The Mystery of Mincemeat

Today, I have decided to embark on another 50's food adventure, this time from Successful Entertaining at Home. I will be making...mincemeat.

I have heard the expression "I'll make mincemeat out of you," and I have even heard of mincemeat pie, but I have no idea what mincemeat is actually comprised of (I fail to believe it is actually comprised of a person you have a beef with - pun intended).

Further research (aka typing "mincemeat" into the search box on Allrecipes.com) led me to the conclusion that there is actually meat in mincemeat. Well, huh. This leaves me with only one logical question: Who would want to eat a pie made of meat? I'm told it used to be quite common. Well, as has become my custom, I will say only this: this should be interesting.

Page 172 of my beloved 50's entertaining book suggests cooking mincemeat in a brandy sauce and serving it over vanilla ice cream.

Mincemeat Brandy Sauce

mincemeat

brandy

Put the desired amount of mincemeat for your sauce in a chafing dish, pouring enough brandy over it for flaming just before you serve it on vanilla ice cream. The brandy is lighted and when the flame dies down the sauce is spooned over the vanilla ice cream which has already been dished into the silver goblets.

This is a very attractive service one's guests will enjoy watching, and it is just as pretty when the ice cream is scooped up from a large crystal or silver bowl, to be served by the hostess on flat crystal plates and topped by the sauce from the chafing dish.

This all sounds great, but I still don't know how to make mincemeat. I suppose I will use the recipe from Allrecipes.com which can be found at:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Blue-Ribbon-Mincemeat-Pie-Filling/Detail.aspx

The problem is, this mincemeat recipe makes THIRTY TWO whopping servings of the stuff, and I know it's going to be a hard sell to get my husband to try one bite. My plan is to pare down the recipe to 4 servings and serve it over vanilla ice cream (not sure if I will attempt the flambe or not!). If he starts to complain, I'll just pour a little extra brandy on top...or in a glass on the side!

I'll let you know how the mincemeat goes tonight once we've tried it for dessert. Consider this part one of the mincemeat blog. And just think: part 2 might include a rant from my husband about why 50's foods are not so commonplace anymore! Get excited!