Mincemeat musings

I made the mincemeat according to Froog's instructions, and then, after I had it all jarred up, I looked in my Delia's Happy Christmas book to see how the methods compared. Froog uses Delia's recipe with some adaptations.

Delia puts all the ingredients (she also adds some whole almonds) apart from the brandy, into a large bowl and leaves it to soak for at least 12 hours. She doesn't jar it whilst it is hot, but advocates stirring it occasionally as it cools so that the hot fat is distributed through the mincemeat and coats the other ingredients. She still hasn't added the brandy.........that doesn't go in until the mincemeat is "quite cold" which I take to mean - COLD - not "nearly cold". I suppose that means that none of the brandy is evaporated off during the cooking and could result in a more boozy mincemeat. Then she puts it into the jars.

I have more brandy now so I am thinking of looking for more jars and making a second batch using the Delia method to see if my chief taster can find a difference. I will need more as I always make loads of mince pies, so I may as well experiment a little. I am also thinking that the slow-cooker may have been a little too hot for this - I put it on the Auto setting - and I will try the second batch in the low oven. I may also treat myself to a proper zester so that I don't have to just grate the lemon and orange peel.

It may take a while to accumulate the jars, so I'll post the results in a week or two.