Mincemeat Pie - Week 45

Mincemeat is the least understood of pie fillings.

Just a generation ago, this pie was a staple at most holiday dinners. Today, most people put up their nose when they hear of it. From my research I discovered there are many interpretations of the preparation of the filling. In fact, I put more thought and planning in this pie than any other pie that I had made so far. 

Just when I thought it was time to give up on this mysterious pie, my friend Wendy insisted she had a great recipe. So I decided I would follow through with it.  Taking her recipe, I found an almost identical recipe in an old "Ball Blue Book".  It included an addition of an orange. And, with the affirmation from my mom that she also had eaten this almost identical mincemeat filling from her friend. I proceeded.

I had retained a few leftover green tomatoes from my garden. I borrowed a grinder to prepare the ingredients. I bought a container of allspice and my fruits, and I bought some suet from the packing plant (suet is commonly mixed with deer meat to make summer sausage). I was ready to go.

I took the ingredients and started to feed them through the hand grinder. A little bit of everything in each feed. I found that it made quite the mess, so if you're using a manual grinder make sure you put a bowl underneath it to catch the juice. 

After it was ground, it was time to cook it. The fragrant smell while it cooked was fantastic. I was anxious to try it, but I needed to store it for later for Thanksgiving when I would make a pie. I have never canned, so I decided to freeze it instead.

Ingredients:
12-20 green tomatoes (depending on size, small is preferred)
9 apples (pared, chopped)
1 orange (seeded, chopped)
1 lb raisins
1 cup suet
3 cups sugar
1 T. salt
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. allspice
1 cup vinegar

Directions:
Using a grinder, grind tomatoes, apples, orange, and suet together. Use a balanced mix of fruit and suet when loading the grinder to keep things moving smoothly through the grinder. 

In large pot, add mix, sugar, salt, cinnamon, allspice, and vinegar. Cook for 1 hour.

Either can in pint jars, or freeze in 2 cup servings.

Use double crust pastry and 2 cups of filling for each pie.
Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Even though this wasn't everyone's favorite.

I think this was a successful recipe.

Wendy also tells me that it makes fantastic muffins,

I will be trying that soon with some of my leftover mincemeat.

Do you like mincemeat? 

Is it something that you can remember on your holiday table?

Millionaire Pie - Week 13

 This rich, creamy dessert stands up to its name.

I love food names that sensationalizes the food item. Some other things that came to mind: Neiman Marcus Dip, Ultimate Dessert, Best Ever Corn Casserole, or Angel Food Cake.  When I was first married, I tried a "Champion Casserole".  I must have misread something in the directions because there was nothing champion or winning about it. We had a good laugh when we were trying to eat it and I exclaimed that "I figured it had to be good, it is a CHAMPION casserole!"



This is another easy as pie recipe. It will take you minutes to get it in your freezer to have ready for your next meal.  The recipe calls for it to be chilled, but I placed mine in the freezer and then took it out 30 minutes before serving.

One of the treats that I discovered while I was shopping for ingredients is the large jar of maraschino cherries.  I am anxious to find more recipes to use my entire jar, maybe a pineapple upside-down cake.

The coconut is optional, however it adds the perfect texture for this pie; so I highly recommend it. Pecans are optional too; I did not use them, but I know you nut-lovers will want to add them to yours.









Ingredients:

2 graham cracker crusts
1 - 15 oz. can Mandarin Oranges, drained
1 - 20 oz. can Crushed Pineapple, drained
1/2 cup Maraschino Cherries, chopped
1 - 14 oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 - 8 oz. container whipped topping
1 cup coconut flakes, optional
1 cup chopped pecans, optional








Directions:
Mix all ingredients and pour into pie crusts. Chill for a couple of hours and serve.

This pie would be an enjoyable addition to Easter dinner.

I also think this pie recipe is another great candidate for substitutions. 

I would love to try it with peaches and pineapple. 

What do you think would taste splendid in your Millionaire Pie?

Blood Orange Curd Pie - Week 3

Blood Oranges to brighten your January in a pie produces a different result.

Did you know that blood oranges are in season?

Blood oranges w/a lemon on the
lower left and a handy-dandy squeezer. 

The availability is from January to March and they keep best refrigerated rather than in the fruit bowl. Pick ones that are firm and not spongy to the touch. They are smaller than a a typical orange and have a tart, almost berry taste.

I wanted the pie selection for each week to match what was in season, and when I saw an older recipe for orange pie, which I never recall having, I decided that would be a perfect way to brighten the month of January.

However, even with the best intentions this uncommon pie just turned out unusual. I do feel that it does have some redeeming qualities; so follow through with me.

The crust was definitely our favorite part of this pie. It is a simple shortbread crust that would fit well with other pie filling. I'm definitely going to hang on to it for another time. It is even a pat-in crust that may be a good fit for bakers that don't care to use a rolling pin. 


Ingredients – Shortbread Crust:

1 cup Flour

1/3 cup Powdered sugar

½ t. Salt

½ cup Butter

½ t. Almond Flavoring

1 Egg Yolk

Directions – Shortbread Crust:

Mix ingredients well and press into pie plate. Bake empty shell 8 minutes at 375 degrees just until puffed slightly. Let cool while making curd.

When you are patting it in, it tends to be extremely sticky; so I used a little bit of cooking spray on my fingertips to help with that. After that you will want to stick it in a freezer for a few minutes to have it set up nice before baking it.

Ingredients – Orange Curd:
2 t. blood orange zest
1 cup Fresh Blood Orange juice, (about 4 oranges)
1/4 cup Lemon juice
1 cup sugar

4 whole eggs

1 egg yolk

1/4 cup Butter,

cut into 1/2” cubes

Directions – Orange Curd:
In a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high to high heat, whisk together the orange zest, blood orange juice, lemon juice, sugar, eggs, and egg yolk. Cook the curd, stirring constantly with spatula, for about 10 minutes until it starts to thicken and coats the spatula being careful for it not to curdle. If it does curdle, you can remove the curdled bits after wards if needed. Set aside and let cool for 10 minutes. Pour the cooled curd into the shell, and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes until filling is set on edges, but inside filling is not. Let cool and then refrigerate for 2-3 hours before serving.

I had some difficulty with the filling. In fact, it was not at all like I thought it would turn out the first time; so I tried it a second time. And, it produced 2 completely different results.

The first try, I was too cautious about burning or curdling my filling; so I took my time and cooked it over medium-low heat, and it would never set up. But, I figured it would finish in the oven and it remained soupy and I kept on baking it and eventually burnt the crust and it was still runny. However after a night in the fridge it was setup the next day. With the overbaked (burnt) crust, it was a disappointment.

The second attempt, I made in a personal size pie dish and halved the recipe; so that is why it looks like a miniature piece of pie.

I wanted to make sure I did not have a runny filling; so I cranked up the heat to high (I used a double-boiler, since my saucepans are very thin and not the heavy saucepan as the recipe recommends.) And I made sure I cooked it for the full 10 minutes. This time, it was almost too set, and was hard to spread in my crust. It had the curd look and taste that the first attempt did not have.