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Mashed potato hash
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup ground meat (it doesn't matter what kind)
2-3 slices cheese (it doesn't matter what kind)
3-4 tablespoons herbs/spices of your choice
Cook the meat for 15 minutes, drain the fat into a paper towel. Add the rest of the ingredients and cook for 5-10 minutes. Serve warm

Now my question is what would be the leanest meat that would be best for using with this recipe?

Catija
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Abraham Ray
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    Are you looking for 'meat' (ranging from fish, poultry, etc) or a 'cut of beef'? – Cos Callis Jul 26 '17 at 21:56
  • Any ground meat basically @CosCallis – Abraham Ray Jul 26 '17 at 21:57
  • I'm not really sure I understand the question. Most ground meat can be purchased extremely lean... 95-99%... whether it's available depends on your grocery store. What is the goal of this question? – Catija Jul 26 '17 at 22:08
  • Making the recipe healthier for most people @Catija – Abraham Ray Jul 26 '17 at 22:12
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    ... but, as I said and as @Jefromi said... meat comes in low-fat options. 95% lean beef has **exactly** the same amount of fat as 95% lean turkey, bison... etc. There is no "least fatty meat". – Catija Jul 26 '17 at 22:13
  • It doesn't hurt to try though @catija – Abraham Ray Jul 26 '17 at 22:15
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    I agree with @Catija, I did try my best to answer, but I also don't really know what you were looking for after all the subsequent activity. It kind of sounds like you wanted the best tasting thing that was also lean, which is pretty opinion-based, or maybe you just wanted to talk about the recipe. – Cascabel Jul 26 '17 at 22:21
  • You drain the fat after 15 minutes of cooking anyway. How much fat starts out in the meat won't have much bearing on how much winds up in the final product. (FWIW, this recipe sounds *awful*. Everything will be overcooked -- the meat and cheese will be severely overcooked.) – David Schwartz Jul 26 '17 at 22:55

2 Answers2

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I don't really know what "work" means. Usually people like ground meat to not be completely lean because the fat adds flavor and moisture.

But if you personally don't mind lean meat, then, well, whatever you want. The most common lean ground meat I've seen is turkey, often 99% lean. Sometimes you can find chicken too. Lean ground beef is usually more like 95% or 90%, but you can see what you can find.

I'd also note that the recipe doesn't sound great as written. Cooking ground meat for 15 minutes sounds over the top, and overcooked lean meat is probably even worse. Lean meat can already be quite dry and tough, and overcooking makes that worse. You should really only cook it only until it's done. Similarly, already cooked and mashed potatoes don't really need extra cooking. It can break down starch and make them more gluey and less fluffy.

Cascabel
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    Any game meat would be a lean option, but I would would agree that for most people too lean, especially fully cooked and you are getting into a dry, not very pleasing zone for texture and mouth feel. Something like olive oil might help, replacing animal fat with what you may consider a less objectionable, but dry meat is still dry. – dlb Jul 26 '17 at 18:03
  • 15 minutes seems like way too much cooking in both stages. It takes maybe 5 minutes to cook ground meat in a hot pan, maybe a minute or two with spices to release aromatics depending what they are, and if the mashed potatoes are already cooked and hot all you have to do is stir it all together. – Cascabel Jul 26 '17 at 20:31
  • Well, I thought that was enough time for cooking the meat @Jefromi how much time would you recommend for the whole cooking time anyway? – Abraham Ray Jul 26 '17 at 20:34
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    My previous comment is exactly what I would recommend. I'm not saying 15 minutes isn't enough, I'm saying it's likely too much, especially with lean meat that's already going to be dry even if *not* overcooked. – Cascabel Jul 26 '17 at 20:41
  • Okay,thanks @Jefromi. I made a minor correction to the final cooking time. It shouldn't effect the actual question though. – Abraham Ray Jul 26 '17 at 21:41
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    Okay. I wasn't asking you to edit the question, I was writing an answer that addressed the full situation, not just what you asked about. And... since you're just changing the recipe how you feel like, is this just something you made up? You might be better off finding existing recipes if you're this unsure about things. – Cascabel Jul 26 '17 at 21:50
  • I wasn't editing the question, just the recipe for colerification purposes. The recipe itself already was basically free-form to begin with. – Abraham Ray Jul 26 '17 at 21:52
  • And just for clerification I invented this recipe with my dad a while ago. It's just a fun recipe to try. – Abraham Ray Jul 26 '17 at 21:59
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Ground Bison (buffalo) or ground turkey would both be very lean options, both of which are widely available in the US. If you use turkey (or chicken) if you add some beef broth after browning to simmer the meat in then drain off the liquid you will both rinse away more fat and add some beef flavor to the relatively neutral poultry.

Cos Callis
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