ONLINE EXTRA — MINCEMEAT PIE: Apple Mincemeat Pie . . . Meatless Mincemeat Pie . . . Old-Fashionied Mincemeat Pie

Apple Mincemeat Pie

2 teaspoons ground flaxseed

2 tablespoons hot water

2/3 cup flour

½ cup buckwheat flour

2/3 cup shortening

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 to 3 tablespoons ice water

1 large tart apple, peeled and thinly sliced

3 cups prepared mincemeat

Combine flaxseed and hot water in a small dish, set aside to cool completely. Place flours into a mixing bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add cooled flaxseed mixture and mix in.

Combine vinegar and ice water and slowly add it to the flour, mixing until it just comes together. You may not need all the water.

Wrap dough in cling film and refrigerate 12 hours.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Roll out 2/3 of the dough and line a 9-inch pie tin, trimming the excess dough and reserving it for decoration. Line the shell with a layer of the thinly sliced apples. Pour mincemeat overtop of the apples.

Using the reserved pie dough, cut out a lattice or other shapes and decorate the top of the pie. Place into the oven and bake 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake a further 30 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving.

Yield: Serves 12.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 200 calories, 12 grams fat, no cholesterol, 5 milligrams sodium, 23 grams carbohydrates, 2 grams fiber, 2 grams protein.

Meatless Mincemeat Pie

1 18-ounce jar prepared mincemeat pie filling

1½ cups chopped walnuts

2 apples, peeled, cored, and chopped

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup rum

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 recipe pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie

Combine mincemeat, walnuts, apples, brown sugar, lemon juice and rum in a bowl. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Take filling out of refrigerator and let come to room temperature. Prepare crusts. Stir filling well and pour into shell. Top with full crust and make slits or make a lattice top. Crimp edges.

Bake in preheated oven on low shelf for 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: Serves 6.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 322 calories, 9.3 grams fat, no cholesterol, 262 milligrams sodium, 57.6 grams carbohydrates, 4.4. grams fiber, 1.5 grams protein.

Old-Fashioned Mincemeat Pie

1 pound stewing beef, boiled until thoroughly cooked (20 minutes or so), drained and ground.

5 large, firm, rich-flavored apples

1 cup ground suet (firm beef fat)

3 cups raisins

2 cups pineapple juice

2 cups canned beef broth, or beef concentrate diluted with the cooking water from the stewing beef.

2 cups sugar

½ cup cider vinegar

2½ teaspoons allspice (freshly ground is best)

2½ teaspoons ground cloves (ditto)

2 ½ teaspoons salt

2 to 4 peeled oranges, chopped and seeded

1 lemon, pulp and grated rind only

¼ to ½ cup marmalade

Rum or brandy (optional)

Grind or chop all the solid ingredients and mix everything together. Boil the filling, stirring occasionally, until it reduces to a fairly thick consistency. Cool and test a spoonful to see whether it needs more sugar. Keep in mind that it will thicken more when it is cool. Be careful that the bottom doesn’t get scorched. You can pour in a little dark rum or brandy or whatever to give it an extra punch.

To bake pies, pour the filling into your favorite pie crust, cover with a top crust or lattice. Seal and flute the edges. Make sure there is some sort of slit or steam hole in the top.

Bake at 425 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes until the juices begin to bubble up out of the holes in the top and the crust is browned. A glass pie plate will let you check how well the bottom has browned.

Serve at room temperature or slightly warmed, with whipped cream or straight. Again, because it contains meat, the pie should not sit out for days at a time. Refrigerated portions can be rewarmed in a conventional oven, but microwaving will toughen the crust.

English Mincemeat Pies

8 2½-inch pie shells

1½ cups mincemeat

FILLING:

½ pound beef suet, chopped fine

4 cups seedless raisins

2 cups dried currants

1 cup coarsely chopped almonds

½ cup coarsely chopped candied citron

½ cup coarsely chopped dried figs

½ cup coarsely chopped candied orange peel

¼ cup coarsely chopped candied lemon peel

4 cups coarsely chopped, peeled and cored cooking apples

1¼ cups sugar

1 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon cloves

2½ cups brandy

1 cup dry sherry

Combine the suet, raisins, currants, almonds, citron, figs, orange peel, lemon peel, apples, sugar, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and cloves in a large mixing bowl and stir them together thoroughly.

Pour in the brandy and the sherry and stir with a large spoon until all the ingredients are moist.

Cover the bowl and set the ingredients aside in a cool place (do not refrigerate) for at least 3 weeks. Check the mixture each week and replenish the absorbed liquor with more brandy and sherry, using about ¼ cup each time.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Place about 3 tablespoons of mincemeat into each pastry shell and cover with sheet of pastry, crimping the edges with a fork.

Place the stuffed pies on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and bake for an additional 20 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Let pies cool then remove from tin and serve with whipped cream or brandy butter.

Easy Mincemeat Pie

1 8-ounce jar preparted mincemeat (approximately 2 cups)

1½ cups chopped walnuts, lightly toasted

2 large apples, peeled, cored and diced

½ cup packed brown sugar

¼ cup rum or brandy

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Pastry for double-crust 9-inch pie

The day before, combine all ingredients, except pastry, until well mixed. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, reheat oven to 425 degrees. Line pie plate with pastry. Prick with fork or fill with pie weights. Prebake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven. Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees. Add undrained mincemeat to pie crust. For top crust, either prepare a lattice top or a full crust with slits. Seal and flute edges. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden. Serve warm with flavored whipped cream.

Pear Mincemeat Pie

1 28-ounce jar prepared mincemeat (3 cups)

6 canned large pear halves

6 maraschino cherries

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pastry. Spread mincemeat in pastry-lined pie pan. Press pear halves into mincemeat with cut sides up and narrow ends toward center. Place a cherry in hollow of each pear half. Cover with Lattice Top. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of aluminum foil to prevent excessive browning; remove foil last 15 minutes of baking. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until crust is nicely browned. Serve slightly warm and, if desired, top servings with whipped cream cheese and old-fashioned lemon sauce.

Mock Mincemeat Pie

1½ cups seedless or seeded raisins

1/3 cup dry sherry or brandy or rum

3 cups finely chopped apple

1/3 medium-size orange ground with peel

¼ cup lemon juice

1¼ cups sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon mace

¼ teaspoon cloves

¼ teaspoon ginger

Pastry for two double-crust 8-inch pies or one double-crust 10-inch pie

½ cup of melted butter

Put the raisins in a mixing bowl and add the sherry or brandy, letting the fruit soak up the liquor while you prepare the crust and peel the apples. Add all the ingredients for the filling. If using two pie pans, line with pastry, trim, and moisten the edges. Divide the filling into the pans and pour half the butter in each. Top with pastry, trim, crimp the edges, and cut slits in the top of the crust to allow steam to escape. If using one large pie pan, it should be about 2 inches deep. Bake at 450 degrees 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake 8-inch pies about 25 minutes longer and 10-inch pies about 35 minutes. Serve warm in small pieces with a sauce flavored with brandy, rum, sherry or a lemon.

Pilgrim Apple Mincemeat Pie

CRUST:

1 cup pastry flour

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 cup plus 1 tablespoon butter flavored shortening, chilled

1/3 cup ice cold water

1 tablespoon vinegar

1 egg, beaten

FILLING:

4 cups apples (Rome or Jonathan), peeled and sliced

2 tablespoons butter

2 teaspoons lemon juice

½ cup sugar

1 tablespoon tapioca

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ tablespoon heavy cream

1 27-ounce jar mincemeat

1 egg white, slightly beaten

1 tablespoon sugar

Pastry cutouts or dollops of whipped topping

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

For the pie crusts:

In a large bowl, combine the flours, salt, sugar and baking powder. Cut in shortening with a pastry blender until the mixture resembles cornmeal. In small bowl, mix water and vinegar with the beaten egg. Add the liquid mixture 1 tablespoon at a time to the flour mixture, tossing with a fork to form a soft dough. Shape into 3 disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator. Use 2 disks when making this pie. Freeze remaining dough for later use. Roll out 1 disk and place into a 9-inch pie dish for bottom crust.

For the apple filling: Combine the apples, butter and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 8 minutes. Cool slightly.

In a medium bowl combine the sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add slightly cooled apples and mix well. Stir in vanilla and cream. Place apple mixture into bottom of pie crust, spreading evenly.

Spread the mincemeat on top of apple filling. Roll out another dough disk and adjust over the filling. Flute edge and vent top. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 30 to 35 minutes longer, or until golden. Garnish, as desired, with baked pastry cut outs or whipped topping

Yield: Serves 8.

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