Chicken, Turkey, Lamb, Beef

Organic, free range poultry or 100% grass-fed meat

There is so much you can do with ground meat. The type of meat you use depends on your personal taste. It is very important to choose the right quality of meat, like 100% grass-fed beef or lamb, organic free-range chicken or turkey. All the recipes below work for either type of meat, although chicken and especially turkey will need more and different spices than lamb or beef. The best way to find out if your spices are right is to make a small test patty to fry and try it and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

In this blog you will find recipes for

German-Style burgers
Meatballs
Meatloaf
Bolognese Sauce
Cuban-Style Picadillo (ground meat sauce)

To this day I follow my grandmother’s ground meat recipe. She always told me that you need 1 pound of meat with one egg, a handful of breadcrumbs, one sauteed onion and spices. The key spice for German-style meatballs is definitely nutmeg. Only a small amount is needed, but it gives the meat a nice rounded flavor.

German-Style Burgers (Buletten/Frikadellen)

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, finely diced
1 garlic clove (optional)
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 lb top quality ground meat (your choice)
1 egg
1 cup breadcrumbs (fresh for red meat, dried for chicken and turkey)
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
½ tsp ground nutmeg
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a medium sized pan heat the olive oil and saute the onions until soft, stir in crushed garlic and turn off heat. Let cool down.

In a bowl mix the other ingredients and add the cooled down onions and garlic. Mix well and form 8 burgers. It is a good idea to moisten your hands with water to avoid the meat mixture sticking to them. If the mixture is too soft, just add another tablespoon of breadcrumbs, if it is too dry, add some more mayonnaise. Heat the avocado oil in a frying pan and fry the burgers until brown and cooked through.

Home-made breadcrumbs

For home-made fresh breadcrumbs, cut 2 average sized slices of bread into small pieces and blend in a food processor until finely ground. For dried breadcrumbs, leave the 2 slices of bread out for one or two days until dry and then cut into pieces and blend.

Meatballs

Directions:

Using the recipe for German-style Buletten, form smaller size buletten or small balls with moist hands and fry until cooked through. These taste good in a cream sauce or in a tomato sauce over pasta.

Meat loaf

Directions:

Using the German-style Buletten recipe, press the meat mixture into a baking dish or any oven-safe dish and bake at 350℉ for 40 to 60 minutes. Baking time will depend on the dish you use.

A slice of cold meat loaf will make a good sandwich with some mustard, greens and a slice of tomato.

Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground meat of your choice
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 glass (25 oz) of a good organic tomato sauce
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup of grated Parmesan cheese for serving
1 lb bag of your favorite pasta (whole wheat or chickpea)

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over medium to high heat. Add the ground meat and cut apart in the pan as you saute it with a wooden spoon. When the meat starts changing color, add the onions and saute until they are getting translucent, then add garlic and stir for 1 minutes. Pour the entire glass of tomato sauce into the pan, season with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper, cover and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. While the meat sauce is cooking, boil the pasta and drain in a colander, but do not rinse with water. This way the sauce will stick better to the pasta.

Cuban Style Picadillo

Ingredients:

1 lb ground meat of your choice
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 freshly roasted red bell pepper or from glass (⅓ cup)
1 cup green olives
1 cup crushed organic tomatoes
1 teaspoon cumin powder
3-4 large culantro leaves, finely sliced (check my blog https://foodiewithpurpose.com/cuban-style-beans/ for information about culantro)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a deep frying pan saute the meat, separating with a wooden spoon. As soon as the meat starts to change color, add onions, cook until onions are turning translucent and then add the garlic and saute for another minute, then add the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and pepper to taste and let simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

This dish is best with rice. My family likes white rice and I sometimes use that, but I prefer brown rice or chickpea orzo pasta, which is very similar to rice.

You can find recipes for Cuban black beans and other ideas to serve with picadillo in my blog https://foodiewithpurpose.com/cuban-style-beans/

For a list of all recipes please go to www. foodiewithpurpose.com

Happy cooking 🙂