Confessions of a Liberal Puritan

I was thinking of making an old favorite pie recipe this weekend (cranberry/apple/mincemeat pie from an old Farm Journal Cookbook), but when I was pricing prepared mincemeat in the supermarket Thursday night I found that a single jar (the only kind of mincemeat they had in a huge, new Kroger) was 'on sale' for only six and a half bucks.

What, do they think my last name is Rockefeller, or something? Sheesh!

But then I remembered a re-run I'd recorded last weekend, where Nigella Lawson threw together a meat-less mincemeat in just a few minutes, not counting cooking time. Why should I let the fact that I didn't have half the ingredients she used deter me from doing likewise?

The funny part of this story? It's really GOOD mincemeat, in spite of the many, many liberties I took with Nigella's rough-and-ready recipe.

So here's the recipe I ended up making yesterday afternoon and then putting into a couple of pies last night, based on what I had on hand (no booze in the house apart from dry sherry, no dried fruit but raisins and dried cherries, no fresh cranberries, etc.). Any resemblance to Nigella Lawson's recipe at this point is pretty darn miraculous, frankly.

VEGETARIAN MINCEMEAT for pies:

-- Two unpeeled red apples, cored and chopped small
-- Generous half-cup of dark brown sugar
-- Generous half cup of dry sherry (or enough to cover most of the apple pieces in the bottom of a saucepan)
-- One heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon
-- One half-teaspoon ground ginger and a one-inch piece of unpeeled fresh ginger, grated
-- One heaping half-teaspoon ground cloves

(Heat until apples are soft and dark brown sugar and sherry have become a syrup.)

-- One and one-half cups raisins
-- One cup dried cherries
-- The zest and juice of one lemon and one orange
-- One fourth cup orange marmalade (just 'cause I figured, "why not?")

(Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool a few minutes.)

-- A drop or two of almond extract (not sure how necessary this is, but I had it in the cupboard, leftover from when I had to clean out grandma's kitchen 18 years ago, so . . .)
-- A generous splash of real vanilla extract
-- Several squirts of honey

(Stir vigorously until well combined.)

From what I can tell, the essential flavor elements seem to be the dark brown sugar, the ground cloves, and the citrus zest and juice, as well as the fresh and dried fruits. Maybe if I'd used only a teaspoon of ground ginger, rather than half that and a bunch of fresh ginger, then the almond extract, vanilla extract, and honey would've been more noticeable flavor elements. But I like the bite of the fresh ginger, which seemed to make the addition of brandy (which I didn't have) at the end unnecessary.

When the three cups or so of mincemeat from this recipe were combined with three chopped and peeled apples, one 14 ounce can of whole berry cranberry sauce, along with some cornstarch, white sugar, and a pinch of salt, and then baked in a couple of pies, the result was as warm and fragrant and tangy and Christmas-y as anyone could wish.

Over-priced and nondescript supermarket mincemeat? I am so over you!