mincemeat
 

does anyone know what is mincemeat?

The mincemeat I grew up with with always home-made, and I avoided it at all costs. It's a combination of chopped fruit, various kinds of meat. Beef, pork, venison, whiskey or bourbon, shortening, spices, etc. My grandmother used to make it. It was served in a pie crust, either whole pie, or individual portions. Today you can find it pre-made in jars, or many local specialty shops have it.

thank you.
now i know why i never had it when i was younger. I'll keep away from it now.

We use it in some Italian Christmas cookies. My husband took some to work and people wouldn’t try them because of MEAT in the name. There isn’t meat in it anymore.

Tartan .... Exactly where my taste buds go, when I see/hear the mention of mincemeat!!!
Also, with maraschino cherries in the mix.

Lynnie ... you'd surely love our version!!

I love mince pie!! Joy of Cooking has a great recipe for mock mincemeat, no meat in it.

I just made a big batch of mincemeat cookies. There's no meat involved, and they are delicious.

Mincemeat is like a sweet relish or chutney.

We make green tomato mince meat. Grind up the tomatoes with apples, add raisins, currants, brown sugar, spices, vinegar etc. Cook it down, then can it. It is always better a couple years old, the flavours really mellow out.

If you look at historical recipes they did contain meat and or suet.

I like mincemeat tarts, I find a pie is too much mincemeat, I like it in small portions.

It has been years since I made Mincmeat Pies. It was to rich for my kids and most of the adults didn't care for it. It is expensive to make so I stopped making it. It has raisins, chopped apples, dates. little chunks of beef and some of the dripping from the cooked meat. Some people use other meats but my preference is beef only.
Store bought fillings is fair. I used it once but it is not as rich as homemade fillings.

As a child, xx yrs ago, Grandma lovingly made pie for me. I think she liked it too and was glad for the excuse. None-Such is the jar mincemeat I use. Had no idea what was in it. I'm the only person in my family who likes it. Maybe bars would be better so I can freeze them seperately and take out 1 when I really want a sugar fix.

My mother-in-law made some kind of steamed fruit pudding with hard sauce (sugar and butter and vanilla). Loved that too. One recipe made enough for 20 families. Kinda like fruit cake. You can't give it away. No longer have a recipe. Again freezing it 1/2 cup at each dollup.

Having grown up in Pennsylvania "Dutch" country, mincemeat to me has to contain meat products, usually beef and suet. A mince pie w/o meat is just a glorified raisin pie, IMO. I loved mincemeat pie as a child, and still do, though I indulge only rarely because it doesn't help my cholesterol level! Once I even made it from scratch, using a recipe in the Ball Blue Book. It turned out well, but I find it too scary using a pressure canner. Thankfully, I live near a market that carries authentic mincemeat produced by Groff's Meats in Elizabethtown, PA.