Mincemeat

[Zosherooney]

Just thinking of making some and found this recipe. What I like is the addition of a bay leaf. Do you make your own or have you a special recipe or buy from a shop ????

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4829 ... -mincemeat

[ianinfrance]

Yes I make our own, and I use Delia's recipe which is the best I know - and about the easiest.

[karadekoolaid]

It's not a great favourite over here, but I did make some once, about 15 years ago. The bayleaf sounds very interesting ; a nice floral touch perhaps!
I'm sure Ian would agree with me when I say that the longer you keep mincemeat (within reason, of course!) the better it tastes. So, if you decide to make some now, fine; but it'll be a thousand times better next year.

[ianinfrance]

I'm sure Ian would agree with me when I say that the longer you keep mincemeat (within reason, of course!) the better it tastes.

Sure do agree. Delia says that hers keeps at least 2 years and my current batch was made in February this year.

[Zosherooney]

Hi Guys, I do have a jar left from 2011, so maybe I will leave this batch for a decade or two !!!

[irishcountry-cousin]

This is my recipe. AND I have some left from last year.

http://fionsars.blogspot.ie/2012/12/chr ... -pies.html

It is based on the Ballymaloe recipe. (Lots of whiskey )

[Zosherooney]

Looks nice Irish, I am going to make some pastry adding some rice flour, for a biscuity effect, have lots of apples left over so will let you know how it goes.

[FoodMary]

My recipe has grated suet, but it is an ancient one. I just use Atora - I find it adds a nice richness.

Mary J

[Ratatouille]

Here's my recipe. I have used grated suet in the days here when I couldn't get the bought stuff:

Granny's Mincemeat

350g/12 oz currants
250g/8 oz sultanas
359g/12 oz seedless raisins
100g/4 oz chopped candied peel (I always use whole peel and cut it)
350g/12 oz tart apple, peeled and chopped
100g/4 oz almonds, peeled and shredded
500g/1 lb dark soft brown sugar
5oog/1lb shredded suet, this can be vegetarian
Half a nutmeg, finely grated
Half a teaspoon ground cinnamon
Grated rind and juice of a lemon and an orange
3900ml/10 fl oz rum or brandy

Mix together all the ingredients, stirring thoroughly. Cover and leave in a cool place for at least 24 hours. Stir again and bottle into clean jars. Seal and store in a cool dry place for at least 2 weeks before using.

[StokeySue]

I use a Katie Stewart recipe from her Times Cookery Book

It has a relatively high proportion of apple, but I find I need more liquid than she specified

However I make one other modification; I sub block dates (minced) for part of the mixed dried fruit; this is what my Granny used to do for economy when Lion of Babylon dates were 4d a block. More expensive now, but still cheaper than most vine fruits, and I like the richness of flavour and texture that they give

Proportions are then, as used by me (slightly modified from the original):
3 lb dark dried fruit (any mix of sultanas, raisins, currants, and the dates)*
4 oz almonds
6 oz peel
1 lb Bramleys
! lb soft brown sugar
8-12 oz suet (i often leave this out, it makes little difference when eaten hot, and is nicer cold without IMO)
1 rounded tsp cinnamon
A good grating of nutmeg (at least ½ a tsp)
grated rind of 2 small sweet oranges
Juice of the oranges made up to about 10 oz with booze"

*Playing around and trying not to have ingredients left over, I decided years ago that the precise proportions of the various dark fruits didn’t matter as long as there wasn't an excess of currants (gritty) and the booze tends to be any that needs using up, I have used Cyprus cream sherry with a dash of cooking brandy in my more impecunious days, but these days it is usually Lidl's James Cook Overseas rum, which is my default spirit for desserts and pastries

[Zosherooney]

Slipping sideways slightly Sue, that rum from lidls is a half decent spirit. We both like dark rum and it is less pricy than Lambs or other brand names. Brings back memories of a holiday on Barbados, many years ago.

[Hope]

I do Delia's, but without the suet (because even with veggie suet it's still far too fatty for my tastes) and without alcohol (children). we love it.

[StokeySue]

Slipping sideways slightly Sue, that rum from lidls is a half decent spirit. We both like dark rum and it is less pricy than Lambs or other brand names. Brings back memories of a holiday on Barbados, many years ago.

it's a sight better than Lamb's IMO - awful stuff

As for Captain Morgan <shudders>

Lidl now do a lighter coloured 3 year aged version as well as the darker one, and it really is good, quite similar in style to Mount Gay Barbados rum

[suffolk]

Mount Gay Barbados rum

Now you're talking

[Rainbow]

I do Delia's, but without the suet (because even with veggie suet it's still far too fatty for my tastes) and without alcohol (children). we love it.

Do you substitute grated butter for the suet? I can't get veggie suet over here but did use it one time when a friend posted some over from UK
Or do you just leave it out altogether? Didn't think that would work?
And without alcohol does it keep for long? Not that I was thinking of omitting the alcohol

[StokeySue]

I just leave out the suet Rainbow; as I said above I find the suet unpleasant if the pies are served cold

Works fine

[Zosherooney]

Never ever have cold mince pies, even if it is a few seconds in the MW..... to keep the pastry crisp.

[StokeySue]

Mainly have cold mince pies if i take them into the office or out & about - nowhere to warm them

Or random sneaking of a mince pie to go with a coffee !

[Rainbow]

I just leave out the suet Rainbow; as I said above I find the suet unpleasant if the pies are served cold

Works fine

Thanks for that, Sue. I didn't read right through your recipe, so missed that comment
I've only made Delia's recipe, which is cooked in a low oven for several hours, I seem to remember. It certainly looked very fatty when I took it out of the oven.
Do you cook your recipe, or just mix everything together? And does it last for ages (assuming it's not all eaten quickly)

[ianinfrance]

I've only made Delia's recipe, which is cooked in a low oven for several hours, I seem to remember. It certainly looked very fatty when I took it out of the oven.

Two or three iirc. As you say it does look as if it's swimming, but in fact it's only 8% of the total weight and when it's stirred up and put into jars, the suet is a lot less noticeable, and in a pie (hot of course, IMO cold mince pies are as much an abomination as cold christmas pudding) you don't notice it's there at all. Certainly there's less fat in Delia's mincemeat than in most minced meats.

The suet is, of course, what makes the mincemeat keep for two or three years. Obviously if someone can't eat it, or doesn't like it then another recipe will suit (or should that be suet ? ) them better. IMO it's the best tasting one I know, which is why I make it.

[Rainbow]

The suet is, of course, what makes the mincemeat keep for two or three years. Obviously if someone can't eat it, or doesn't like it then another recipe will suit (or should that be suet ? ) them better. IMO it's the best tasting one I know, which is why I make it.

As I said, it's the only one I've made, but I know a lot of people recommend it. The problem is I can't get the Atora vegetarian suet over here (or any other brand) but I think grated butter is supposed to be an OK substitute.
Not sure why it's grated - melted would be easier and it soon melts in the oven!!
Not sure what to do now

[StokeySue]

The suet is, of course, what makes the mincemeat keep for two or three years

Do you really think so?

Given that the fruit us surrounded by an acidified, alcoholic, thick sugar syrup I've always thought that was what did the trick

If you make a standard recipe like mine or Ratatouille’s, that doesn’t involve heating, the suet stays in shreds and I can’t see how it would do anything to aid preservation

Mine keeps fine

I would refrigerate or freeze an alcohol-free version;- and of course they put acetic acid in cheap commercial mincemeat as a preservative, the stuff is partially pickled

[ianinfrance]

Do you really think so?

I used to make a fresh fruit suet free version (Cordon Bleu) and it was delicious, but only kept a couple of weeks at the outside. The alcohol level - 60ml rum in the fresh fruit recipe I've used for about a kilo of fresh and dried fruits - is not going to have much effect, I'd have thought. Even in an uncooked recipe using quite a lot of suet and rum(700g & 180 mls respectively for about 2 kg total weight) the writer only recommended keeping the mincemeat for up to 6 months.

The raison d'être of cooking with the suet is - IMO - mainly to preserve the mincemeat, Delia says of it that it keeps >2 years, which is exactly what I've found - and that without refrigeration or sterilisation.

The problem is I can't get the Atora vegetarian suet over here

Am I missing something? Why not just use beef suet? If you can't get the pre-prepared stuff, why not just order some beef kidney fat and chop it up. Or do you have a particular reason to make a vegetarian version? I have to admit, I didn't grovel through the supermarkets looking at fats when we visited, but it seems to me that any vegetables shortening would do the job instead of vegetarian suet, if it's going to be cooked for a couple of hours or more. IMO it won't taste as good, but obviously that's a matter of taste, and I'd not claim my taste must be shared by everyone else.

[Hope]

I do Delia's, but without the suet (because even with veggie suet it's still far too fatty for my tastes) and without alcohol (children). we love it.

Do you substitute grated butter for the suet? I can't get veggie suet over here but did use it one time when a friend posted some over from UK
Or do you just leave it out altogether? Didn't think that would work?
And without alcohol does it keep for long? Not that I was thinking of omitting the alcohol

no fat in it at all. I can get veggie suet, but it contains wheat, which I can't eat anyway. But my family find it far too rich with any fat in and surrounded by pastry. I make it the first weekend of december and it has lasted in the fridge until at least february or march. I haven't used it beyond then, because we'd eaten it all!

[Rainbow]

Given that the fruit us surrounded by an acidified, alcoholic, thick sugar syrup I've always thought that was what did the trick

If you make a standard recipe like mine or Ratatouille’s, that doesn’t involve heating, the suet stays in shreds and I can’t see how it would do anything to aid preservation

That's what I thought too.

Am I missing something? Why not just use beef suet? If you can't get the pre-prepared stuff, why not just order some beef kidney fat and chop it up. Or do you have a particular reason to make a vegetarian version?

I've been vegetarian for about 35 years - beef kidney fat I haven't looked at vegetable shortenings recently - I'll have a look next time I'm in a SM.

no fat in it at all. I can get veggie suet, but it contains wheat, which I can't eat anyway. But my family find it far too rich with any fat in and surrounded by pastry. I make it the first weekend of december and it has lasted in the fridge until at least february or march. I haven't used it beyond then, because we'd eaten it all!

Thanks for that, Hope

[ianinfrance]

I've been vegetarian for about 35 years

Oh! I'm sorry, I hadn't picked up on that, for some reason, I'm colour blind normally. Well then, if you wanted to use fat, then any vegetable shortening should do it, in the UK, I think Trex is one such, here we have Vegetaline.

[Rainbow]

Well then, if you wanted to use fat, then any vegetable shortening should do it, in the UK, I think Trex is one such, here we have Vegetaline.

Thanks for that, Ian.
In Australia we only seem to have Copha which is made from coconut oil. It's solid but not very nice, in my opinion. Apparently Crisco is available at one very expensive food hall and online Think I'll stick to butter!

[denada]

Could you use one of the olive oil "butters" or are they too soft. When I'm in Oz I always grate frozen butter if I can't get the suet.

[denada]

Meant to say, don't use Copha

[ianinfrance]

Think I'll stick to butter!

Butter will be fine. Also.. remember that if you do use that recipe, the mincemeat will be baked an hour or two in the oven, so with the odd stir, all the fruit will be well coated, almost irrespective of its state when the mix went in. If you wanted to, you could perfectly well chill the butter to be able to grate it, but I wouldn't personally. I'd just cut it into smallish cubes and then stir a couple of times as soon as the butter is melted.

[Rainbow]

If you wanted to, you could perfectly well chill the butter to be able to grate it, but I wouldn't personally. I'd just cut it into smallish cubes and then stir a couple of times as soon as the butter is melted.

Sounds like the way to go

Looking in the cupboard where I keep jam, preserves etc. (it's in the laundry - nice and cool) I discovered some mincemeat from last year so won't need to make any now
I'll remember the butter version for next year

[Hope]

mmm - my house smells like christmas! Mincemeat is in the SC on low.

[Zosherooney]

2017 Mincemeat is marinating now. I have read a lot about 'to cook or not to cook' mincemeat on a low heat in the oven and as I have always just jarred it, have decided to keep to the same theory. There should be enough alcohol sugar and citrus to preserve it for the time it takes to eat it ! I have again leaned towards star anise, for us it is an interesting change from the run of the mill....

[Zosherooney]

I jarred this up yesterday, it had developed a lovely almondy, star anise aroma and flavour. It produced a very large jar and a small one for a hostess gift on the 16th of this month.

[TeresaFoodie]

I just found this baked mincemeat doughnut recipe in a Christmas magazine I forgot I had and thought I would share.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/147 ... -doughnuts

They look do-able, no need for a deep fat fryer and