Best all-ground
Photo: Beef and Polenta Bake
Photography by Michael Alberstat
Ground beef is tasty, versatile, economical, convenient and nutritious. It's also Canada's most popular pick at the meat counter. Whether for family-pleasing everyday meals or for entertaining, our recipes show just how delicious ground beef is in casseroles, soups, sauces, meat loaves and burgers.
Ground beef
• When trimmed of all visible fat, all cuts of raw beef, except short ribs, qualify as lean.
• On average, 100 grams of raw lean ground beef (the size of a deck of cards or computer mouse) has one-third less fat than a chocolate bar. As well, almost half the total fat is monounsaturated, a fat known to increase HDL, or "good," cholesterol.
• Cooking reduces the amount of fat in ground beef by one-third because fat drips out when barbecuing or broiling and can be drained off after pan-frying.
• Different grades of beef have different fat contents: extra-lean has up to 10 per cent fat; lean has up to 17 per cent fat; medium has up to 23 per cent fat; and regular has up to 30 per cent fat.
• When browning loose ground beef, no fat is required. Sauté in pan over medium-high heat (without onions, garlic or herbs) until no longer pink. Drain. Add onions and flavouring after cooking so no flavour is lost when draining off fat.
• To drain cooked beef, tip pan and use large spoon to spoon off all fat. For a more dramatic method of reducing fat, rinse cooked ground beef in sieve under hot water.
Recipes
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Beef and Polenta Bake
This casserole is like an upside-down shepherd's pie, except polenta replaces the potatoes. You can, of course, use mashed potatoes or even noodles as... -
Asian Beef Lettuce Cups
Lettuce makes a healthy, crunchy wrap for this slightly hot, flavourful beef mixture to serve with rice. For less heat, reduce the chili sauce to 1 ts... -
Mustard Dill Mini Meat Loaves
York Street Kitchen restaurant in Stratford, Ont., is famous for its meat loaf. One of the secrets to these moist yet slightly crusty loaves is to fir... -
Curried Cabbage Rolls
Traditional cabbage rolls take on a new flavour twist with lemon, curry paste and jalape?epper. This is a great dish for stress-free entertaining beca... -
Baked Penne with Beef, Zucchini and Fontina Cheese
When her children were young, Kathy Millman, mother of Canadian Living Test Kitchen chef Kate Dowhan, would make this family favourite several times a... -
Bolognese Beef Sauce
Serve this robust sauce over spaghetti or penne. There's enough for 1-1/2 lb (750 g) pasta, or two meals of 12 oz (375 g) each. Freeze any leftover sa... -
Meatball Vegetable Soup
The versatile meatballs in this soup are also delicious simmered in your favourite pasta sauce or glazed with barbecue sauce as an appetizer. -
Skillet Ratatouille Patties
Hamburgers stuffed with goat cheese and nestled into vegetables are a great segue into the bevy of summer bounty.
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