Middle Mincemeat

[minoanmiss]

I am attempting to make mincemeat.

I think I needed a bigger pot. Or to cut the recipe in half. I didn't realize I'd end up with so much. But let me back up.

I am trying to make this recipe:
https://newengland.com/food/condiments/old-fashioned-mincemeat-recipe/

with a couple of modifications: instead of boiled cider I simply procured 2 pints of cider. Instead of beef stock (alliums will not improve the flavor profile) I used the water I used to cook the beef, thus hopefully retaining all the beefiness. And I added 1/4 tsp whole coriander to the spice grinder (cinnamon stick, nutmeg lump, mace blades, freeze dried ginger rather than cloves, and of course salt) because it goes well with apples and with beef.

Right now the mixture, minus 1 pint of cider aand the beef[1], is bubbling over in my oven. I realized after a fruitless hour of simmering that all the sugar is holding onto the water. Next time I make this I will cook the fruit in the cider, rum, and beef water until that all boils away, then add the jelly, molasses, and sugar and cook until glazed and incorporated. For now I've left it in the oven, the best hope of reducing it without burning it. After all that chopping I need to lie down for a bit.

[1] the beef itself is nicely cooked and will not benefit from all this simmering. I plan to mix it in and simmer for 5 minutes more to combine. If this recipe won't work I will curry it or something.
 
The recipe:

:
4 quarts, enough for 4 pies
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless lean beef or venison
1 pound beef suet (see Note)
2 1/2 pounds apples, peeled and cored
1/2 pound dried figs
1/2 pound pitted dates
2 pounds golden raisins
2 pounds dried currants
1/2 cup candied citron peel
1/2 cup candied orange peel
1/2 cup candied lemon peel
4 cups beef broth beef cooking liquid
2 cups boiled cider (see recipe introduction) 4 cups cider
1 cup apple brandy
1 cup dark rum
1 cup molasses
2 cups light brown sugar
1 cup currant jelly
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3/4 teaspoon mace


freestar
Instructions

Place beef or venison in a shallow pan and brown on all sides under the broiler. Transfer to a large pot and cover by two inches in cold water. [note: I added 2 cups of cider to the covering water, and only covered by 1 inch. I cooked it on the oven overnight at 250F] Cook, covered, over low heat for 2 1/2 hours or until tender enough to shred apart with a fork. Lift the meat out and transfer to a plate. Cool, then chop fine by hand or cut into chunks and chop in the food processor, using brief pulses. Finely chop suet and combine with beef in a large nonreactive pan. [note: ddon't shred, unless you really love the pulled meat texture. I made sure to chop through the fibers to shorten them]

Finely chop apples, figs, and dates: add to beef mixture. Add raisins and currants. Finely chop citron, orange peel, and lemon peel and stir in. Pour on the beef broth, cider, brandy, and rum. Bring to a simmer. Stir in the molasses, brown sugar, and jelly. Add salt and spices and stir to mix well. Simmer uncovered for 2 hours or until mixture has thickened to a juicy, relish-like consistency.

Homemade mincemeat may be canned in mason jars and stored for one year in a cool, dry place. Spoon hot mincemeat into sterilized quart jars, leaving 1″ headroom. Seal and process for 20 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. Or cool and transfer to plastic freezer containers or glass refrigerator jars. It may be frozen for six months or kept in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Comments

[acelightning73]

The suet will augment the beefy flavor, and it's crucial to the finished texture. One quart jar of homemade mincemeat will fill one 9" pie, more or less. It needs to have a top crust. And you can make pie crust with beef suet like you would with lard. A scoop of vanilla ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, or a slice of sharp cheddar cheese are traditional additions to a slice of mince pie. And all of the spices, alcoholic beverages, dried or candied fruits, and the long cooking time are crucial to the flavor.

And 4 quarts is one gallon, no wonder you need a bigger soup pot.

[minoanmiss]

takes notes

[dissectionist]

Because the recipe wasn’t super-clear about this, I want to clarify that it would need to be pressure-canned. Running a recipe like this through a hot-water canner (the kind most people have, which is suitable for high-acid fruits, or jams and jellies made from those) will result in jars of canned food that have a botulism risk. The meat and most of the fruits used in this are low-acid and it’s not swimming in lemon juice or vinegar (which would have lowered the pH to make it high-acid - think of pickles in brine, there’s a lot of brine). While it does have alcohol (which will lower pH), the quantity looks quite insufficient to render 4 lbs of low-acid ingredients safe for hot-water canning.

So if anyone decides to make this and can it, use a pressure canner only.

(Canning safety is A Thing of mine, and I can rant at length about how many mass-produced canning-specific cookbooks have unsafe recipes that weren’t assessed for safety, and among canning recipes found on the internet, studies show up to 80% are dangerous. Unless a person has the equipment and know-how to test pH for canning appropriately (you can’t just dip a pool-type pH strip into your mixture), or they know how to use a pressure canner safely and have one that is checked for accuracy on a regular basis, they should only use canning recipes provided by county extension offices or the major canning companies such as Ball. Those recipes have been rigorously checked for safety.)

[minoanmiss]

takes notes

[lokifan]

Wow, I've never heard of mincemeat! Like, in this sense. Mince pies in the UK are always just fruit, as you probably know. I had no idea this was a thing in New England.

[minoanmiss]

Actually (run! special interest coming up!) mincemeat used to have actual meat in it. This recipe is a throwback to those days, and is pretty close to old British mincemeat recipes I've read (not least in the use of mace). Nowadays commercial mincemeat is all fruit on both sides of the pond but if I'm making it why not use the old fashoned version?

[lokifan]

Oh, I actually knew British mince pies used to have meat in them, but when I Googled it sounded like maybe people in New England still did it.

Nowadays commercial mincemeat is all fruit on both sides of the pond but if I'm making it why not use the old fashoned version?

Very cool that you do historical recipes, even if this one didn't work out! Here even when I've known people to make it, they've never done the meat version - we always laugh when Americans think it has meat in it usually, haha - but it's a really fun idea.

[minoanmiss]

No, no, this is a deliberately old-fashioned recipe. I doubt many people who aren't crazy like me make mincemeat at all anymore, and only the overly literal would expect it to have meat in it. But I like historical cooking, and this batch smelled great, even after I burned it, hahahaa.

[hitchhiker]

i learnt about it from a james michener book! this is only the second time i've come across the fact.