We were talking last night and Victor said he had never had a Mincemeat Pie.  I was surprised.  We’ve made mincemeat cookies in the past, but, looking back, I couldn’t really recall making a pie.

I decided I had to rectify the situation today!

I had most of the ingredients, I just needed a couple of apples and the suet.  Try finding suet out here in “afraid of fat” land.  It’s difficult enough trying to find lard!   I wasn’t about to drive all over hell and creation for 2 ounces of suet, so I substituted butter.  Close enough.

I also went looking for a recipe and couldn’t find one I liked, so I took the best of several and made one up.

And since we still had some lard in the ‘fridge, I made a real pie crust – 1 part butter to to parts lard.

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Perfect Flaky Pie Crust

  • 15oz flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 6oz lard
  • 3oz butter
  • 1/4 cup ice water

Place flour and salt in food processor.  Add lard and butter in small pieces.  Pulse a few times until crumbly.  Add ice water a bit at a time until it forms a ball.

Divide into two disks, one larger than the other, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour.

Mincemeat Filling

  • 2 apples, peeled and chopped
  • 1 cup golden raisins
  • 1 cup dark raisins
  • 1 cup dried currants
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 oz shredded beef suet (1/2 cup) (or 4 oz butter)
  • 1/2 cup brandy
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp minced lemon zest
  • 2 tsp minced orange zest
  • 1 tsp allspice
  • 1 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp ginger

Blend together all mincemeat ingredients in large pan.  Cook on low heat until thick.  Cool, then refrigerate.

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To assemble:

Preheat oven to 400°F.Place sheetpan in oven on middle rack.

Roll out dough  on a lightly floured surface into a 13-inch round and fit into a 10-inch glass pie plate. Spoon mincemeat into shell.

Top with second crust and crimp edges.  Cut steam holes in crust.

Bake until pastry is golden brown, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

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The crust was melt-in-your-mouth-flaky.  The filling was just tart enough and not too sweet.  A hint of the brandy and a hint of the spices, but nothing overpowered anything else.

And the best thing about all of this is we haven’t gained any weight.  The weight loss has stopped, but we haven’t gained anything.

If we can keep this up until January 1st…..