Small Weekly Meat Pack

Think of mince not as a separate entity but as the cut of meat that it comes from. Yes because it is broken down it becomes pliable and more tender but that doesn't change the need for educated cooking. Mince from sirloin will cook quickly to make an excellent burger but mince from beef shin will still need long slow cooking to bring out its best side. In the same vein choose the right mince for the job.

Use beef mince because it is beef not because it is mince. To some extent, they can be interchangeable but you would never make a cottage pie with lamb mince or a shepherd's pie with beef. Bolognese though actually suits the soft sweet mince of lamb rather than the more solid aspect of beef. When making a mince dish such as Bolognese do not see it as a quick supper. The best meat sauces are simmered in plenty of water for several hours to make the sauce soft and sensual.

Don't let the rather tarnished reputation of mince put you off. It is a hugely versatile ingredient that is there because it is the best meat for the job not because the butcher had too many offcuts or the mortgage is overdue. Let the recipe and its needs dictate the fat content of the mince; lean and low is not always the way to go. We can always tailor it to suit.

Although burgers grill well on a grill pan or barbecue they really come into their own when pan-fried as they stay lovely and moist. In the US, burgers are cooked on the flat top which for all intents and purposes is the same as pan-frying. Once browned they benefit from a cover for a few minutes to steam through stay moist and melt any cheese that you have going on.

Often confused with saute pan-frying is also not to be confused with shallow frying. Pan-frying involves larger pieces of meat say a steak or chicken breast a very small amount of oil and not too much movement. Essentially it has replaced the overhead grill and is a far moister way of cooking meat.

If you treat a burger with as much respect as you would a steak then you will be well rewarded. See steak. It simply cannot be denied that the best way to eat a burger is in a bun. Made of bread. You can, however, stack them up with fillings and no bun or serve with salad like a steak or choose alternative wrappers like our Skinni burger recipe.

Don't be tempted to continuously squeeze all the life from your burger with a spatula. For some reason we just cannot leave a pan well alone; stirring poking and pushing at will. Pressing down on a burger will just push all of the moisture from it and leave you with an old shoe to eat instead of a delicious meaty treat.

Sausage cooking and therefore eating is often a matter of personal preference. Don't prick your sausages prior to cooking this is just an ancient leftover from the war when sausage was full of water and likely to explode. If you pierce your sausage before cooking all the moisture leaks out. Make sure that sausages are cooked through properly and not at all pink in the middle.

You can fry grill or bake sausages; baking them in the oven is the easiest way and gets them browned all over with a crisp outside. Frying or grilling tends to result in a juicier inside uneven browning and a softer outside; just a matter of preference. Whichever method you use sausage needs about 15 minutes to cook through; longer in the oven with the indirect heat (about 30 to 40 minutes to crisp up on the outside) Cut the links so that the sausages are separate. That way they can be moved easily and will cook evenly.