So Plans of Change ;-) I have begun the Mincemeat Recipe from Mrs Beeton, with suitable amendments for the modern palate; leave out the 1 1/2 lb lean beef and 3 lbs of suet ;-) as well, for the citron, I tried substituted the zest of one lime and for the candied peel I substituted mixed peel; this was before we went out shopping for the raisins, and found the peel I was missing; I have cut the recipe in half, for expedience sake; it may not measure up to expectations; at the bottom you will find her recipe as found in Wikipedia's entry;
Amended Mince Meat Recipe as I made it this year; next year I will omit the lime zest and the candied peel ;-)
2 1/2 lbs or 1/2 pottle of apples
1 lb of raisins (mix of dark and light is good)
2 lbs of currants in preserve
1 lb of Dark Brown Sugar
1 lime, the zest (put in before we went shopping ;-)
2 oz candied citron peel
2 oz candied orange peel
2 oz candied lemon peel
2 oz of mixed candied peel (put in before we went shopping ;-)
1/2 sm nutmeg
1 lemon, the peel minced (chopped) (scraped the white pith)
1 lemon, 1/2 the juice
1/2 pint or 1 cup of brandy; I used the almond sherry
For today, I began by weighing out 3 lbs of apples from which I was able, after paring and coring, to have 2 1/2 lbs of apples or 1/2 pottle; then I took a pastry cutter/blender and mashed the apple into manageable sizes; ie pea and slightly bigger; to this I added 1 cup (1/2 pint) of alcohol, in this case almond sherry; I was at first worried that the almond flavour would over power the rest, but it hasn't;
then I added a jar of preserved black currants from NoFrills, they are an import from Poland; the contents weigh about 2 lbs, including the syrup, so I figure I am getting a minimum of 1 1/2 lbs of currants; I put in 2-3 oz of mixed candied peel, that I had left over from last year; and grated 1/2 of a small nutmeg; to which I added the 1 lb of dark brown sugar; I will go and grate the zest off of one lime and that will be as much as I can do for now, until I get out to pick up the raisins and lemon; then it will be done;
I had the idea of adding imitation currants (the dried currants that are sold at bulk barn, are actually a small grape) and ground cranberry to substitute for the meat, but have decided to pass on that for this try;
Some observations:
I have found making this mincemeat to be rather a quicker one than the previous ones that I have done; perhaps it has to do with the quantity, as the peeling and coring takes a lot of the time, but then too, some of the other ingredients like the oranges, take a lot longer to process;
the added benefit of putting in the liquor to the apples, is that they stop turning brown, remaining white;
and the REAL black currants definitely add something to the smell and flavour of the mix; I think though, next time, I might crush 1/2 of them before adding;
the candied peel does not make as big an impact as in modern recipes, which call for more, so I think the old peel may have had more flavour to it than present day peel
Thomas says that the Citron is half way between a lemon and lime, so I am in the right territory with the lime zest;
Well, I found the orange peel, lemon peel, AND the citron peel, at the Bulk Barn; I bought Thompson's Seedless Raisins, and Sultana Raisins; and added the lemon, which I scraped the white pith off; and chopped up the remaining peel and added the juice; it does taste a lot different than regular bought mincemeat now; more tangy; so now I have it in a plastic container with lid, and it works out to about 7-8 lbs; it appears wet, but think the raisins will soak up some of that; will see how it is in 3 weeks ;) think a pie is most appropriate at this point in time;
A 19th century recipe c. 1865, by Mrs Beeton
2 lbs raisins
3 lbs currants
1½ lbs lean beef
3 lbs beef suet
2 lbs moist sugar
2 oz citron
2 oz candied lemon peel
2 oz candied orange peel
1 small nutmeg
1 pottle of apples
the rind of two lemons, the juice of one
1/2 pint brandy
Stone and cut the raisins once or twice across, but do not chop them; wash, dry and pick the currants free from stalks and grit, and mince the beef and suet, taking care the latter is chopped very fine; slice the citron and candied peel, grate the nutmeg, and pare, core and mince the apples; mince the lemon peel, strain the juice and when all the ingredients are thus prepared, mix them well together, adding the brandy when the other things are well blended; press the whole into a jar, carefully exclude the air, and the mincemeat will be ready for use in a fortnight
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