I love mincemeat. But in the shops, its either crap, or the same price per weight as gold dust. So, I thought, I'll make my own. How hard can it be, in Jeremy Clarkson's immortal words?
Not very, is the answer. I looked at a few recipes online, made a (mental) note of the main ingredients, compared them to what I had in my storecupboard (metaphorically speaking - its a CD rack, the space is long and narrow). And hey presto!
I soaked a full bag of Sainsbury Basics mixed fruit in the juice of 3 lemons (Aldi's best, they must have been waxed, so I just squoze them to get the juice out), and glugged in a miniature of whisky from my tour of the Hebrides a million years ago - Lagavulin? Not sure now, that bit was a while ago...
Then, one fine morning, I chucked the mix in a pan, followed up with mixed spice, some chopped maraschino cherries (oops, ate the rest as finger food at the beginning of December), couple of tablespoons of sugar, some lumps of vegetable suet, and maybe 100g of ground almonds. Let it bubble once it was all together.
I had a taste, and its sooooo good. The suet (even vegetarian suet!) gives it that thick taste, where it slides over your tongue, and the almonds give it that sense that its overloaded with evil things that you love - like its all overflowed the sauce and become gritty. But in fact, almost all of it is incredibly good for you, and whats 3 tablespoons of sugar between maybe 20 helpings anyway?
There's still a little bit left, and from now on, my own mincemeat is a must-do for Christmas.
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