Hachée

Gesundheit! No, I don’t have a cold. Hachée is a term that denotes a dish made out of ground meat or, occasionally, fish or vegetables. I grew up with this stuff - probably a sign of French influence in my ancestral home. Mum would make it, restaurants would offer it, and you’d even get it at gas stations for lunch. There is absolutely nothing fancy about it. In fact, this is, by any and all interpretations, a simple peasant dish: Easy, quick, hearty, filling. I loved it as a kid and I still love it today. It is super easy to make, doesn’t take a lot of work, and is versatile enough to go well with potatoes or pasta! Having had pasta yesterday, I decided to make this with potatoes today. As you might already suspect, it’s obviously mostly beige. And judging by the vast emptiness that currently occupies the pan in which I made the Hachée, it’s also quite welcomed by the picky eaters in my house. Overall, this is a go-to dish for me when I don’t want to spend hours in the kitchen and don’t want to go shopping for lots of ingredients. For me, the only thing I need to purchase to make Hachée is some ground beef. Done!

Ingredients: 1 lb potatoes 1 lb. ground beef

1 large or 2 small onions

3 Tbs corn oil

1 Tbs tomato paste

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp sweet Hungarian paprika

½ tsp half-sharp Hungarian paprika

2 cups beef broth

½ tsp salt

½ tsp freshly-ground pepper

Let’s get started: Peel the potatoes and cut in half. Add potatoes to a pot of salted water and turn to high heat. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Let the potatoes simmer for 25 minutes. While the potatoes are simmering, get started on the Hachée. Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the beef.

Stir, break apart, and brown the beef. Chop the onion(s) and add to the beef. Stir until the onion becomes translucent. Add the tomato paste, Dijon, sweet paprika, and half-sharp paprika. Stir until well incorporated - roughly one minute. Add 1 ½ cups oft he beef broth - reserve the rest and add it only if the Hachée seems a bit dry. Add salt and pepper. Stir. Let simmer on medium low for 15 minutes.