: >> Brown the beef first and drain the fat
: >> leaving maybe a tablespoon of the fat, first. Then add the veggies...


: You can do it that way, if you want.

: However, "browning" the meat is a specific method of cooking it in
: high heat to brown it on the outside (instead of having it just cook
: to grayness).

: This richens the flavor of the meat, and is usually what is at the
: base of the idea of browning the meat.

Exactly! When most people "brown" ground meat, they usually simply cook
it just enough to "gray" it - the majority of home cooks don't actually
brown the meat. They stop cooking it way too soon before the Maillard
reaction happens.

That said, if you add vegetables AFTER the meat is properly browned,
then the meat will have burnt by the time the vegetables are done.
And likewise, if you add quick-cooking vegetables like onions at the
start of the beef cooking, the vegetables will have burnt by the time
the beef is properly browned.

So - start the potatoes and ground beef at the same time since they have
similar cooking times. Once the beef has completely "grayed", then add
the onions. The end result is that all ingredients will end up properly
cooked at the same time.


"browning" DOES NOT MEAN "graying"!!!