Cranberry Mincemeat

I made a couple of jars of cranberry mincemeat today for my wife Tracy to use in mince pies that she'll be making next week - yummy

 

That sounds yummy Michael. I just bought some dried cranberries from Aldi last week and have a jar of some I previously soaked ... may I have your recipe please? xx

 

Here you go Victoria (it's a Nigella recipe that is open to tweaking a little )

75g soft brown sugar
300g cranberries
30g dried cranberries
75g raisins
75g currants
1 tea spoon of ground cinamon
1 tea spoon of ground ginger
60ml of port
25ml of brandy
half a tea spoon of vanilla essence
few drops of almond extract
2-3 tablespoons of honey
juice & zest of 1 clementine

1. dissolve the brown sugar and port over a low heat
2. add the cranberries, dried cranberries, raisins, currants, cinamon, ginger, juice & zest of the clementine and simmer (stirring occasionally) for up to 20 mins (I don't tend to leave it that long as it becomes 'dry', you may also need to squash some of the cranberries with a wooden spoon).
3. remove from the heat and allow to cool a little
4. add brandy, almond, vanilla and honey and stir well
5. spoon in to sterilised jars, allow to cool and then put in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Obviously some of the ingredients can be substituted depending on personal taste or availability...

Good Luck

 

Thank you Bilbo. I fancy some of that with my Boxing Day cold meats and bubble and squeak,
yummy,
Jenny

 

Thank you so much Michael, I have copied and printed it. It looks excellent and there is no suet involved. I have all the ingredients also except I have sultanas (which I prefer) and not raisins and currants.

We both love cranberries and don't eat Christmas cake nor pudding as it is so heavy so I usually make a mincemeat ice cream and mincemeat swirls which can be frozen.

We bought a dozen mince pies from Iceland this week.

 

I couldn't get any currants cheap enough (they're rather expensive), so I put raisins & sultanas in and the only alcohol we had was brandy so I used 85ml of that instead..

 

Michael, we actually prefer sultanas than raisins, and to be honest I can't remember what currants are ... ? Sultanas are big and soft and juicy as opposed to raisins and currants and we like eating them as a snack ... what IS the difference between raisins and currants, please?


Edit: I mix peanuts, cashews, almonds and sultanas (and goji berries) for a snack which is nice when friends visit to have with a drink rather than crisps.

 

I think I will substitute sultanas for currants too Victoria, .

 

But Jenny, please tell me what is the difference between raisins and currants ... I know what sultanas are, thank you. xx

 

Sorry,
raisins are dried red grapes and sultanas are dried white grapes. Currants are very tiny and invariably have gritty like little stones in them that can get trapped in the gaps between your teeth,
Jenny

 

Hmmm, I'm still confused because I know the difference between sultanas and raisins ... but what the ????? are currants? Are they insignificant raisins?

 

This is what I found when I googled it;

• Raisins are dried white grapes. They are dried to produce a dark, sweet fruit. The grapes used are usually Moscatel.
• Sultanas are also dried white grapes but from seedless varieties. They are golden in color and tend to be plumper, sweeter and juicier than other raisins. Also referred to as Golden Raisins in the US.
• Currants are dried, dark red, seedless grapes. They are dried to produce a black, tiny shrivelled, flavour-packed the grapes were originally cultivated in the south of Greece, and the name currant comes from the ancient city of 'Corinth'.

 

Thanks Bibo,
I stand corrected then- raisins are dried white grapes. I remember proper muscatel raisin as a kid. I used to help make the Christmas cake by peeling theskins from the almonds that had been soaking in warm water and removing the big seeds from the large dried muscatels(raisins) that only came into the house for this cake.
I ws also allowed to scrape the mixing bowl out before the washing up,
yummy days....

 

Couldn't find sultanas in the larder so I upped the cranberry volume. Have a glass sweetie jar of November 2011 Damson Brandy under the stairs so substituted that for ordinary brandy. Put in crystalised ginger instead of ginger powder ( cos I've got a jar of that which I've had for ages - it does NOT go off!). And I got Manuka Honey half price from Hollabnd and Barratt so used that. It's on the hob right now, simmering away...
:santawave: Jenny:santaclap:

 

You poured it in your Mincemeat?

I'm gonna come round & suck that Mincemeat till its dry