Venison Mincemeat Pies
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5.0
75 reviews
Excellent
Venison Mincemeat Pies
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This is an old school rendition of a British mincemeat pie, using meat and dried berries instead of raisins. I include a pie crust here, but you can use a store-bought crust if you want.
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Ingredients
DOUGH
- 250 grams all-purpose flour, about 2 cups
- pinch of salt
- 100 grams unsalted butter, diced
- 25 grams bacon fat (see below)
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup cold water
MINCEMEAT FILLING
- 125 grams dried lingonberries or cranberries, about 4 ounces
- 125 grams dried blueberries or raisins, about 4 ounces
- 125 grams dried currants or other berries, or dried chopped apricots, about 4 ounces
- 1 cup brandy, rum or Scotch
- 325 grams ground venison, or other meat, about 12 ounces
- salt
- 1/2 cup lard, beef suet or butter
- 125 grams brown sugar, about 1/2 cup
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg or mace
- 1 baking apple, such as granny smith, peeled, cored and grated
- Zest and juice of a lemon
TO FINISH
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon milk or cream
- Turbinado, brown, or demerara sugar, for dusting
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Instructions
FILLING
- Make the filling first. In a perfect world, you would soak the berries in the alcohol overnight. If you can do this, it's better. You then strain off the alcohol to use later. But you can skip this if you are short on time.
- Put all the filling ingredients except for the Scotch or brandy in a bowl and mix well. Put this in a lidded pot and cook at 225°F for 3 hours. Pull it out and stir well several times as it cools, which helps distribute the fat in the mix. When it's totally cool, add back the reserved alcohol. This mix can sit in a sterilized Mason jar for a month or so, or you can simply proceed with making pies.
DOUGH
- If you are doing this all at once, make the dough while the filling cooks. Mix the salt and flour, then cut the fats into it with a cutter or your fingertips until the mix looks like a coarse meal. This will take a little while.
- Mix in the egg and the ice water and work this dough into a nice ball. It's not totally necessary to be gentle with it like a regular pie dough because you want the crust on these to be a bit sturdy, so you can pick them up and eat them. Regardless, refrigerate for no less than 20 minutes, and up to a day.
MAKING PIES
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease a mincemeat pie or muffin tin, then dust it with flour.
- Roll the dough out thin, to about 1/4 inch or even a little less. Depending on your tin, you will want to cut out one set of larger circles to fill the bottom of the tin, then another set of smaller ones for tops. You can also cut out stars with a cookies cutter to serve as tops. For my standard mincemeat pie tin, I use a 3-inch cutter for the bottom, a 2-inch for the top. Wine glasses or empty jars are good substitutes for a dedicated cutter.
- Beat the egg with the milk or cream to make an egg wash.
- Fill each tin with the bottom crust, then fill those with the filling. Paint the rim of a pie, set the top on, then crimp or pinch the edges all around to seal. Move on to the next pie.
- When they are all sealed, paint them all with the egg wash, then dust them all with the turbinado sugar. Use a sharp knife to cut a cross in the center of each pie. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until they are pretty and browned.
- Let them sit out of the oven in their tins for about 10 minutes, then move them to a rack to finish cooling. Eat warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- You can use 125 grams of butter instead of mixing the fats. That equates to 9 tablespoons of butter. You can also use lard or Crisco instead.
- The dough recipe makes enough for 12 pies in a muffin tin, but will be a bit more than you need for a proper mincemeat pie tin.
- The filling recipe makes a lot, enough for several batches of pies. But since it keeps for weeks in the fridge, you'll want to make lots of these.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
355kcal
(18%)
Carbohydrates
41g
(14%)
Protein
10g
(20%)
Fat
12g
(18%)
Saturated Fat
6g
(30%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
1g
Monounsaturated Fat
3g
Trans Fat
0.3g
Cholesterol
69mg
(23%)
Sodium
43mg
(2%)
Potassium
289mg
(8%)
Fiber
3g
(12%)
Sugar
20g
(40%)
Vitamin A
256IU
(5%)
Vitamin C
1mg
(1%)
Calcium
28mg
(3%)
Iron
2mg
(11%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 12servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 355 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 355kcal | 18% |
| Carbohydrates | 41g | 14% |
| Protein | 10g | 20% |
| Fat | 12g | 18% |
| Saturated Fat | 6g | 30% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 1g | 6% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 3g | 15% |
| Trans Fat | 0.3g | 15% |
| Cholesterol | 69mg | 23% |
| Sodium | 43mg | 2% |
| Potassium | 289mg | 6% |
| Fiber | 3g | 12% |
| Sugar | 20g | 40% |
| Vitamin A | 256IU | 5% |
| Vitamin C | 1mg | 1% |
| Calcium | 28mg | 3% |
| Iron | 2mg | 11% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
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Overall Rating
5.0
75 reviews
Excellent
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