Mincemeat pie

“ Pepper and salt sprinkled his clothing,158 which seemed made from orange and lemon peel. About his waist was a queer girdle from which wee sugar bowls, molasses jugs and vinegar cruets jingled together, while he tossed gay coloured apples into the air, caught them skilfully and then disposed of them in various pockets.
With a gay nod he cried, “Can no one answer the question? Let me tell you a little about myself, and then perhaps you can.
“You have all told how necessary you are. Let me tell you there would never have been a mince pie without me, nor anything else worth while. ”

“ Mince pie is most palatable when served warm, but it is entirely permissible to make several pies at a time and then warm them in the oven before serving. In this way they may be kept over for several days. Pie of this kind made with the usual ingredients is a heavy dessert, for it contains a certain amount of protein material and is high in fat and carbohydrate. This fact should be taken into consideration in meal planning, so that the dessert may balance properly with the other food.
MINCE PIE
4 lb. ”

“ Lay a sheet of paste all over a soup-plate. Fill it with mince-meat, laying slips of citron on the top. Roll out a sheet of paste, for the lid of the pie. Put it on, and crimp the edges with a knife. Prick holes in the lid.
Bake the pies half an hour in a brisk oven.
Keep your mince meat in a jar tightly covered. Set it in a dry, cool place, and occasionally add more brandy to it.
Instead of the heart or tongue, you may, if you choose, use part of a round of fresh beef.
PLUM PUDDING One pound of raisins, stoned and cut in half. ”

“ Mince Pie should always be made with two crusts. Line pie plate with pastry page 26, fill with mince meat, cover with pastry and bake in hot oven 25 minutes.
MINCE MEAT 2 lbs. fresh lean beef, boiled and chopped fine when cold 1 lb. suet, chopped very fine 5 lbs. chopped apples 1 lb. seeded raisins 2 lbs. currants 3⁄4 lb. sliced citron 11⁄2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 grated nutmeg 2 tablespoons ground mace 1 tablespoon ground cloves 1 tablespoon allspice 1 tablespoon fine salt 21⁄2 lbs. brown sugar 1 qt. sherry or boiled cider 1 pt. brandy or grape juice
Mix all ingredients thoroughly. ”

“ The definition in Murray's Oxford Dictionary is "a mixture made of currants, raisins, sugar, suet, apples, almonds, candied peel, etc., and sometimes meat chopped small; used in mince pies"; which shows that in England, also, meat is not always an ingredient. It is only fair to consumers, however, that the law should compel the manufacturers to print the ingredients in each case on the label. Mince pie with meat is certainly better than mince pie without.
Perhaps I erred in saying that pumpkin pie is, next to apple pie, the most characteristic American pastry dish. ”

“ If the meat is not fat, put in a little suet, or melted butter. Moisten the whole with cider—sweeten it to the taste with sugar, and very little molasses—add mace, cinnamon, cloves, and salt, to the taste. If you wish to make your pies rich, put in wine or brandy to the taste, and raisins, citron, and Zante currants. The grated rind and juice of lemons improve the pie. Make the pies on shallow plates, with apertures in the upper crust, and bake them from half to three-quarters of an hour, according to the heat of the oven. ”

“ Many varieties of pies are made with only one crust, and these usually prove more attractive than those having two crusts. As a rule, the filling is a custard or a corn-starch mixture, but often fruits of various kinds, as well as pumpkin and squash, are used in the making of pies of this kind. Frequently, meringue is used as a covering for one-crust pies; or, if an especially delicious dessert is desired, a thick layer of stiffly beaten and sweetened whipped cream is often added to the pie just before serving. ”

“ He was gobbling mincemeat, meatbone, bread, cheese, and pork pie, all at once: staring distrustfully while he did so at the mist all round us, and often stopping—even stopping his jaws—to listen. Some real or fancied sound, some clink upon the river or breathing of beast upon the marsh, now gave him a start, and he said, suddenly,—
“You're not a deceiving imp? ”

“ Mince Pie.
The best kind of meat for mince pies is neat’s tongue and feet—the shank of beef makes very good pies. Boil the meat till perfectly tender—then take it up, clear it from the bones and gristle, chop it fine enough to strain through a sieve, mix it with an equal weight of tart apples, chopped very fine. ”

“ Divide butter in three or four parts and chill; chop one portion into the flour, mix with ice water, and roll in the remainder. Roll and fold several times. If it grows sticky, chill till it hardens.
Mock Mince Pie—No. 1.
2 pounds powdered crackers, 1 cup molasses, 1 of cider, 1 of chopped raisins, 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 of clove, 2 of cinnamon, 1 of mace, 1 of nutmeg. This quantity makes two pies. Bake forty minutes.
Mock Mince Pie—No. 2.
1 cup bread or cracker crumbs, 1 of raisins, 1 of vinegar, 1 of sugar, 1 of molasses, 1 of water, 1/2 of butter, 1 of currants. Spice to taste. ”

“ The American pie is perhaps the most ridiculed of all dishes. It has, however, great popularity and undoubted merits. Were the crust, especially the under one, always right, it would remove the most salient point of criticism. The tart pies, made with puff-paste, are a temptation to the most fastidious taste. The mince pie, probably the most indigestible of all, is the one universally accepted as a treat, and seldom refused by the scoffer. Pies have their seasons, like other good things, the apple pie being the only one served the year round. ”

“ Gradually the meat was left out, and more sweets introduced, until the product resulted in the modern mince pie, in which, however, some housewives still introduce a little chopped meat. There is no luck for the wight who does not eat a mince pie at Christmas. If he eat one, he is sure of one happy month ”

“ Pound the whole briskly for five minutes, then add two ounces of well-pounded macaroons (No. 1210) , and mix again for two minutes more. Line a pie-plate as for mince pie (No. 1082) , pour all the preparation over, cover, and bake exactly the same as for the mince pie; when arranged on a dessert-dish, decorate the top and sides artistically with two ounces of candied cherries, three ounces of pear, one of angelica, two of apricot, and two of pineapple, all the fruits being candied, then send to the table.
1106. Peach Tarts. ”

“ Dissolve the hard sugar from the candied peel in the orange and lemon juice, and add it, with the grated rind, to the mincemeat. Mix all well together in a large pan, add the brandy, liqueur, and wines. Press the mincemeat closely into stone jars, after again thoroughly mixing it, and cover it closely. Keep it in a cool, dry place. Should a mincing machine be used, the ingredients for mincing should be mixed before putting them through it, except the suet, which is always better chopped with an ordinary chopper. ”

“ Boil the lard and water together, pour boiling on the flour, having first made a hole in the flour; mix well, and let it stand by the side of the fire—it must not be too cold or too hot, or it will not raise nicely; mould it as an ordinary raised pie the size you wish, fill the pies with the meat cut in very small square pieces, season it, pour a little water in, put on the lid, pinch the edges together, trim round with scissors, and ornament with leaves formed with a paste cutter; let the pies stand at least 4 hours before baking, put them in rather a slow oven, bake 11⁄2-2 hours ”

“ Peek-a-boo waist is the pneumonia waist in September. THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY OCTOBER The baby's favorite, often heard at night—a high-bawl in A flat. HELPFUL HINT FOR NOVEMBER
Do not put brandy in your mince pies. It spoils it—the brandy, we mean.
We cannot speak too strongly against the pernicious habit of doctoring mince meat with brandy. It lures men on. The first baleful bite rouses the appetite, and soon they will be eating mince pie after mince pie all day, and eventually be laid up with indigestion. ”

“ Mock Mince Pie.—To four quarts green tomatoes, chopped fine, allow three pounds brown sugar, the juice of two lemons and their yellow rind, grated, a tablespoonful each cinnamon, allspice and salt, half a teaspoonful cloves and a tablespoonful of grated nutmeg. Put into a porcelain lined kettle and simmer gently until reduced one half in bulk. Now add two pounds and one-half seeded raisins, or part raisins and part currants or chopped prunes and a cup of boiled cider. Then cook an hour or two longer until thick. Bake as any mince pie. ”

“ Chill until thick, but not firm. Put ice cold milk into a cold bowl and whip with cold rotary beater, or electric beater at high speed, until stiff. Fold in chilled gelatin mixture. Put into chilled 9-inch Graham Cracker Crust (page 4) . Sprinkle top with nutmeg if desired. Chill at least 3 hours.
ROYAL MINCE
Turn on oven and set at 450 (extremely hot) .
Line a 9-inch pie pan with unbaked pastry.
Pour into pastry-lined pan. Bake on center rack of oven 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 (moderate) and bake 30 minutes longer, or until firm. Serve warm or cold. ”

“ Have ready about 1/2 pint of very strong gravy, pour it through a funnel into the hole at the top, stop up the hole with a small leaf of baked paste, and put the pie away until wanted for use. Should it acquire too much colour in the baking, cover it with white paper, as the crust should not in the least degree be burnt. Mushrooms, truffles, and many other ingredients, may be added to enrich the flavour of these pies, and the very fleshy parts of the meat may be larded. These pies are more frequently served cold than hot, and form excellent dishes for cold suppers or breakfasts. ”

“ Stew the apples or peaches and sweeten to taste. Mash smooth and season with nutmeg. Fill the crusts and bake until just done. Put on no top crust. Take the whites of three eggs for each pie and whip to a stiff froth, and sweeten with three tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar. Flavor with rose-water or vanilla; beat until it will stand alone; then spread it on the pie one-half to one inch thick; set it back into the oven until the meringue is well "set." Eat cold. ”

“ Mutton or lamb dripping are unfit for pie crust, as they make it taste of tallow. Suet will not do at all for baked paste, though very good if the paste is to be boiled. Butter and lard will make a nice plain paste for pies, if both are fresh and good; the butter to be rubbed into the flour, mixed with a little cold water, and rolled out; the lard to be spread evenly all over the sheet; then folded and rolled out again. Meat pies should always have a bottom crust, as the gravy it imbibes makes it very relishing. Veal pies are insipid without the addition of some cold ham. ”

“ It is therefore to other properties than those which make their appeal to the palate that we must confine ourselves in our mention of mince-pie.
The origin of this famous dish, like that of the heroic in all kinds and classes, is involved in fable. By some it has been supposed, from the Oriental ingredients which enter into its composition, to have a reference (as probably had also the plum-porridge of those days) to the offerings made by the wise men of the East ”

“ The pie crust is prepared as in No. 16. The mince filling is prepared by cooking the lean beef in a little water, then removing fat and membranes, and chopping it fine. Apples are peeled, cored, chopped. Mix apples, meat, molasses, sugar, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, suet, chopped fine, cider, raisins, currants, citron, butter, salt and brandy, put into the crust and bake 45 minutes. ”

“ Mix the sugar, flour and salt for each pie in a bowl by itself. When the bottom crust is on the pan, spread about half the sugar mixture over it, put in a generous quantity of apples so that when baked the pie will be level, not depressed, and sprinkle the remainder of the mixture over, taking pains to have a little more at the edges because of not having any underneath there. It is very disappointing to find the last mouthfuls of pie near the crust less sweet than the first from the center. ”

“ Always prick the lower crust of a pie carefully with a fork to allow the air to escape; this will prevent blisters forming in the crusts baked before filling crusts with custards.
APPLE CUSTARD PIE
To 1 cup of hot apple sauce (unsweetened) add a tiny pinch of baking soda, 1 tablespoonful of butter, 1 cup of sugar, grated rind and juice of half a lemon or orange, 2 egg yolks, 1⁄2 cup of sweet cream and 1 large teaspoonful of corn starch. Line a pie-tin with pastry, pour in this mixture and bake. ”

“ To be sure I am, and a lot of work it took160 to make this pie. All over the world many, many people had many busy days.
“Can’t you just see them picking the raisins; sugaring the citron; grinding spice; cutting the wheat; packing the oranges; taking care of the cow; gathering the apples, and crushing them in the mill for cider?
“Oh, my dears, there is always work. Johnny Appleseed did an endless amount of work, and see what came from it. ”

“ Pies are not necessarily unwholesome articles of diet. They may be just good rich unleavened bread and fruit. Perhaps the greatest objection to pies occasionally, is the length of time it takes to make them, for paste that will make a tender crust cannot be rolled out in a hurry. It is better to have something else for dessert when one has not time to make a good pie.
Suggestions
Always use pastry flour (winter wheat) for pie crust. Bread flour requires more shortening, creeps together when rolled and does not make a nice, tender crust when you have done your best with it. ”