It’s the end of December and the snow is fluttering past the windows again, giving me a Christmas feeling. The tree is up, the garland is hung, and flickering candles are strategically placed around the room. I could work on writing my cards, or looking for gifts for those last few hard-to-buy-for people (why is it so hard to know what certain people like?), but I’m not in the mood for that for. Instead, I want to turn on the oven and enjoy the warm, gentle hum, stir a bubbling pot of something sweet and sticky with a wooden spoon, and fill the house with the smell of Christmas.
And so I choose minced meat.
Once upon a time, a long time ago, cooks in medieval kitchens across Northern Europe stirred exotic spices and dried fruits into pies made with ground meat and animal fats. The meat and fats were mundane, but mixed with the herbs and fruits they were transformed into the sacred realm of Christmas dishes.
Today we hardly think about a clove or a feather of cinnamon, but back then they were treasures brought back on long, arduous journeys from distant lands that people could hardly imagine if they tried. Everything about them was imbued with luxury and mysticism.
We now also know that these spices also offer all kinds of health benefits: cinnamon supports healthy blood sugar levels, cloves are packed with nutrients or ginger supports a healthy inflammatory response. So they are not only exotic and delicious, but also very sensible and good for us.
Slowly, as tastes changed and sugar became more widely available, meat began to disappear from the ingredient list altogether and eventually animal fats (suet and lard and all the good stuff) also fell out of favor – down to just the dried fruits, herbs and sugar were left to their fate.
Baked into pies, spooned over ice cream or even spread on a piece of hot buttered toast, there’s nothing meaty about minced meat now, except that it’s a thing of the past. And yet, even well into my twenties, I didn’t want to touch the stuff because I was convinced it contained hidden, cut-up animals (which I most strongly suspected were mice, which is what you get when you removes the n from the minced meat). I wonder how many countless others are making the same mistake. When my mistake was finally corrected and I tasted my first spoonful, I was overcome with sadness for all the years I had wasted not eating minced meat. What a travesty.
As with jam, you can make a large quantity of minced meat and then freeze or freeze it. It makes a wonderful gift for the foodie in your life, and in my opinion it’s also absolutely essential to making Christmas feel like Christmas. Bake it into small hand pies, as the British do for all your holidays, and enjoy it with a good glass of sherry or port. I can’t think of anything more Christmassy than that.
Mincemeat
This is my current favorite ground beef recipe. I prefer to make it without added sugar as I find it is quite sweet enough with all the dried fruit and I like the slight tartness of the cranberries coming through, but sweeten it to your own taste.
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil
- 4 cooking apples
- 100 g or 2/3 cup raisins
- 100 g dried cranberries
- 100 g dried apricots, chopped
- 100 g plums, chopped
- 200 g or ¾ cup fresh cranberries
- zest and juice of 1 orange (or 2 clementines)
- 1 vanilla pod (or 1 teaspoon vanilla paste)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cloves
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup brandy or rum (optional)
Instructions:
- Start by heating the coconut oil or butter in a large pan.
- Peel the apples, cut them into small cubes and add them to the pan together with the dried fruit and cranberries.
- Grate the oranges and add the juice.
- Cut open the vanilla pod and add it to the pan, along with the spices and brown sugar (if using).
- Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until the cranberries have all burst and the apple is soft.
- Add the brandy or rum, if using, and let it bubble for a minute or two to allow the alcohol to evaporate.
- Spoon into sterilized jars and cover with tight-fitting lids.
What else can you do with mince, other than making mince pies?
- Use it as a filling for chocolate truffles
- Use ate as a filling for a Christmasy oat crumble
- Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream
- Spoon it onto the yogurt
- Eat it with toast, waffles or pancakes
The world is your oyster!
Writer Danielle Charles Davies has a BSc in Herbal Sciences from Bastyr University and completed the two-year clinical training program at the Vermont Center for Integrative Herbalism in Montpelier, VT. Her articles have appeared in Taproot, The Journal of the American Herbalist Guild, and Kindred Magazine, among others. She lives in Northern Michigan with her husband, two dogs and eight ducks. She blogs at www.bluemoonkitchen.com.
For educational purposes only. This information has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease, or to sell any product.
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