The best of the holiday season

I have been absent online for a couple of weeks, not, believe me, because I have not been cooking and baking, but rather because I have been cooking and baking so much that I haven't had time to blog about it all! For us Brits, Christmas is our big holiday, both in terms of family getting together, and in terms of food consumed, since we do not celebrate Thanksgiving (and that is for historical reasons, not because we are ungrateful!) With family visiting from England, it therefore fell to me to create the kind of rich, foodie excess that is de rigueur for a British Christmas.

There is nothing simple about Christmas fare, that is for sure. It is rich (we got through a lot of Setler's Tums, as well as other foodstuffs!), filling, waistline-expanding, and also often complex to make. And it doesn't flinch at copious use of alcohol either. A good British chef will tell you that you need to make your Christmas cake (a fruit cake with a whole page full of ingredients, and requiring 4 hours in the oven) up to 2 months in advance, so that you can then 'feed' it with brandy every week or so. Hic.

Some traditional Christmas dishes, I can take or leave. I am not a fan of Christmas cake for example, although to fulfill my daughterly duty, I did take the time to make one, and roped the kids in to make kitschy fondant decorations for the top of the boozy creation. My big favorite though is Mince Pies and Brandy butter. Quite frankly, they are divine, and represent for me the taste and smell of Christmas. In previous years, I have scoured the stores and managed to find jars of pre-made mincemeat, but this year, I had no luck (shame on you, Cost Plus!), so was forced to make my own. I have to say, it was pretty delicious though, so I may even choose to do so again. (I did baulk at making my own piecrust this time though, and bought pre-made rolled Pillsbury shortcrust pastry.) True to form, I also made copious quantities of mince pies, so that even though my family have now headed home across the Atlantic, I can still console my lonely self with a little leftover.

The recipes that follow come from Delia Smith (the mincemeat), and the Christmas recipe pull-out of the British version of Good Housekeeping magazine. As much as Delia is the Queen, I did have to tweak, and not merely because I am meddlesome and interfering - it is nigh on impossible to find currants here in the US, so I substituted successfully with cranberries and prunes. Suet is also difficult to find, but you can get it on Amazon. If you cannot find suet, then I have read that you can substitute cold chopped unsalted butter.

Needless the say, both recipes are both keepers :-) Don't wait for next Christmas - they would make an excellent New Year's Day treat.

Mince Pies
from Delia's Happy Christmas

Mincemeat:
450g/1lb tart apples (I used Granny Smiths), cored and chopped small (no need to peel)
225g/8oz shredded vegetable suet (see above for substitution suggestion)
350g/12 oz raisins
225g/8 oz golden raisins
150g/5 oz dried cranberries
75g/3 oz chopped dried plums/prunes
225g/8oz chopped candied orange peel
350g/12 oz dark brown sugar
grated zest and juice of 2 oranges
grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
50g/2 oz slivered almonds
4 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
whole nutmeg, for grating
6 TBSP brandy

Pies:
pre-made rolled pie-crust/shortcrust pastry (one pack of 2 9" circles should suffice to make 12 pies)
canola oil spray
milk
powdered sugar (icing sugar)

1. Combine all mincemeat ingredients, except for brandy, in a large ovenproof mixing bowl and mix together thoroughly. Cover bowl with a clean towel and leave mixture in a cool place overnight (at least 12 hours) so that flavors can meld.
2. Preheat oven to 225 degrees F (120 degrees C). Cover bowl loosely with foil and place in the oven for 3 hours.
3. Remove bowl from the oven. At this point, the mincemeat may look a little like it is swimming in fat, but as it cools, stir occasionally, and it will all come together. If when it is cooled to room temperature, there are still pools of fat on the surface, then you can skim them off at this point.
4. Once mincemeat is cool, stir in the brandy. At this point, you can put the mincemeat in jars or tubs and store in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
5. To make the pies, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Cut circles from the piecrust to fit inside the muffin cups on a regular muffin tin. Spray oil spray in the cups, then place the circles of piecrust inside.
6. Spoon mincemeat into cups until they are 2/3 full (no fuller, as they will then overflow when baked).
7. Cut stars out of the remaining piecrust and place one on top of each pie. Brush with milk.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until light golden brown.
9. Cool on wire racks and serve warm, dusted with icing sugar, with a dollop of brandy butter (see below).


Brandy Butter

4 oz/125g unsalted butter, softened
finely grated zest of 1 orange
12oz/350g powdered/icing sugar, sifted
2 fl oz/50ml brandy

1. Put butter, orange zest and half of the sugar in a food processor, or the bowl of a stand mixer, and beat together until light and fluffy. Add remaining sugar and brandy and whiz again to combine.
2. Spoon into a serving dish - will also keep in the fridge for a couple of weeks. Serve at room temperature though.