A Jolly Good Mince Pie Food

TRADITIONAL BRITISH MINCE PIE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Place the flour, butter, and salt into a large clean bowl.
• Rub the butter quickly into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles rough sand.
• Stir the egg into the mixture using a cold knife.
• Add the cold water, a teaspoon at a time, and stir until the mixture binds but is not sticky.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes and up to 30 minutes.
• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 400 F / 200 C / Gas Mark 6. Choose a muffin or bun tin for the size of the tart you want. Choose from a standard 12-cup muffin tin down to small canapé size. The number of pies will depend on the size of the tin you use.
• Dust a work surface lightly with a little flour and roll out 2/3 of the pastry to 1/8 inch thick. Cut circles to line the cups of your tin; don't worry if the pastry doesn't come to the very top.
• Fill the pastry-lined tins 2/3 full with mincemeat.
• Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness and cut smaller circles to fit as lids on the tarts or, to be decorative, cut stars or other fancy shapes.
• Dampen the edges of the tart bases with a little cold water and press the lids on. Make a small hole in the surface of each pie with a small sharp knife to allow the steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes (15 minutes if making canapé-sized ones), or until golden brown.
• Let cool and sprinkle with the confectioners' sugar.
• Serve and enjoy.

MINCE PIES

Steps:

• Place 375g plain flour and 260g softened unsalted butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency.
• Add 125g caster sugar and 1 large beaten egg, and mix together.
• Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix.
• Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10 mins.
• Scoop the large jar of mincemeat into a bowl and add 2 segmented satsumas, 1 finely chopped apple and zest of 1 lemon.
• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
• Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick.
• Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into muffin trays. Put 1½ tbsp mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg.
• Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the extra caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.
• Bake the mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with a little more icing sugar before serving.

MINCE PIE

Steps:

• If uncooked meat is used, simmer beef 2 to 3 hours or until very tender, adding suet for last 1/2 hour of cooking. When cooked, chop beef and suet very fine, into about 1/4-inch pieces. Pare, core, and chop apples to make 3 cups. Mix beef, suet, apples, raisins or currants, white and brown sugars, spices, brandy, and cider or apple juice. Prepare the piecrust. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll out piecrust dough and line pie plates with pastry; fill each with half of meat mixture. Cover with top crusts, seal edges, and slit 2 holes on top for steam to escape. If desired, spread a thick layer of butter on pastry for flaky upper crust. Bake until apples are cooked and meat is heated through, about 1 hour.

MINCE PIES

Steps:

• Mince pies freeze very well, taking some of the headache out of all that Christmas preparation. If I make lots of these before Christmas, I freeze them raw and then cook them on the day. Cooked mince pies can be stored in a biscuit tin or airtight box and warmed through gently before serving. They are perfect with a glass of spicy mulled wine or a cup of coffee for a festive snack.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F/200 degrees C/Gas mark 6. Brush the tin with melted butter.
• On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry to 1/8-inch/3 mm thick and, using the 2 1/2-inches/6 cm cutter, cut out 24 circles for the bases. Then use the smaller plain/fluted cutter or star cutter to cut-out 24 circles/stars for the lids. Re-roll the trimmings, if necessary.
• Line the holes of the cake tin with the larger pastry rounds. Fill each base with a teaspoon mincemeat and top with one of the smaller rounds or stars. Brush the tops of the mince pies with the beaten egg.
• Bake in the oven for 10 to 13 minutes until pale golden. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust with icing sugar (confectioners') to serve.
• This basic pastry is used in many popular recipes, from mince pies to quiches; it's also one of the easiest pastries to start with. The uncooked dough can be frozen or kept in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
• Shortcrust Pastry:
• Put the flour, salt and butter in a food processor and whiz briefly. Add half the beaten egg and continue to whiz. You might add a little more egg, but not too much as the mixture should be just moist enough to come together. If making by hand, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs then, using your hands, add just enough egg to bring it together. With your hands, flatten out the ball of dough until it is about 3/4-inch/2 cm thick, then wrap in cling film or place in a plastic bag and leave in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes or, if you are pushed for time, in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Variations: Sweet Shortcrust Pastry: In place of the pinch of salt, use 1 tablespoon icing sugar (confectioners'). Soured cream shortcrust pastry: Replace the egg with 2 tablespoons sour cream or creme fraiche, adding just enough to bring it together.
• This delicious mincemeat will keep happily in a cool dark place for at least a year. If you are making your own suet (the fat that surrounds the beef kidney), make sure that every trace of blood has been removed before you whiz it in the food processor, otherwise it will cause the mincemeat to go off.
• Mincemeat:
• Put the apple chunks in a small saucepan with 1 teaspoon water, cover and cook over low heat for about 8 to 10 minutes until the apples are cooked down to a pulp. Allow to cool.
• Mix the apples with the orange zest, orange juice, lemon zest, lemon juice, suet, raisins, sultanas, currants, candied peel, dark brown sugar, almonds, mixed spice, and whiskey in a large bowl and put into sterilized jars.* Leave to mature, if possible for at least 2 weeks before using.
• Cut the fruit in 1/2 and squeeze out the juice. (Reserve the juice for another use, perhaps home-made lemonade.) Put the peel into a large bowl, add the salt and cover with cold water. Leave to soak for 24 hours.
• Next day, throw away the soaking water; put the peel in a large saucepan and cover with fresh cold water. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer very gently for about 3 hours or until the peel is soft.
• Remove the peel from the pan and discard the water. Scrape out any remaining flesh and membrane from inside the cut fruit, using a teaspoon, leaving the white pith and rind intact.
• In a clean large saucepan, dissolve the sugar in 1 3/4 pints/1 litre of water, then bring to the boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the peel and simmer gently for 30 to 60 minutes until it looks translucent (shiny and 'candied') and the syrup forms a thread when the last drop falls off a metal spoon. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for 20 to 30 minutes to slightly cool.
• Put the candied peel into sterilized glass jars* and pour the syrup over. Cover and store in a cold place or in the refrigerator. It should keep, stored like this, for at least 3 months.

MINCE PIES

Steps:

• Put all the ingredients for the mincemeat in a bowl and add brandy or rum to cover the fruit. Stir well, then let it rest overnight. The next day, stir again and then divide among sterilized preserving jars.
• To make the pastry, mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the mixture until it is the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Add the water and egg yolk and knead until the mixture comes together into a smooth dough. Alternatively, use a food processor to make the pastry. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
• Preheat your oven to 350° F. Grease the tart molds with butter and cover the base of each with a small circle of parchment paper. Dust with flour.
• Briefly knead the pastry until smooth, then pat it into a rectangle and roll it out to a thickness of ⅛ inch. Use a round cutter with a diameter of 2¾ - 3¼ inches to cut out pastry circles. Gently push the pastry rounds into the tart molds. Prick the base or each tart shell three times with a fork.
• Knead the remaining dough back together and roll it out to cut out the lids-you can choose whichever shape you like, but stars are the most traditional.
• Divide the 8 ounces of filling among the tarts and press down gently. Place the lids on top and brush with the egg wash.
• Bake in the middle of the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.

UNBELIEVABLY EASY MINCE PIES

Steps:

• To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, then mix in the golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt.
• Combine the pastry into a ball - don't add liquid - and knead it briefly. The dough will be fairly firm, like shortbread dough. You can use the dough immediately, or chill for later.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line 18 holes of two 12-hole patty tins, by pressing small walnut-sized balls of pastry into each hole.
• Spoon the mincemeat into the pies. Take slightly smaller balls of pastry than before and pat them out between your hands to make round lids, big enough to cover the pies.
• Top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal - you don't need to seal them with milk or egg as they will stick on their own. Will keep frozen for up to one month.
• Brush the tops of the pies with the beaten egg. Bake for 20 mins until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then remove to a wire rack. To serve, lightly dust with the icing sugar. Will keep for three to four days in an airtight container.