Venison mincemeat pie - country living

8 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 cups Apple cider or apple juice
1 cup Dark seedless raisins
½ cup Dried sour or sweet cherries or currants
1½ cup Chopped, peeled apples
¼ pounds Ground venison or lean ground beef
1 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon Ground cloves
1 teaspoon Ground ginger
½ teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Ground nutmeg
¼ teaspoon Ground allspice
Pastry (recipe follows)

Directions

1. At least 4 hours before making pie, prepare the mincemeat: In heavy 2-quart saucepan, combine cider, raisins, and cherries. Cover and heat to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. 2. Add apples, venison, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, salt, nutmeg, and allspice. Simmer 2 hours longer. Check occasion- ally and add water if necessary to keep mincemeat from sticking to saucepan. Cool mincemeat to room temperature. (Mincemeat can be made up to 3 months ahead and frozen. If frozen, thaw mincemeat before making pie or baking time will be lengthened.)

3. Meanwhile, prepare pastry and refrigerate until ready to use-at least 30 minutes.

4. Heat oven to 350'F. Divide pastry into 3 equal pieces. Press 2 pieces together and shape into a ball. Between 2 sheets of waxed paper, roll out ball of pastry into an 11 -inch round. Remove top sheet of paper and invert pastry into 9-inch pie plate, letting excess extend over edge. Remove bottom sheet of paper.

5. Between sheets of waxed paper, roll out remaining pastry to a 9½- by 6-inch rectangle. Remove top sheet of paper from pastry. Cut rectangle into four 9 ½- by 1 ½-inch strips.

6. Carefully spoon mincemeat into crust-lined pie plate. Remove pastry strips from waxed paper, one at a time, and place across mincemeat to create spokes. All four strips will overlap in the center. Lift edge of bottom crust over ends of strips. Pinch together and flute edge.

Place pie on rimmed baking sheet.

7. Bake pie 50 to 55 minutes or until crust is lightly browned and filling bubbles. Cool 10 minutes on wire rack before cutting.

Pastry: In medium-size bowl, combine 1 ½ C unsifted all-purpose flour and ½ t salt. With pastry blender or 2 knives, cut in ⅓ C vegetable shortening, chilled, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Add 5 to 6 T cold water to flour mixture and mix lightly with fork until moistened; gather into a ball. Wrap pastry and refrigerate 30 minutes.

Country Living/Nov/93 Scanned & fixed by DP & GG Submitted By MICHAEL ORCHEKOWSKI On 11-27-94

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