Adventures with mince

Today, as well as making my first Blogger post, I will be starting my cooking for the weekend.  We've got friends coming round for one of  our semi regular Big Weekend of Gaming (or BWOG's as they've been named) and as my usual co-conspiritor in cooked isn't able to join in this time it's all down to me.  The plan for Friday night is the every reliable chili.  Mince is always a favourite when cooking for a crowd; it's versatile, inexpensive and good when cooking in volume.  I've got a slow cooker full of mince and tomatoes on the go at the moment and from that base I can make chili, spag bol or lasagne.  Plan is to stick kidney beans and spice in some tomorrow and stick the rest in the freezer for some later date.

Slow  Cooker Mince

1KG mince beef
2 small or 1 large large onion
1 Carrot
Bottle of red wine (my usual method of choosing wine is going for which ever one's on special offer)
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Worcester sauce
Balsamic vinegar

In a large pan brown off the meat.  While a lot of slow cooker recipes will tell you to just bung the meat straight in I prefer to brown off the mince as this helps take a lot of the fat away.  I usually do this in two batches so as to not crowd the pan.  Once browned put it in the slow cooker.

Chop the onion and carrot and then fry off in the same pan as the mince.  Brown over a low heat for 10 minutes.

Empty onions and carrot into the slow cooker along with the tomatoes and a glass of red wine.  Add a splash of worcester sauce and balsamic vinegar.  Season and slow cook for 6-8 hours.

This basic recipe can be used as it is for spag bol, as the meat filling in a lasagne or with the addition of kidney beans, chilli powder and whatever other veggies you like for a lovely warming chili.