Friday 5 October 2012

Mince and mixer

I love beef mince because of its variable usage, easy availability and cheapness.

Boleh katakan, there will always be beef mince stock in the freezer.

Setiap kali pergi butcher, I will buy about 2kg of beef mince and then when I get home, I will separate them into 500g bags.

I will make sure I flatten them nicely into very flat brick shapes before storing them in the freezer.

Why?

Sebab senang nak store and senang nak defrost in this shape.

When I have the time or I know what I want to make for dinner way in advance, I will take the beef mince brick out to thaw in the fridge.

But, when I do not know what I want to make for dinner until an hour before and takde masa nak thaw it nicely in the fridge, microwave lah yang jadi penyelamat.

I just use the defrost button on the microwave and let it do its job.

In less than 10 minutes, I have perfectly thawed beef mince on a plate.

Senang kan Smile.

Lepas tu, baru fikir nak buat apa dengan the thawed beef mince, hehehehe….

Like petang semalam, pukul 4.30 baru terfikir nak masak meatballs to go with the potato skins yang I’ve made in the afternoon.

So, I took out the frozen beef mince, put it in the microwave and defrosted it.

While the mince was defrosting, I made fresh white breadcrumbs, chopped up the onions. Semua ni I buat in my stick mixer which makes life so much easier for me.

I love my stick mixer so much so that when I dropped the bowl and put a crack in the bowl, instead of buying a new one (which The Other Half says I should be doing), I just fixed it by taping gaffa tape around the outside and it’s working fine.

No leak whatsoever!

I don’t know whether it’s called being a cheapskate or being resourceful Open-mouthed smile. hahahahaha…

Malas nak beli the replacement bowl because I think it will only be slightly cheaper than buying a whole new set.

But membazir pulak rasanya beli a whole new set sebab the other smoothie/soup bowl, the soup attachement and the stick are all in perfect working order.

But the only problem is that, I can’t see what’s inside, hehehehe…

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Kalau nak buat breadcrumbs in large amount or nak chop other things in large amount, I use the food processor.

Anyyywaaaayyyyyy, back to the beef mince and meatballs Winking smile…..

Then I put the breadcrumb, the chopped onion, the beef mince all in a bowl.

Lepas tu, baru lah I add benda2 lain depending on my mood.

Semalam, I add  tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, worcesteshire sauce, chicken stock powder and paprika.

The amount of each ingredient I selalunya main agak2 aje…

Then, I kepal2 and shape them into balls, tak besar sangat and tak kecik sangat. Senang dimakan punya size, hehehe.

Then I arranged them all on a baking tray which has been lined with baking paper, and spray olive oil on the balls and bake them in the oven at 190C for around 20 minutes.

If you want to pan fry them, you have to put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes first before frying to firm them up so tak pecah2 masa you pan fry them.

But kalau masuk oven, lepas kepal, boleh terus masak.

Tu yang by 5 o’clock I dah boleh masak the meatballs and by 5.20, the meatballs were ready.

Yang mengambil masa nak buat was shaping it into balls aje.

Senang kan!

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Oven-baked meatballs with cheesy potato ckins, bread and salad.

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The cheesy potato skins I ikut recipe ini. But you might have to bake the potatoes longer depending on the size and type.

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The flesh of the potatoes I nak guna untuk buat tuna croquettes malam ni Smile.

9 comments:

Engineers Love Cooking said...

Salam LG, memang senang dan cepat cara menyimpan minced meat dalam freezer tu. I just prepared wedges for my family complete with dipping sauce. Boleh kot check kat my blog nnt. Thanks.

susumanis said...

salam LG, nank tanya la, LG kalau guna minced beef ni LG basuh x nak buat pape tu, chef wan kata jgn basuh nanti hilang manis, tp kadang yg ramly burger kt sini geli juagk x basuh sbb darah tu mcm banyak jugee.. how ekkk.. :))

Dessert Paradise said...

terliur betul tgk meatballs u... tapi I x confident nak buat.... esp sos kat atas meatball tu... menyelerakan dan x tau nak buat... best la u LG.... your menu varities.. best tengok!! Almost every day I singgah kat blog u ni... jengok2 activity u, menu u... & cerita2 u and TOH

mrs adam said...

saya suka baca blog LG ni.kadang2 baca blog ni membuatkan saya rajin nak masak,sebab saya ni jenis tak suka masak.haha

Madre said...

salam LG,

Do you mind sharing your recipe for the gravy? Yang I buat selalu tak menjadi...

Unknown said...

saya selalu meleleh air liur bila baca citer u pasal food...memang tiap2 hari terpaksa lap air liur lah..hehehe...tapi your meatball tu, kalu u balik m'sia bukak cafe, pasti menangis Ikea...hehehe

azieazah said...

Comel nya kepal-kepal tuuu...

ibh_sue said...

Uih! Meatball. . Terliur tau tgknya. Kak! Food akk always bwt sue terliur tau. Heee

lemongrass said...

Engineers love cooking,
Salam. memang senang nak simpan kalau flat kan. Yumm, I like wedges :-)

Susumanis,
Salam. I selalunya tak basuh tapi I akan letak dlm colander so the blood akan drain sekejap btu not all lah. I think betul ckp chef wan tu klu basuh akan kurang manis. Maybe you can try the draining method kot.

Dessert Paradise,
I kena belajar masak all these different varieties of food sebab tekak kat rumah ni berbeza2. Tapi, most days bila malas, I akan masak benda yg sama jugak, hehehe.

Mrs Adam,
Masa we all kat Msia dulu, I pun malas masak sbb lagi senang beli kat kedai, hahaha

Madre,
Salam. I slalu buat gravy guna this method in this entry http://salam2benua.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/sunday-without-bianca.html. Cubalah ye. For us, memang kena dengan our taste :-)

Wan G,
Uish, ramai weh yg kata meatballs IKEA tu the best in the world, so sure diaorang marah kalau you kata IKEA menangis klu I bukak cafe, hehee

kak Azie,
kalau kepal comel2, boleh terus masuk mulut and kunyah and telan :-)

Sue,
Kalau arwah Abah I yg tengok my food, dia tak terliur sbb takde nasi, hahaha.