Puschel’s Meat Patties with Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients

• Patties: 500 g fresh mixed beef and pork mince
• 1 stale wheat bread roll (about 50 g)
• Water for soaking the roll
• 1 small onion (about 80 g)
• 1 medium egg
• 1 tsp mild mustard
• 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
• ½ tsp mild paprika, ½ tsp salt and a little pepper for the meat mixture
• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil: 1 tsp for the onion and the remainder for frying
• Mash: 1 kg floury potatoes (unpeeled weight), 200 ml milk, 20 g butter and ¼ tsp salt
• If needed: up to 50 ml extra milk for the mash
• Vegetables: 250 g carrots, 200 g frozen peas, 100 ml water and 1 tsp rapeseed oil

Method

1. Wash hands. Keep mince refrigerated according to its label until needed and follow its use-by date. Adults handle knives, the hob and hot saucepans. Keep raw meat and egg separate from vegetables, clean crockery and cooked food. Never taste the raw meat mixture.
2. Soak the roll in water for about 10 minutes. Peel and finely dice the onion. An adult softens it in 1 tsp oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes without browning it deeply. Cool on a clean plate.
3. Wash and peel potatoes and carrots. Discard heavily green, heavily sprouted or shrivelled potatoes; generously remove small green areas and individual sprouts. Cut potatoes into about 3 cm pieces and carrots into about 1 cm dice.
4. Just cover potatoes with water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for about 20–25 minutes until a fork goes in easily. Meanwhile continue with the patties.
5. Squeeze the soaked roll well and tear it finely. Briefly mix with mince, cooled onion, egg, mustard, parsley, paprika, ½ tsp salt and a little pepper. With clean, slightly damp hands shape eight equal patties, about 8–9 cm wide and no more than 1.5 cm thick. Thoroughly wash hands and all utensils that touched raw meat or egg.
6. An adult heats half the remaining oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Fry four patties with space between them for roughly 5–6 minutes per side. Lower the heat if they brown too quickly. Turn with tongs or a spatula. Cook the second batch with the remaining oil in the same way.
7. Time alone does not prove meat is cooked. An adult checks each patty with a clean food thermometer inserted from the side into the centre: it must reach at least 70°C for two minutes. Continue over lower heat if necessary. Meat colour alone is not a reliable check. Put cooked patties on a fresh clean plate, never the raw-meat plate. Keep the first batch warm in a preheated oven at 80°C conventional while cooking the second, then serve promptly. Use oven gloves.
8. While frying, put carrots, 100 ml water and 1 tsp oil in a small saucepan. Cover and simmer gently for about 8–10 minutes. Add peas straight from frozen and cook for another 5–7 minutes, following the packet instructions. Both vegetables must be tender and fully heated through. Add a little water if needed.
9. Carefully drain tender potatoes and let steam escape briefly. Warm milk and butter in a small saucepan. Crush potatoes with a potato masher. Briefly stir in the warm milk mixture and ¼ tsp salt. If too stiff, add extra warm milk by the tablespoon, up to about 50 ml. Do not use a stick blender or mixer; it can make potatoes gluey.
10. Serve two small patties per person with mash and vegetables. Cool to a comfortable eating temperature; cut into suitable small bites for young children. Serve everything freshly cooked.