Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Cooking, Travel League.

Tomato SauceHaving made the stuffed peppers the other day, I had run out of tomato sauce so took some time on Tuesday afternoon to make up a batch. It’s basically something I do ‘out of my head’ I sauté a bunch of chopped onions, and a few chopped cloves of garlic. Throw in a couple of cans of tomatoes and some chopped peppers, a glass of wine and I also add some herbs and plenty of seasoning. This I can use for spaghetti or anything else that calls for tomato sauce. I basically don’t like the taste of the canned stuff.

We are crossing our fingers for Thursday now, we areAt Towne Bowl 3 due to go on our Travel league bowling to Elmira which is a few miles and out in the country somewhat and guess what, snow is predicted. I hope they are as wrong about that as they were about the freezing rain last Saturday. So do me a favour and cross your fingers for us too. This is a picture of me at the bowling alley last winter. Don’t know why I haven’t posted it before.

Dixie of dcrelief said she hoped I was going to post a recipe for Mincemeat Tarts – the best I can offer is from my old, old cookbook Mrs. Beeton’s Cookery – my copy is about 78 years old. Having made it, you can then put it into a pastry shell (puff pastry is Mrs. Beeton’s recommendation) and bake. I must confess I have never tried to make this myself and if I do want to do anything with mincemeat, I buy a good brand. The original mincemeat did, in fact, have meat in it I understand. When I was a kid, I hated mince tarts or anything with mincemeat. I guess my taste buds grew up. However, as I said, I buy the tarts from the Crossroads restaurant and they are delicious. It being a Mennonite restaurant, I am guessing the mincemeat is homemade. For suet in the States, I am afraid you will have to go to a butcher and request some which you will then have to prepare yourself. A gill,  by the way, is 5 fl. oz.

Mincemeat

1 lb finely chopped suetMincemeat
1 lb. of currents
1 lbs raisins
1 lb chopped apples
1 lb sugar (it says castor but that is similar to sugar in North America)
1/2 lb sultanas
1/4 lb of shredded mixed candied peel
A lemon
1/2 gill brandy (see above)

small amounts of nutmeg, mace and cinnamon (she actually says half a salt spoon but although I have these, I have never seen anyone on this side of the pond who also has them) probably a quarter teaspoon.
Pare the lemons thinly, simmer the rinds in a little water until perfectly tender, then pound them or rub them through a fine sieve. Mix all the ingredients well together, press into a jar, cover closely and keep in a cool dry place for at least 1 month before using. Makes 4 to 5 lbs. mincemeat.

Have a great day
Jo_thumb[2]

23 comments:

  1. my dad is a mincemeat lover! I will eat it if I...have to. haha!! Happy turkey day, Jo!

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    1. I love it now but didn't as a kid. Thanks for the wishes Tammy, but our turkey day was in October. Happy turkey day to you though.

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  2. I make my own sauce; it's so much better. You are a very lovely woman. I hope the weather is kind and you two get to enjoy the day as planned.
    Wow - what a recipe for mincemeat. I had no idea of the variety of ingredients! This will be quite the challenge. Thank you for taking the request!!! Now to find that suet.

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    1. Me too Dixie. I hope you can find the suet it's not easy in the States. In the days of Mrs. Beeton they bought the raw suet from the butcher and prepared it themselves. These days in the UK and Canada we are spoilt and can buy it already prepared.

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  3. Hi Jo - love home-made tomato sauces .. and mincemeat .. I do love it - just not too happy with the pastry aspect: I love it, but it doesn't like me ... however the scent of cooking mince pies is to die for ... Christmas aromas ...

    Cheers and good luck with the weather .. Hilary

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    1. Me too Hils, I am not a big pastry eater, I don't love it, but it doesn't worry me in any way. 12 mince pies between Christmas and New Year don't forget!!

      Thanks, I do hope the weather will be kind.

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  4. I may have tried mincemeat once years ago. Not my cuppa tea. I don't think my adult tastebuds would like it. Every time you say Elmira, I assumed you were traveling to upstate New York. This must be one in Ontario? And I'm such a bad Italian.....I was raised on Ragu sauce from the jar, which was of course heavily doctored with meat and spices. But to my knowledge, no one made sauce from scratch.

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    1. I have, all my life, made it a rule to taste things I don't like every two years and usually find in the end I generally find they are delicious. Yes, Elmira in Ontario. I think your Italian family had been in North America too long by the sound of it. No self respecting Italian family would eat Ragu. Certainly not in Italy.

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  5. I have never had mincemeat. Looks like something I'd enjoy.

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    1. It is delicious. If you don't want to try making it, there should be some on sale in the stores, Crosse and Blackwell make a good one. I haven't made it myself in a long time, in fact I hadn't eaten it in years until I found the pies at the Crossroads.

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    2. I'm a scratch cook and would enjoy making it myself. That's where I'd have my fun, along with making small-medium homemade tart shells.

      I'm going to bookmark this page. Thanks :-)

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    3. I am too Ivy, but these days I find it hard to spend a lot of time standing without my back absolutely killing me so I am tending to take some of the easy ways out, so as they taste really good of course. For you it's obtaining the suet that will be a problem. The rest is easy enough. Wish I could send you some.

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    4. Thankfully, they sell it where I live.

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    5. I'm glad you can get it. Can't remember where you said you lived, or didn't you?

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    6. We live in an agricultural area. If you want to buy half a pig, or cow, no problem. Want trotters, knuckles, bones, fat, we've got that too.

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    7. Same here, but I never thought of having to buy suet from the farm. I am so used to being able to get it at the grocery store. My mother loved trotters but I wasn't keen. Maybe I would like them today.

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    8. The fat is at the local market it town. Though I will pass on the fat and make my mince, vegan (most likely).

      I never tried trotters. Though I very nearly bought them for the dogs, last week. Wanted to do some research first, make sure it won't hurt them.

      Do you know by chance?

      They love pig ears, and then this past week I got them bones from the butcher. Fun stuff. Way cheaper than the tractor store (where we buy their dog food).

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    9. Pig ears, do you mean the actual ear or the cheek which comes with it? That meat is absolutely delicious, first ate it in France. Wouldn't waste it on dogs. to feed my German Shepherds on raw tripe. Pretty disgusting stuff but they loved it. I don't mean the bleached prepared stuff.

      As for trotters, I would say the bones would be dangerous for dogs. only bones I ever gave mind were the big shin bones which the butcher would cut into 3 for me (three dogs) they love the marrow.

      I think suet is an essential component of mincemeat. Either the real thing or vegetable suet.

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  6. I didn't know what suet was so I had to look it up and this is what I found.
    The hard white fat on the kidneys and loins of cattle, sheep, and other animals, used to make foods such as puddings, pastry, and mincemeat. I had no idea!

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    1. Yes, I knew what it was, that was why I was telling people to go to the butcher. I guess you don't make too many puddings in Oz then. It really does make wonderful puddings. These days I gather the English tend to choose vegetable suet as being healthier, but what the heck that is I don't know and I am old fashioned enough to want real suet in my puds.

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  7. I 'cheat' and buy a good brand ready-made mincemeat ... then add some sherry or brandy to the mix before baking .... Not a huge fan of sweet foods but I do enjoy a mince pie with brandy butter occasionally

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    1. I would do that too, but these tarts are really delicious. I wonder if I could sprinkle them with brandy, never thought of that.

      I make rum butter, by preference. I could eat that by the spoonful

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