Christmas Mincemeat and more...

Mincemeat has been my favorite holiday pie since I was a little boy. Especially when it is made from an old-fashioned mincemeat recipe ~ not the bottled version purchased at your local store. The flavor is sort of like a Middle Eastern mixture of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. There's a definite meaty taste, which I really like, with an ever-so-slight sweet flavor.

You might have noticed that I am a bit of an Anglophile when it comes to cooking. I love the various traditions and legends practiced in England. One legend goes, when mincemeat is made in an English kitchen, all the family takes turns in stirring and making a secret wish. The mixture is always stirred clockwise, the direction in which the sun is assumed to proceed around an earth at the center of the universe. To stir in a counter-clockwise direction is to ask for trouble in the coming year!

So I usually make a couple of batches of my Christmas mincemeat and use it for pies and give jars to family & friends. Hoping they will make a Christmas Mince Pie filled with this delicious homemade mincemeat. Christmas mincemeat is not, as the name suggests ~ meat, if you look at the Christmas Mincemeat recipe you will see it is sugar, fruits both fresh and dried, Brandy and suet.

The recipe below is remarkably easy to make and homemade mincemeat is such a treat it is worth doing. Make your mincemeat ahead of time to give it time to mature but don't worry if you are last-minute, it still tastes good.


Christmas Mincemeat

Ingredients:
1¾ cups dried currants
1¼ cups brown sugar
1½ cups apples, peeled, cored, and finely chopped
1¼ cups golden raisins
1¼ cups raisins
⅔ cup mixed peel of lime & orange, chopped
1¼ cups cold suet, shredded
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Lemons, grated zest and juice
⅔ cup Brandy

In a large baking bowl combine all the ingredients except the brandy. Stir really well making sure all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave overnight.

Next day, heat the oven to 225 degree F. Remove the tea towel and cover the bowl with foil and place in the warmed oven for 2½ hours. The suet will have melted but don't worry; this is how it should be as the fat is what will help to preserve the mincemeat. Stir well and leave to one side to cool, stirring from time to time.

Once cool stir the mincemeat again, add the brandy and stir again.
Fill sterilized jars with the cold mincemeat, cover a lid. The mincemeat will keep up to one year in a cool, dark place.

Makes 3 – 16 ounce jars

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Old-Fashioned Christmas Mincemeat Pie

Ingredients:
Pastry for 9-inch two crust pie
~ see my basic pie crust recipe below
1 quart prepared mincemeat, recipe above
~ 1 (28-ounce) jar prepared mincemeat pie filling may be substituted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare pie crust.
Spoon prepared mincemeat into crust-lined plate. Cover with remaining crust and flute. Cut slits in crust so steam can escape. Cover edge with aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning.

Bake pie 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and filling bubbles. Remove aluminum foil during last 15 minutes of baking. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack before cutting and serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serves 8

* I usually will do a lattice crust on top. Instructions below.
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Basic Pie Crust

Ingredients:
2⅔ cups all purposed flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
½ cup (1 stick) butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
3 tablespoons (or more) ice water

Combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off button, cut in shortening and butter until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Beat egg and 3 tablespoons water in small bowl to blend. Add egg to flour mixture.

Process until moist crumbs form, adding water, 1 teaspoon at a time, if dough is dry. On a light floured service, divide dough into 2 balls.

Flatten balls into disk and chill for 1 hour.
Let dough soften to room temperature before rolling.

To make a lattice top:

Before starting the lattice top, roll out half of your pie dough and line your pie dish with it. The dough should extend beyond the rim of the pie dish by about half an inch. Put it in the refrigerator to chill while you work on the lattice. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the other half of your pie dough to the same extent as the first half (about 3 inches beyond the diameter of your pie dish). It's easier to work with the dough if it is chilled, so if it the dough has softened too much, put the rolled-out piece on a flat cookie sheet and chill it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes.

Cut the dough into even strips, ½-inch to ¾-inch wide, depending on how thick you want your lattice strips. You can use a blunt knife with or without a ruler or straight edge to guide you, or you can use a pizza wheel or a pastry wheel if you have one.

Fill your pie shell with the pie filling. Lay out 4 to 7 parallel strips of the pie dough, depending on how thick your strips are, on top of the filling, with about ½-inch to ¾-inch space between them. Fold back every other strip.

Place one long strip of dough perpendicular to the parallel strips as shown. Unfold the folded strips over the perpendicular strip.

Now take the parallel strips that are running underneath the perpendicular strip and fold them back over the perpendicular strip, as shown. Lay down a second perpendicular strip of dough next to the first strip, with some space between the strips. Unfold the folded parallel strips over the second strip.

Continue this process until the weave is complete over the top of the pie.

Trim the edges of the strips flush with the dough of the underlying pie dish, which should be about half an inch over the sides. Fold back the rim of the shell over the edge of the lattice strips, and crimp to secure.

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George’s notes:

• Mincemeat developed as a way of preserving meat without salting or smoking some 500 years ago in England, where mince pies are still considered an essential accompaniment to holiday dinners just like the traditional plum pudding. This pie is a remnant of a medieval tradition of spiced meat dishes, usually minced mutton, that have survived because of its association with Christmas. This pies have also been known as Christmas Pies. Mince pie as part of the Christmas table had long been an English custom.
• Today, we are accustomed to eating mince pie as a dessert, but actually "minced" pie and its follow-up "mincemeat pie" began as a main course dish with with more meat than fruit (a mixture of meat, dried fruits, and spices). As fruits and spices became more plentiful in the 17th century, the spiciness of the pies increased accordingly.