MINCEMEAT PIE

MINCEMEAT WAS ONCE A COMMON ITEM put up every fall along with tomatoes and pickles. Rich, jamlike mincemeat takes on many forms but is commonly a mixture of apples, dried fruits, spices, alcohol, suet, and minced meat. Mincemeat originated in the Middle Ages, when the mixing of sweet and savory flavors was much more common. Meatless versions date back at least a century and make more sense to the modern cook not accustomed to the combination of sweet and savory.

Our first challenge was to replace the suet with butter. This was easy enough. The filling has a lighter flavor with butter, but is still rich and delicious. We also found that a combination of soft McIntosh apples and firmer Granny Smiths works best. The tart Granny Smiths hold their shape during the long cooking process, while the sweeter McIntosh apples fall apart and help thicken the filling.

As for the dried fruits, we like the combination of golden raisins, currants, and candied orange peel. The dark brown sugar gives the filling a rich molasses flavor and the modest amounts of spice add depth without overpowering the fruits.

Long cooking is essential when making mincemeat. The ingredients need time to cook down and meld into a thick, rich mixture. However, we found that by the time we had cooked the fruit down into a soft mass with concentrated flavors, the pot was dry and there was not enough syrup to moisten the crust.

Many recipes add a lot of rum, brandy, or other spirits, but we felt that more than one-third cup was overpowering. After several missteps, we hit upon an easy solution. We added apple cider, which reinforces the apple flavor and keeps the mincemeat moist but does not stand out. Some of the cider goes into the pot at the start of the cooking time, the rest when the fruit has cooked down (after about three hours) along with the alcohol. We then simmer the mincemeat for another ten minutes or so, just until this liquid reduces to a dense syrup.