A shout-out to Mary-Anne Boerman's Guilt-Free Mincemeat which has no suet and no added sugar (the dried fruit intrinsic sugar is a different matter). She mentions that this old recipe was originally for Lent Mince Pies - hence the lack of added fat and sugar - so it's an interesting twist that we now associate Mince Pies with Christmas rather than the fast and abstinence of Lent.
http://timetocookonline.com/2011/11/27/ ... mincemeat/
Apart from being a good mincemeat, this is ready to use, doesn't need maturing and ideal for those who might have run out of their 2-3 yrs matured stuff and are considering a raid on the last batch of mincemeat that family tradition dictates is currently too young.
The alcohol can be omitted if you're using this quickly; grated apple works well as a substitute as it blends nicely into the mincemeat to hold it together without releasing so much fluid that there's danger of that baking nemesis, soggy-bottoms.
The recipe is flexible enough to allow you to swap out dried fruits: say, add finely diced dried figs or dried apricots for half of the dates; green sultanas/raisins for half of the original amount. I've used grated apple or root vegetables to lighten this mix for use in various tarts: medium grated carrot, finely grated parsnip or swede all work well - the latter two benefit from the addition of some finely diced crystallised ginger or a spoonful of Stone's Green Ginger Wine or King's Ginger.
Season/spice this up as suits you, and your recipe. If I include dried figs in the mix, I like to add a tiny amount of star anise or fennel seed. I enjoy cardamom with apple/pear/cranberries so might add some freshly ground seeds if I've used these. I've used rose masala as the spice if I've added dried apricots. (Why, yes, I do sometimes use this recipe year-round as a way of using up what's left in a bag of dried fruit. This mincemeat or brown sauce but the sauce has to be matured somewhere which is a storage nuisance.)
http://timetocookonline.com/2011/11/27/ ... mincemeat/
Apart from being a good mincemeat, this is ready to use, doesn't need maturing and ideal for those who might have run out of their 2-3 yrs matured stuff and are considering a raid on the last batch of mincemeat that family tradition dictates is currently too young.
The alcohol can be omitted if you're using this quickly; grated apple works well as a substitute as it blends nicely into the mincemeat to hold it together without releasing so much fluid that there's danger of that baking nemesis, soggy-bottoms. The recipe is flexible enough to allow you to swap out dried fruits: say, add finely diced dried figs or dried apricots for half of the dates; green sultanas/raisins for half of the original amount. I've used grated apple or root vegetables to lighten this mix for use in various tarts: medium grated carrot, finely grated parsnip or swede all work well - the latter two benefit from the addition of some finely diced crystallised ginger or a spoonful of Stone's Green Ginger Wine or King's Ginger.
Season/spice this up as suits you, and your recipe. If I include dried figs in the mix, I like to add a tiny amount of star anise or fennel seed. I enjoy cardamom with apple/pear/cranberries so might add some freshly ground seeds if I've used these. I've used rose masala as the spice if I've added dried apricots. (Why, yes, I do sometimes use this recipe year-round as a way of using up what's left in a bag of dried fruit.
This mincemeat or brown sauce but the sauce has to be matured somewhere which is a storage nuisance.)
