Great to see you again! If you haven't already, please subscribe to my RSS feed, to keep updated on life in the middle of the road or follow me via Networked Blogs by clicking the button in my sidebar! If you are interested in mini-guest posting on A Moderate Life I would love to have you! Please check out my Baby Steps to a Rockin' Life Guidelines. Thanks for visiting!

English savory minced meat is one of my favorite comfort foods!

As a child, nothing made me happier than when my mother was making something that I truly loved for dinner. It always made up for the times we had to eat something that we didn’t like, which was an occasional happening because my mother did cook traditionally and what kid truly likes liver and kidneys and tripe when they are young? These are things that grow on you. So, even though my mother was always a good cook, when she made things we loved, we always looked forward to it.

Over the years, “mince” as she called it, or English savory minced meat became a family favorite that quickly developed into one of my all time comfort foods. It is generally a combination of ground meat in a brown gravy seasoned with thyme and the spiked with any vegetables you want. My mother sometimes made it with peas and potatoes and sometimes corn and put it over rice. My favorite was simply the minced meat served over white rice, but now, as I have grown up and my love of vegetables developed, I love it in any combination.

I realized as my children grew up, that I had not yet made them mince and so, I asked my mother for the recipe. As with anything else, she put her hand to her forehead for a moment, the classical search and recall command of the cook who writes nothing down and accesses the brain for directions. I quickly wrote down what she recalled and set about making one of my favorite childhood recipes, hoping that my kids would love it too.

English Savory Minced Meat

Serves 4 to 6

You can make this recipe with any type of ground meat. Ground turkey and meatloaf mix works very well, but I really love it with grass fed ground beef. My mother used to make this also by grinding up her left over lamb and using that as a base for shepherds pie. I have to be honest and say I did not like that at all and it ruined me for shepherds pie, but I plan on finding a good recipe made with ground beef in the near future and try to redeem this recipe that my husband adores.

1 Large onion chopped

6 to 8 Cloves garlic cleaned, crushed and chopped

1 Or more pounds ground beef or other meat

2 Cups home made stock

4 to 5 Medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cleaned and cut into chunks with skin still on

1 Cup corn, peas or carrots diced, or a combination of all three

2 Tbs. butter

3 to 4 Tbs. Flour or other thickener like corn starch for a gluten free version

1-1/2 Tsp. dried thyme

Sea Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a large dutch oven or other covered pot, heat butter over medium heat until hot. Add in the onions and saute for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Place the garlic in the pan and saute along with the onions for another minute or so until they are aromatic. Add in the ground beef and turn up the heat to medium high. Chop the beef well with a spatula and continue to turn and brown until cooked through and very crumbly.

Sprinkle the meat with salt and pepper and then add in the thyme and sautee for about a minute until the thyme releases it’s fragrance. Add in the potatoes and carrots if using and saute for 5 minutes until the vegetables are softened. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil. Stir well, cover and turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 30 minutes.

During the last ten minutes add in the corn or peas and stir in well. Once the additional vegetables are heated through place the flour or corn starch into a screw top jar with 1/2 cup additional stock or water and shake very well. Turn the heat up under the mince and stir the thickening liquid into the mixture. Stir well and bring to a bubble while the thickener does it’s work. If the gravy is too thick, add in some more stock and heat through for about 3 more minutes. If it is too thin, add another tablespoon of thickener to a small amount of water and stir it into the bubbling mixture and heat for another 3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. May be served as is or over rice or noodles.

Verdict? It was every bit as good as I remember it as a child and it warmed my heart and my soul! I know I didn’t need the rice with the potatoes, but this is a comfort food meal and so I wanted all the enjoyment! My kids and my husband all loved it as well and it is now in the regular rotation! So glad I thought to ask my mother for the recipe now so I could taste it again, but also because cooks who cook from memory can take those recipes with them when they go and then you are left guessing and trying to recreate things. Ask your mom, or your granny or auntie NOW and preserve that wonderful family traditional recipe. You will be so glad you did!

This article is a part of the Hearth and Soul Hop-Volume 37, This week’s Cravings, Delicious Dishes, Eat, Live, Be, Mouthwatering Mondays, Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday, A Little Bird Told Me, Delectable Tuesday, Tasty Tuesday for the Love of Blogs, Dr. Laura’s Tasty Tuesday, Slightly Indulgent Tuesday, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tuesdays at the Table, Tasty Tuesday Parade of Food and Made From Scratch Tuesday. Please visit these lovely bloggers for more great recipe ideas and foodie love! This recipe was also posted on the wonderful food community Eat Cook Share, so please stop by and join this lovely foodie group!