230;</li> </ul>