In 1996 I bought a magazine "Prima Christmas Traditions", which I still have and use each year for various recipes. In it was a recipe for mincemeat. I didn't realise that you COULD make your own!!! The recipe had nuts and peel in it, but I figured out that I could just leave them out, yes, leave them out and that is exactly what I did.
From then on every Christmas I made a few jars of mincemeat and mince pies were enjoyed by all, including Mr HH.
Last year I tried a new recipe, Plum and Russet mincemeat from the Rivercottage Handbook No.2, preserves. It was lovely, more jammy than brown and lumpy, but very nice, so have made some more this year
1kg of chopped plums are cooked in the juice of two oranges and then pureed. This is mixed with the zest of the 2 oranges, 500g of peeled and chopped russet apples (I used normal cooking apples as i had been given some) 200g each of currents, sultanas and raisins, 100g of marmalade, 250g of demerara sugar, 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 2 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 a grated nutmeg. 50 mls ginger wine. mix this all together and leave over night. The next day cook for two hours in a very low oven (130C) and then stir in 50 ml of brandy. put into sterilised jars.
Then the fun begins
or maybe these ones with stars on top
or maybe these puff pastry Christmas trees, a bit fiddly but my favourite
Our other favourite, that get eaten so quickly I can't find any photos of them are baked mincemeat donuts. The recipe is in good food magazine
Can't wait to make these!
Will need to give the mincemeat a week to mature - well maybe a couple of days!
4 comments:
You are so good to to make you own.
Looking very yummy!
Oh my goodness- I am now dreaming of mince pies. I can't wait to get back to England to have some- yours look so tasty- and extra kudos for making your own mincemeat. Yummy.
I have been blog-hopping and just come across your blog. I too make home-made mincemeat, and use a recipe which is in an old Farmhouse Fare cookbook from the 1970s.
I start it in about August, when the first of the early eaters are ready on the tree in our garden. Plus fallers from the Bramley. I take an old earthenware jar (ours has a cork as a lid, but you could use a kilner jar). I just peel/core/chop the apples and layer with whatever dried mixed fruit you choose, chopped apricots included, layers of sugar, and spices of your choice - I use ground ginger, cloves and cinnamon. Keep adding to these layers and by Christmas you will have an AMAZING mincemeat. It needs no cooking, and no suet needed. It will keep quite a while too (mine sometimes lasts till next Christmas!), and gets a little liquid from the apples/sugar. I generally use mine up in Mincemeat cakes later in the year.
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