Well that's the last time I listen to you lot.......

dibuzz

pigpen wrote: »

Jelly cubes + water + microwave = one over cooked melted burnt jelly.

Unless you are boiling your own fruit to make jelly (bitless jam) and that is easy enough to incinerate.

It was many years ago, before microwaves.
I was at Guide camp and we decided to make jelly but it didn't dissolve properly so we put it in a pan over the campfire but left it too long and it burnt

The custard incident did involve a microwave though. My kids kept asking for "proper" custard so I decided to give it a go. I don't know what went wrong but it came out as a solid jug shaped lump. I tried to save it by putting it in the blender with a litre of milk but it didn't look edible.
I only did it in the microwave to save burning a pan like I always do with sauces etc.

Own_My_Own

I always throw in a handful of basic stuffing mix when I'm making a mince dish. It thickens and gives some extra taste.
I also add a splash of soya sauce, to make the dish darker.

gayleygoo

I love the enthusiastic MSE cooking :rotfl:I think it may have been the porridge oats that made it that weird light colour! I'm happy to bulk out mince with veggies, lentils and maybe beans for a chilli / baked spud, but I can't go so far as to add breadcrumbs or porridge

I think I would add tomato puree and curry spices to try to make a reasonable meal out of that. OTOH, porridge makes me boke even when it's not curry flavoured...

Eyeore

Aliasojo - it made me chuckle - sorry! I was reading and thinking 'it can't be that bad' then i saw the photo:eek:

How about muligtawny soup? you could add some spice, a bit of beef stock and blitz?

Otherwise I would probably go for adapting to a chilli - add a tin of the beans in the chilli sauce, ground cumin and corriander, this will help with flavour and a slug of worcester sauce or soy sauce for colour too?

chog24

aliasojo wrote: »

I think I could cut in into slices and save it for this. :rotfl:

Honestly, it's like wallpaper paste. Thick wallpaper paste.:o

That's the oatmeal, I'm afraid. The rest of it probably would have been fine, but effectively you've made meat-flavoured porridge.

A few good spoonsful of marmite or bisto might make it meatier (others have suggested gravy browning - same deal).

Probably the best thing to do (as I think someone else has said) is freeze it in smallish portions to be added next time you make bolognaise, chilli, shepherds pie etc as a thickening agent.

And if you need to stretch mince in future, stick to the veggies and at a pinch lentils, but steer clear of anything cereal* (oats, bran, wheat etc)

*the exception to this would be flour - a tablespoon of flour with a roughly equal amount of butter or marge, melted together, form the base of many-a-sauce thickening.

Fruball

I often bulk out mince with lentils and porridge oats, but not oatmeal. I know they are basically the same thing but they don't behave the same way in dishes.

When I tried using the oatmeal, the meal was inedible and looked just like yours.

Try porridge oats next time and add them to the mince, mix in well, BEFORE Frying... I have been doing this for years and nobody has noticed!!

evie451

this thread made me laugh thank you burnt jelly and exploding boiled eggs! although my 12yr old son did blow up a tuna pasta once......I put on the note he was to heat it in the micro for 3-4mins but he read it as 34mins........bang exploding tuna and a trip to the chippy....

I had a bulking accident with lentils I got over enthusiastic with them and it really changed the texture.....it made the mince sort of wobbly? :rotfl:

it was crap for bolognaise but fine for Chilli, added beans and cayenne sorted....

Aliasjojo you may have actually finally reached the limit of mince bulking out with this batch....surely thats worth some sort of badge?

babyshoes

Wow! I do add oats to mince, but no more than a small handful. I add it in just after frying the mince so it absorbs any juices; then add in [STRIKE]some [/STRIKE] a cup or so of dark stock or slightly watered down bovril so it absorbs the brown colour. Dark soy sauce helps too.

I would add a little grated carrot (for texture) and a good spoonful of bovril plus a bit of water to your gloop if it's needed for a meal now & cook until carrot is soft, but adding a little of the frozen gloop to your mince next time will work to bulk it out too.

Anne_Marie_2

My apologies Aliasjo, but I was killing myself laughing at your expense. What a dashed shame, and you were trying so hard too.

It's definitely the porridge that has made it that gloopy, stick with lentils in future if you want to make it go further, but don't add too much, a handful per lb of mince should be ok.

Or, what I used to do years ago, was add a tablespoon or two of my dried soya mince (looks like coffee granules). The soya takes on the taste of whatever else it's cooking in, and no one ever noticed. I used to buy it in my local health food shop, and it was really cheap. You can buy it in Holland and Barrett, it's a bit more expensive, but a little goes a long way. 4oz soya mince is equivalent to 1lb mince roughly.

DianneB

It really didn't look that bad Aliasjo, what really made me laugh is folks telling you to add more stuff to it!!! No.... back away....your work is done!!!! :rotfl: