What kind of meat is mincemeat

I found this recipe and decided to try it. I followed some other reviews and made it a month ahead of time and doubled the recipe. I made no other changes. It smelled wonderful when I would stir it weekly. I made traditional mince pies mini pies for Thanksgiving and only made a dozen thinking no one but my husband would eat them.

I was so wrong! They were delish! Hearty spicy and sweet! I made another two dozen and had plenty of mincemeat left over for Christmas. I froze the rest of the mincemeat and made another two dozen for Christmas. This is now a regular recipe for us. Thanks so much for giving us a new and delicious family tradition! I don't know much about mincemeat pie but I do have to say this recipe was scrumptious!

Rating: 4 stars. The recipe says to make the mincemeat several weeks in advance and a couple reviewers said they did so a month ahead. My question is this: does the meat get preserved in all the sugar and fruit?

I worry about the meat spoiling from being in the frig that long. Thanks for any help you can give. Karen Harbaugh. In the past I detested mincemeat because I have only had the kind that comes in a jar. This time I decided to try to make some from scratch as my son and daughter-in-law asked me to for their Victorian style Christmas dinner they are experimenting with old-fashioned meals; they no doubt thought that Mom should experiment too.

I chose this recipe because it was rated highly--I found out for good reason! This recipe has changed my mind about mincemeat! While I didn't have all the ingredients I used ground venison instead of beef used good sipping brandy instead of apple cider--increased the amount of brandy by another half cup and used chopped up tart dried cherries instead of the cherry preserve it nevertheless came out tasting great! I am now a fan of mincemeat pie and will make this great recipe again.

Oh and I gave my son and daughter-in-law a sample and their response was "Oh wow! This practice was often associated with Roman Catholicism, which prompted the Puritans — in both England and American colonies — to outlaw mincemeat pie due to its idolatrous nature. Today, mincemeat pie has significantly less religious and political implications in our society than in the past.

Currently, it's easy to find both mincemeat pies that are still made with beef suet and a small amount of minced meats usually beef and all-vegetarian mincemeat pies are readily available as well, especially if you purchase a pre-made jar of mincemeat filling.

If you're interested in trying this richly historied pastry, then maybe bake both a meat and vegetarian version to learn what you like best. An easy starting place is with our recipes listed below. By Hayley Sugg. In honor of the birth of the Savior, the mince pie was originally made in an oblong casings coffin or cradle shaped , with a place for the Christ Child to be placed on top.

The baby was removed by the children and the manger pie was eaten in celebration. These pies were not very large, and it was thought lucky to eat one mince pie on each of the twelve days of Christmas ending with Epiphany, the 6th of January.

Over the years, the pies grew smaller, the shape of the pie was gradually changed from oblong to round, and the meat content was gradually reduced until the pies were simply filled with a mixture of suet, spices and dried fruit, previously steeped in brandy. This filling was put into little pastry cases that were covered with pastry lids and then baked in an oven. To make Pyes — Pyes of mutton or beif must be fyne mynced and ceasoned wyth pepper and salte, and a lyttle saffron to coloure it, suet or marrow a good quantite, a lyttle vyneger, prumes, greate raysins and dates, take thefattest of the broathe of powdred beyfe, and yf you wyll have paest royall, take butter and yolkes of egges and so tempre the flowre to make the paeste.

Typical was his recipe for Minst Pye which used practically the same ingredientsthat go into a modern mince pie. In London, soldiers were ordered to go round the streets and take, by force if necessary, food being cooked for a Christmas celebration.

The smell of a goose being cooked could bring trouble. Cromwell considered pies as a guilty, forbidden pleasure. The traditional mincemeat pie was banned. King Charles II restored Christmas when he ascended the throne in Maybe this was done to originally hide the fact that these were actually mince pies which were banned during the Christmas celebration in England, and possibly the tradition just continued for many years.

Christmas was actually banned in Boston from to Those celebrating it were fined. The mincemeat could be made ahead and kept even longer. In the book, Swan among the Indians: life of James G. The traditional holiday was a welcome break from the unloading and distribution of a shipment of goods promised to the Makah by the treaty they had signed in James Swan, a periodic resident in Neah Bay, had, in the absence of the trader, prepared a feast of roast goose and duck stew, presenting for dessert a mince pie made from whale meat.

The Indians, he wrote later, had brought him a fresh piece of whale meat months earlier that looked every bit as good as red beef. He had boiled it and cut it finely, adding chopped apples and wild cranberries, raisins, currants, salt, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and brown sugar. After packing it into a ten-gallon stone jar, he had added a quart of New England rum and sealed it for future use. Would the traditional mince pie, he worried, be welcomed if the diners learned it was made from whale?

Yankee mincemeat was made from domestic animals or venison. His fears were soon dispelled. The small portions he had cautiously served were quickly downed and second helpings demanded by all. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Jump to Recipe Print Recipe. Use this mincemeat to make Homemade Mince Pie Or create your own twists by using it for mincemeat cake or muffins!

Few people today know what REAL mincemeat should taste like, today's version paling in comparison to the mincemeat that has been a household tradition for centuries. Give this traditional version a try and even if you've always hated mincemeat this may just be the one to convert you! Print Recipe 4. Prep Time 15 mins. Cook Time 2 hrs. Total Time 2 hrs 15 mins.

Course condiment, Dessert, Ingredient. Cuisine British. Servings 1 quart. Calories 96 kcal. Combine all ingredients except for the brandy and rum in a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to LOW and simmer uncovered for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, more towards the end to prevent burning.

Stir in the brandy and rum. Note: If you prefer to have the alcohol cooked out, add them at the same time as the other ingredients. Spoon the hot mincemeat into sterilized jars. As the mixture cools the suet will harden, creating a seal to help preserve the mincemeat. If you're storing it for more than a couple of weeks follow the directions in the blog post for pressure canning the mincemeat for longer-term storage.

Makes about 1 quart. Feel free to double, triple, etc, as needed. Use this mincemeat to make Homemade Mince Pies! Note: Mincemeat is traditionally stored for several months before using to allow time for the flavors to deepen, however this mincemeat is also delicious eaten within just a few days.

Note: Another way to make mincemeat is to skip the cooking process and to pack the raw mixture directly into sterilized jars and store in the fridge for at least 2 days and up to 2 weeks be sure to use the freshest meat and then to cook the mixture directly into the pies.