updated 29 Jan 09
Now I do have a photo. This was a dinner again this evening. As you can see I am not big on fussy food. This is about as rustic as you can get. A great mix of veggies, meat and potatoes. It is a great way to use up leftovers. Be creative and add your favorite veggies, meats, etc.
original post 16 July 2008
This is my mother-in-law’s recipe. She calls it a mince stew, mince because in South Africa that is what you call ground beef, and a stew? Who knows why, English is not her first or even second language. In England they would call it a tray-bake which I think sounds silly and the term casserole just brings back too many horrid memories.
This is one of my favorite kinds of recipes, no rules! Add as much as you want and substitute with what you have. It can be ready in less than a 1/2 hour. It can be partially prepared ahead if you wish.
Oma’s Mince Stew
serves 4-6 earthlings
- 1 lb (500 g) ground or minced beef, buffalo, sausage, etc (you get the point)
- 1 lrg sweet or purple onion
- 1-2 mixed colored bell peppers (in winter I use frozen, Woodstock farms makes a great mix)
- 3-4 tomatoes, rough chopped (in winter I use canned whole Muir Glen tomatoes, drained)
- 1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped or minced
- sea salt & pepper
- 2-4 Yukon Gold potatoes (boil them ahead or use leftovers)
- 1 jalapeño or other chili (optional)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- fresh herbs thyme, oregano, rosemary, etc
Preheat the broiler. Oil a rimmed baking sheet. You want all the ingredients to be in a single layer. Toss all the ingredients together on the baking sheet and season and drizzle with oil. Place in the broiler for a few minutes, check often this doesn’t take long. Turn when browned and let some color form on the other side, it is done when the veggies are soft and the meat has a nice color. If your broiler seems too hot, move it to a lower rack.
To serve, a cubed avocado adds a nice finishing touch. Also a squeeze of lemon juice over the top adds a nice bright note to the dish. You can serve with bread, pasta, rice or mashed potatoes if you did not put potatoes in the dish other wise it is too much starch. Let me know what you think…
