Mince Pies
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I find your pies very interesting and wonder how you made your own mincemeat.
Everything you've ever wanted to know about mincemeat an
Wow! I only know one other person in real life who has actually made real mincemeat pies. She's a terrific baker, and recommends them. I've always been timid to give it a whirl.
She recently reminded me about a wonderful and well-researched article by Cliff Doerksen in the Chicago Reader newspaper a couple of years ago about the checkered history of (oft misunderstood, even vilified) Mince Meat Pies. He also includes a very funny account of his experience making mincemeat pies from scratch.
I'd just checked, and we're in luck. It's still available online, complete with the original historical images and recipes.
I highly recommend it for truly entertaining and enlightening holiday reading.
I'm hoping you'll enjoy it as much as I did!
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mince-pie-the-real-american-pie/Content?oid=1267308
Wow! I only know one other person in real life who has actually made real mincemeat pies. She's a terrific baker, and recommends them. I've always been timid to give it a whirl.
She recently reminded me about a wonderful and well-researched article by Cliff Doerksen in the Chicago Reader newspaper a couple of years ago about the checkered history of (oft misunderstood, even vilified) Mince Meat Pies. He also includes a very funny account of his experience making mincemeat pies from scratch.
I'd just checked, and we're in luck. It's still available online, complete with the original historical images and recipes.
I highly recommend it for truly entertaining and enlightening holiday reading.
I'm hoping you'll enjoy it as much as I did!
http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mince-pie-the-real-american-pie/Content?oid=1267308
Mincemeat was originally made with meat but now it is made with fruit. I looked at various online recipes but all had a few ingredients I could not find in Hungary so I used what I could get. The quantities are not too critical so I won't try to remember them but I used:
Apples
Sultanas
Candied Orange and Lemon peel
Bottled Cherries
Dried Apricots
Brown Sugar
Pork Lard
Locally made Peach Brandy
Cinnamon
I minced all the fruit using my vintage Spong mincer and stirred in the sugar, brandy and cinnamon. I then melted some lard and poured that onto the mixture and gave it a good stir. My mother used to use shredded suet in her mincemeat but I could not get that here. I gather the suet melts when you bake the pies and forms a film on the fruit, acting as a preservative. The brandy will preserve the raw mincemeat in the jars but that will tend to evaporate off, leaving just the flavour, when you bake the pies. A lot of modern recipes require you to cook the mincemeat but the old Mrs Beeton type recipes were not cooked.
Apples
Sultanas
Candied Orange and Lemon peel
Bottled Cherries
Dried Apricots
Brown Sugar
Pork Lard
Locally made Peach Brandy
Cinnamon
I minced all the fruit using my vintage Spong mincer and stirred in the sugar, brandy and cinnamon. I then melted some lard and poured that onto the mixture and gave it a good stir. My mother used to use shredded suet in her mincemeat but I could not get that here. I gather the suet melts when you bake the pies and forms a film on the fruit, acting as a preservative. The brandy will preserve the raw mincemeat in the jars but that will tend to evaporate off, leaving just the flavour, when you bake the pies. A lot of modern recipes require you to cook the mincemeat but the old Mrs Beeton type recipes were not cooked.
I make my own mincemeat for pies about every two years. The recipe I have makes quite a large batch of mincemeat and I freeze what I don't use or give away.
5 pounds beef shank with marrow
1 beef heart, about 2 1/2 pounds cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 1/2 pounds suet, chopped
1 pound dried currants
1 pound golden raisins
1/2 pound citron, chopped
2 pounds candied citrus peel, chopped
2 cups dark molasses
1 pound brown sugar
1 quart sparkling cider
3 pounds Pippin, Granny Smith or other tart apple, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 quinces, cored and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 tablespoon ground mace
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 tablespoons white pepper
1 fifth of brandy
If anybody is interested I will post the entire recipe...but be warned, it needs to age a year or so and it would not be ready until next Christmas!
5 pounds beef shank with marrow
1 beef heart, about 2 1/2 pounds cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 1/2 pounds suet, chopped
1 pound dried currants
1 pound golden raisins
1/2 pound citron, chopped
2 pounds candied citrus peel, chopped
2 cups dark molasses
1 pound brown sugar
1 quart sparkling cider
3 pounds Pippin, Granny Smith or other tart apple, cored and cut into 1/2 inch dice
2 quinces, cored and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 tablespoon ground mace
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground allspice
2 tablespoons white pepper
1 fifth of brandy
If anybody is interested I will post the entire recipe...but be warned, it needs to age a year or so and it would not be ready until next Christmas!
danemodsandy
Well-known member
Yum!
An inveterate mince pie lover here!
One of the little adjustments I had to make when I moved to Iowa was that mince pies don't seem to be very popular here. They're not available ready-made in any of the stores here (no surprise in the case of Hy-Vee, the store that caused the word "FEH!" to be invented).
I had to make my own this Thanksgiving, which was fine, but I will say that it takes one person a little time to get through a mince pie.
I was always the odd one at Thanksgiving - I would not eat pumpkin (AT. ALL. - and still won't), and I could take pecan or leave it. But mince? I loved it, and the best thing about it was that there was very little competition for it.
An inveterate mince pie lover here!
One of the little adjustments I had to make when I moved to Iowa was that mince pies don't seem to be very popular here. They're not available ready-made in any of the stores here (no surprise in the case of Hy-Vee, the store that caused the word "FEH!" to be invented).
I had to make my own this Thanksgiving, which was fine, but I will say that it takes one person a little time to get through a mince pie.
I was always the odd one at Thanksgiving - I would not eat pumpkin (AT. ALL. - and still won't), and I could take pecan or leave it. But mince? I loved it, and the best thing about it was that there was very little competition for it.
Minced Magic
I love minced meat and my grama used heart along with suet. Just like Phil, I make and prefer it without "meat" but like the silken texture suet gives. Suet is getting harder and harder to source as a food and the thought of adding lard is absolute genius. ATK made mincemeat several years ago that is meatless, but what a bus load of work they make it.
I love minced meat and my grama used heart along with suet. Just like Phil, I make and prefer it without "meat" but like the silken texture suet gives. Suet is getting harder and harder to source as a food and the thought of adding lard is absolute genius. ATK made mincemeat several years ago that is meatless, but what a bus load of work they make it.
norgeway
Well-known member
I LOVE mince pies..
But as a rule, they are NOT a Southern thing, I never saw one untill I was grown!!
But as a rule, they are NOT a Southern thing, I never saw one untill I was grown!!
Delia Smith's Mincemeat
I have never made this myself but a friend has and it is very good.
The clip is about 20 years old!
Al
I have never made this myself but a friend has and it is very good.
The clip is about 20 years old!
Al
mikeklondon
New member
Never seen Meat in a mice pie / cooker in top pic
I have never seen a mice pie with meat in over here Fido in the top pic your cooker seems to have a chimney pipe coming from it are you lucky enough to have a solid fuel cooking range ? for me an AGA is top of my wish list, sadly I would need a bigger house 1st so it may be on my list to I win the loto
I have never seen a mice pie with meat in over here Fido in the top pic your cooker seems to have a chimney pipe coming from it are you lucky enough to have a solid fuel cooking range ? for me an AGA is top of my wish list, sadly I would need a bigger house 1st so it may be on my list to I win the loto
mikeklondon
New member
Pies
forgot to say your pies look soooooooooooooooooooooooo good I feel hungary
forgot to say your pies look soooooooooooooooooooooooo good I feel hungary
Hi Mike, yes the cooking range is an Austrian Windhager one but it is nowhere near as good as the '50s Rayburn I had in Scotland. That was all cast iron with a very thick hotplate which retained the heat, so it was always ready for cooking. The top on this is only about quarter inch steel plate and quickly cools down, so you have to keep a roaring fire going when cooking. The stove includes a boiler which heats six radiators.
firedome
Well-known member
Mincemeat pie is fantastico
with hard sauce, like Yorkshire pudding!
as to Hy-Vee, at least they sell Lingonberry preserves, as we dicovered when daughter's hubby was at U of Iowa Law School, and lingonberry is the lifeblood of THIS Swede... we still stop at Hy-Vee in IC whenever we pass through on the way to Denver, too bad we're 4 hrs from an Ikea.
with hard sauce, like Yorkshire pudding!
as to Hy-Vee, at least they sell Lingonberry preserves, as we dicovered when daughter's hubby was at U of Iowa Law School, and lingonberry is the lifeblood of THIS Swede... we still stop at Hy-Vee in IC whenever we pass through on the way to Denver, too bad we're 4 hrs from an Ikea.
hotpointfan
Well-known member
Mmm pies...
Here's mine! Rolling out the pastry, using Delia's recipe from 1990!
Here's mine! Rolling out the pastry, using Delia's recipe from 1990!
hotpointfan
Well-known member
Mincemaet, plenty of it!
2010's jars (blue lids) and last years, silver lid...
2010's jars (blue lids) and last years, silver lid...
hotpointfan
Well-known member
Ready for take off!!!
On the tray, made 33 altogether, shown here is the second batch...
On the tray, made 33 altogether, shown here is the second batch...
hotpointfan
Well-known member
Tarts....
... with some pastry left, I saw jam tarts on the horizon!!
... with some pastry left, I saw jam tarts on the horizon!!
