Mince Pie Recipe

The best kind of meat for mince pies is neat's tongue and feet--the

shank of beef makes very good pies. Boil the meat till perfectly

tender--then take it up, clear it from the bones and gristle, chop it

fine enough to strain through a sieve, mix it with an equal weight of

tart apples, chopped very fine. If the meat is not fat, put in a little

suet, or melted butter. Moisten the whole with cider--sweeten it to the

taste with sugar, and very little molasses--add mace, cinnamon, cloves,

and salt, to the taste. If you wish to make your pies rich, put in wine

or brandy to the taste, and raisins, citron, and Zante currants. The

grated rind and juice of lemons improve the pie. Make the pies on

shallow plates, with apertures in the upper crust, and bake them from

half to three-quarters of an hour, according to the heat of the oven.

Meat prepared for pies in the following manner, will keep good several

months, if kept in a cool dry place: To a pound of finely chopped meat,

a quarter of a pound of suet, put half an ounce of mace, one ounce of

cinnamon, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, two tea-spoonsful of salt.

Add if you like the following fruits: half a pound of seeded raisins,

half a pound of Zante currants, a quarter of a pound of citron. Put in

half a pint of French brandy or wine, three table-spoonsful of molasses,

and sugar sufficient to make it quite sweet. Put the whole in a stone

pot--cover it with a paper wet in brandy. When you wish to use any of it

for pies, put to what meat you use an equal weight of apples, pared and

chopped fine. If not seasoned high enough, add more spice and sugar. If

the apples are not tart, put in lemon-juice or sour cider.

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