No-Bake Mincemeat in a No-Bake Graham Crust..?

Cafe Society
#1

Christmas has to be my favorite time of year. And my family and I have certain traditions we have had for a while now. One is mincemeat. In case you don’t know, mincemeat basically consists of apples, raisins, orange peel, (and now rarely) meat (hence the name:)) in a dark sauce.

You see the religious zealot Oliver Cromwell renounced mincemeat as heathen as he did away with Christmas too. So I sort of feel by eating mincemeat I am being a little rebellious in this way. But I digress.

Anyways, my question. I bought Borden brand “None Such” mincemeat in a jar a little while ago. It has been sitting unopened in our refridgerator for at least a couple of days now. And I have been wondering what to do with it. Then today at the store with my father, we bought a Keebler brand “Ready Crust” Graham crust. As you know, it requires no baking. And neither does the mincemeat. So I can just immediately add them both together, no? The reason why I ask is because my father wonders if it is really this simple. I mean, the recipe on the jar does call for baking, although I think this is just for the raw pie shell recipe.

So here I am left wondering what to do. Can I just add the two together without cooking? Also realize since my mother died about 10 years ago, my father and I don’t do much baking. So this is probably the only option left to us basically.

Thank you in advance to all who reply:)

#2

Maybe I should make my question more clear: Does mincemeat in a jar need to be baked to “set” (or for any other reason for that matter:)).

#3

To me, a graham cracker crust is more suited to creamy/light/sweet fillings like chocolate, cream cheese, lemon or orange things made with pudding or jello. I think a stronger, heavier filling like mincemeat would go better with a frozen or refrigerated pie crust. If you don’t want to follow the recipe on the jar for a pie, you can always heat it up and serve it over vanilla ice cream.

#4

All the cooks are in Cafe Society, so let’s move this.

samclem Moderator, General Questions

#5

You would eat ice cream and meat?

#6

Nonsuch is a vegetarian mincemeat=)

And no, it really would be nasty in a graham crust. A basic pieshell from the refrigerator case is what you want.

Actually I would get fancy and get already pie crust, which is 2 pie crusts, and a disposable pie tin. Following the directions to open out and flatten the first crust and make it the bottom crust, pour in the nonesuch, then use some leaf shaped cookie cutters like these cut out more pieces of crust and arrange nicely on top. Bake and serve with hard sauce.

#7

Mincemeat really needs a short crust. I wouldn’t use a cracker crust for it.

And no, you don’t need to bake the mincemeat.

#8

I tend to agree: a graham crust won’t be that nice with the mincemeat. If you can’t make a pie from pre-made crust, then just, as suggested, heat up the mincement in the microwave and pour it over ice cream, or over shortbread with whipped cream.

#9

We use mincemeat a lot in Christmas recipes in the UK. It never contains meat (at least not for centuries afaik). Because it often contains suet (the last remaining meaty hangover) or some other raw fat it is always cooked, such as in mince pies - http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2174/unbelievably-easy-mince-pies

#10

Well, the cookbooks in the US from the 1800s used meat …

Wiki may or may not be the most accurate of encyclopedias … however the recipe I use has meat and has been used in family since 1835. It was found in an assortment of family papers from that timeframe.

#11

Exactly this, I would just get the pre made frozen pie crusts. If you can’ t find the ones with a top crust just get the pack of two “bottoms” in their pans and let the crust thaw and peel it from the pan and simply lay it onto the remaining filled crust and crimp the edges, and cut slits in the top to vent. I have always enjoyed the mince pies that have a crunchy brown and sugared top crust… you can simply brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle on granulated sugar if you like it this way.

The graham cracker crust and no-bake idea just doesn’t sound very tasty to me.

#12

Our comon brands of jarred mincemeat doesn’t have suet, so are good to use as-is. But yes, if there’s suet, definitely bake in some way.

#13

Why not? Pasta carbonara is bacon & eggs. Lots of meats are cooked in cream sauces.

At it’s heart, ice cream is nothing more than eggs & milk (or just the creamy bits of milk).

As for the OP, you could probably make a pie with just the graham crust & uncooked mince, but you’ll likely not get the smooth finish to the top (or a top crust, if you like that sort of thing… which I do.), nor the texture you’re looking for.

They sell unbaked “regular” crusts, so it should be easy enough to actually follow the instructions to get a “traditional” pie.

I discovered mincemeat last year. I made an amazing 1/2 apple & 1/2 mincemeat pie. I should make another for this Christmas eve.

#14

I popped in to say that you need to cook mincemeat to melt the suet, then upon reading the thread found out that American mincemeat has no suet…which is an abomination.
I’d get some ready-roll sweet pastry (shortcrust), a 12 hole cupcake tin, an egg, a cup, a fork, a little milk and a pint glass.

Use glass to cut out 24 circles of pastry (just plop it upside down onto pastry and press).
Put 12 circles into greased cupcake tin…1 in each hole.
Put a teaspoon of mincemeat into each one.
Beat egg in a cup, use a pastry brush or (clean) finger to put milk around the edge of the circles.
Put other 12 circles on top as lids, brush with a little beaten egg.
Use fingers to crimp edges down and poke holes in the top (a cross shape of holes is sufficient…i.e. poke fork twice at right angles)
Put mincepies in oven to cook…about 200C/400F/Gas 6 until lightly golden on top (15-20 min)

Would take much less than an hour from start to eating, so I don’t think you have an excuse not to.

#15

Ooo, here’s a pretty picture of mincemeat pies (or tarts) - http://www.allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mini-Orange-Mince-Pies/Detail.aspx. Grandma made hers with a lard crust, tied a cotton rag around it when it was baking to absorb spills. And today I had to explain to a young lady exactly what mincemeat was, she was all ew, ew, eeewww! Now I want mincemeat pie! It’s a serious pie, not fun and frivolous like banana cream.