This is a savoury ground beef base for tacos, salads, soups, casseroles, and sauces.
Mechanic
The cooking method sets the texture. A hot pan reduces the stock quickly and leaves a crumbly mince for tacos and salads; a long braise or the pressure cooker makes it much softer. The pressure cooker is my favourite: under an hour for a texture that otherwise takes most of an afternoon. Mushrooms cooked from wet to dry to browned add a savoury backbone either way.
Ingredients
- 4 cups sliced mushrooms
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 shallot, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, diced
- Salt and pepper
- 2 tsp MSG (Accent) (optional)
- 1.36 kg (3 lb) ground beef, or a mix of beef, veal, and pork
- 250 ml chicken stock
Italian-style add-ins
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 1 bouquet garni (bay, thyme, rosemary, peppercorns)
- or dried herbs in cheesecloth or a stainless steel tea infuser
Taco-style add-ins
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground chilies, something sweet and spicy like Aleppo
- 1 small tin (185 g / 6.5 oz) smoked jalapeños
Method
Sauté the mushrooms until they go wet, then dry, then brown. Add the onion and sweat until translucent. Add the shallot and garlic and sweat again.
Add the ground spices for the style you’re making and heat until fragrant. Add salt, pepper, and MSG.
Add the beef and break it up with a wooden spoon or potato masher. Add half the chicken stock, and the bouquet garni if using.
Cook on medium-high, stirring regularly, until the beef is cooked and the liquid has mostly evaporated, 15–25 minutes.
Skim off any fat that separates, or stir in a spoonful of flour to thicken and cook until the raw flour taste is gone.
Variations
Single-pot braise
Follow the method, but add all the chicken stock, plus a splash of red wine if you like. Simmer, reducing the liquid, until it reaches the texture you want, 60–90 minutes.
Pressure-cooked
Follow the method, but add all the chicken stock, plus a splash of red wine if you like. Cook in a 6 L (6 qt) pressure cooker on low pressure for 20–45 minutes, and let it release slowly so the remaining liquid doesn’t emulsify and go cloudy. At 45 minutes the beef turns very soft: great on bread or crackers, or finished with tomato paste and milk as a bolognese.
This is the fastest method if you use the beef wet. The result is wetter mince; for salads or tacos, brown it in a frying pan on medium-high, turning regularly, until the liquid cooks off. It’s much more savoury than the other methods, though with the frying step it takes about as long as the pan method.
Equipment
- 6 L (6 qt) pressure cooker, for the pressure-cooked version