Beef chilli

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For the white sauce, heat milk until just scalded. Melt butter in a saucepan, add flour and stir continuously for 3 minutes to cook. Whisk in the hot milk in stages, whisking until smooth each time, then use a wooden spoon to stir and simmer the sauce 5-7 minutes until it resembles thick cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper or mustard powder and remove from heat to cool.

Cook pasta in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well, cool and toss with a splash of olive oil. 1 tsp mustard powder

1-2 tsp hot sauce

½ tsp sea salt flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

A good handful of dill and chives, chopped

Whisk all ingredients except fresh herbs in a bowl until smooth. Add fresh herbs, check for seasoning and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week. Shake to combine before using for salads and sandwiches, to drizzle over chicken wings and baked potatoes and as a dip for raw veges and fries. 3 4 5 This recipe makes enough to feed a crowd (8-10 people) or serve 4 and freeze half for another time 1 onion, chopped 1 red capsicum, chopped 5 cloves garlic, chopped 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger,

chopped 1 thumb-sized piece of turmeric,

chopped

1 bunch coriander stems and roots,

chopped 1-3 green chillies, chopped (add extra chilli if you like things really hot) Zest and juice of 1 lemon 2 tsp sea salt flakes ¼ cup olive oil plus 1 Tbsp for frying 1 kg beef mince 2-3 Tbsp curry powder (store-bought or

homemade, see pantry notes) 1 carrot, grated 1 courgette, grated 400g can crushed tomatoes 3 fresh bay leaves 330ml beer 1 cup tomato pasta sauce Cooked rice, sour cream, avocado, quick pickled onion, pickled jalapeno and coriander, to serve

1 2 Heat oil in a frying pan, add onion, garlic, coriander and cavolo nero stems and fry gently until soft. Add capsicum, celery and courgette and continue to fry until vegetables have just softened. Remove from heat, mix through cavolo nero and coriander leaves and season with freshly ground black pepper. Cool.

In a large bowl combine cooked pasta, smoked fish, white sauce, vege mix, cream, lemon juice and chopped herbs. Spread into a baking dish or individual dishes. Sprinkle with the breadcrumb mix and bake in a 180C oven until golden and bubbling. Serve with a side salad. Beef mince accounts for nearly 9 per cent of all meat sold at New World. No surprises there, as it’s versatile, easy to cook and kids just love it. Our eating habits have changed over the past 10 years, thanks to cooking shows and the cultural influence of new Kiwis. Mince is now being used in many forms from budget dishes to creative exotic meals. My favourite is prime beef mince.

Blitz onion, capsicum, garlic, ginger, turmeric, coriander, chilli, lemon, salt and ¼ cup of the olive oil to a wet paste.

In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and sear beef mince over a high heat to brown all over, breaking it up with a wooden spoon Pretty much any fish can be smoked but kahawai is probably the favourite for most New Zealanders. The fresh catch dictates the type of smoked fish in stock at New World at any one time but they are mostly interchangeable. Ask your New World fishmonger for advice if you are unsure. 3 BREADCRUMB MIX

Slice half a loaf of stale bread evenly and bake in a hot oven until golden. Cool, then blitz into a chunky crumb. Combine with the zest of ½ lemon, 1 Tbsp sesame and 1 Tbsp poppy seeds, a little fresh pepper and 1 cup grated cheese. Store in an airtight container. Use to crumb pork chops, chicken schnitzel, polenta chips, fish cakes, etc as you go. Add curry powder and paste mix and cook into the beef until well combined. Blitz the carrot, courgette and tomatoes to a smooth puree. Add to beef mix, along with bay leaves, 1 cup of the beer (add the rest as you go, if needed), and the tomato pasta sauce and simmer 45 minutes, stirring often, until liquid has reduced. Season with salt, cover and rest 15 minutes before serving as a bowl of chilli, on rice, topped with sour cream, chopped avocado, pickled onion and pickled jalapenos and lots of chopped coriander. NOTES ON WHITE SAUCE

Add more flavour to white sauce by adding a small onion studded with a few cloves, 1 tsp peppercorns and 2 bay leaves to the milk as it heats up. White sauce can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Once made, add a knob of butter to the cooling sauce, enough to melt across the top of the sauce. This will prevent a hard skin forming once it is cooled. (If you put a lid on as it’s cooling, the condensation formed should do the same.)

A batch of white sauce in the fridge means you can:

1. Make smoked fish or mushrooms on toast, topped with parsley, lemon zest and juice.

2. Mix it with grated cheese and chopped onion (or pineapple) and make ham or tuna and cheese toasted sandwiches.

3. Add a tasty cheese and smother on top of cooked cauliflower, broccoli or brussels sprouts and grill until golden as a side dish.

4. Mix it through leftover cooked chicken and vegetables, or add plenty of sauteed mushrooms, onion, garlic and fresh herbs to make creamy pies.

5. Add it to mashed potatoes and mix with cooked salmon, chilli, spring onions and dill to make fishcakes, rolled in some of your homemade breadcrumbs before frying.

6. Thin it out with a little cream, white wine or vermouth, then simmer smoked chicken breasts in it for a sauce to serve on tagliatelle tossed with parsley, capers or green olives. DIFFERENT WAYS TO SERVE CHILLI MINCE

• Make chilli dogs with grilled or boiled frankfurters in toasted hotdog buns with a lick of mustard, pile on the chilli mince, top with grated cheese, pickled onion, coriander and a squirt of sriracha or hot sauce.

• Pile corn chips into a roasting dish, layer on spoonfuls of chilli mince, a can of drained black beans and dollops of sour cream. Top with grated cheese and pickled jalapenos and bake until golden. Serve your nachos topped with guacamole and coriander.

• Toss hot chilli mince with a can of drained black beans, chopped coriander and grated cheese and spread into tortillas with cooked rice and sour cream for easy burritos.