I can't use a pressure cooker as my oven won't allow it on the hob !

I'm about to make some spag boll (thinking of doing it as a quick version) but normally I cook it for hours so the mince becomes really soft (rather than like little bits you notice)...

is there something I can do to it to help ? would anything like microwaving it first, maybe steaming it ?? then frying etc that would make a big difference, or am I best just putting it down as a quick recipe and reserve the long cooked one for when I have time ?

Steve

I presume you are using beef, and ordinary beef mince, not minced steak. There's the rub. Ordinary mince is usually made from tough meat, and when fried, becomes even tougher. The trick is not to fry it, but slip it into a tomato based sauce.

The other thing you may think about is using lamb mince, a better idea, IMHO, as the meat never turns into something resembling pistol shot!

It may be interesting to note that spag bol is a British thing, as, although spag and bol are Italian things, they never put bol on spag in Italy, the spag does not hold the sauce very well. Best to use something like tagliatelle. And don't forget to transfer the spag (or tag) to the sauce before serving, any Italian would blow a fuse if he was given bol perched atop a load of bare spag/tag.

thanks for the tips Lapis, I considered "boiling" the mince but wanted some flavour so I opted to fry it and cook it a little longer than the 15minutes I was hoping to have it done in (took an hour)

Also then realised I didn't have any Spaghetti in !! so it became Penne...

Penne Bolognese

I think the only way to get that rich beef flavour is to make a stock from roasting bones and left overs, that way tough meat is not a problem. Rich beef flavour from boiled meat is just not possible.

If anyones interested heres the bolognese recipe that i found recently and now use all the time:

http://foodnouveau.com/2010/09/08/step-by-step/how-to-make-an-authentic-bolognese-sauce/

Its a seriously tasty sauce :)

interesting recipe, Mark, and note they use beef stock!

The only issue I would have is the cooking of the meat. Meat does not caramelize, this is celebrity chef talk (ie rubbish), it has no sugar, the only thing that caramalizes!

What is shown at the bottom of the pan is what the French call sucs (though the Americans miscall it fonds). Most of it is fluid from the meat, and contains mostly what biochemists call BSA, or bovine serum albumin, very similar to egg white, but found in mammalian blood (even ours). This can combine with sugars (not from meat!!) to form flavour compounds, and if heated for too long, will polymerize to form yellow compounds, which will darken to form very dark brown polymers, called melanoidins. It is these that give the dark colour to real gravy!

Lapis, you are good for advancing the knowledge of food science on this forum :-), so thanks.

'Chinese Takeaway' method would be to mix a level teaspoon of bi-carb with water and stir it into the mince about ten minutes before frying.

Not too much bicarb or you will taste it but it is a cheap trick used (especially for chicken!)

Winton