Mincemeat
Those of you that have tasted my home made mince pies will know that there is no comparison between home made and shop bought mincemeat. Round about October is the time to make it so that it matures nicely for a couple of months at least. For me, it is the first ritual of Christmas and my family get quite excited about such things. My sister Derry, her son Benjie and I shut ourselves in the kitchen and make sure Fred is out of the house so that we can put on a Christmas carol CD and sing along. We believe that we put more Christmas spirit into our mincemeat than mere alcohol! For us, it is a really special event that we look forward to each year and we always make a wish stirring the mincemeat like you would with a Christmas pudding. You have to stir anti-clockwise, or east to west which is I think, the direction the Three Kings followed the star.
Whether you enjoy silly rituals or not, if you make your mincemeat in October you can count on the compliments and be so proud of yourself in December. There is nothing difficult about it, it just takes a bit of time which is why it's nice to have helpers. It also takes quite a lot of alcohol, but don't stint on this as it really is worth it. I'll give you the recipe for the pastry and the easiest method in the world for making fool-proof mince pies nearer the time. I usually make four times this quantity, but you probably know how many pies I make! And if there's any left for the following year it tastes even better.
Mincemeat - makes about 3 dozen mince pies
- 500 g dried mixed fruit
- 125 g apples - I use Coxes
- 125 g Barbados or muscovado sugar
- 7 g mixed spice - this works out at 7 (yes, seven) level teaspoons
- 1 lemon
- 1 orange
- 90 mls dark rum
- 90 mls brandy
- 125 g sunflower margarine (70% fat) or suet
Grate the rind of the orange and lemon. Squeeze the juice from only one half of each. Peel and grate the apples. If you are using suet just mix everything together. If using marg, then mix everything except the marg, then melt it and stir in at the end. Pot into jam jars, polytubs or whatever and leave till December.