Old-Fashioned Mincemeat Pie

This mincemeat pie recipe was western author Stephen Bly’s favorite Christmas dessert.

OLD-FASHIONED MINCEMEAT PIE

You’ll need to start four weeks ahead to prepare the very special ingredients for this mincemeat pie with meat filling. Makes fifteen quarts that you can keep all year long in the root cellar or any pantry.

Here’s what it takes:

4 boiled beef tongues or 4 lbs venison

4 lbs sugar

2 lbs raisins

2 lbs currants

1/2 lb candied citron peel, finely cut

6 lbs tart apples (Granny Smith preferred)

1 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tbsp ground cloves

2 whole nutmegs, grated

2 1/2 lbs suet, finely chopped

1/2 lb candied orange peel, finely cut

1/2 lb candied lemon peel, finely cut

1/2 lb almonds, finely chopped

1 tbsp salt

4 oranges, grated peel & juice

4 lemons, grated peel and juice

1 quart brandy (optional)

2 quarts whiskey (also optional)

Directions:

Chop the boiled calves’ tongues or boiled deer meat very fine. Add sugar, raisins, currents and citron. Mix together well.

Chop apples finely (do not mash) and add to the meat.

Add all the spices, suet, candied peels, almonds and salt. Mix thoroughly. Pour over this mixture the fruit juices and grated peels, plus the brandy and whiskey. Mix together.

Place mixture into a large crock with a lid. Cover crock with clean cloth and next cover the cloth and crock with a lid. Keep crock in cool place for at least three weeks. Now you can add more salt and spices, if needed. Let stand at least a total of four weeks before using for pies, cookies, etc.

Prepare your favorite crust. In my case it’s either friend Leatha Jarnigan’s or my mother Alice Bly’s flaky pie crust recipe.