Adventures in Cooking

In England, Christmas is just not complete without the traditional mincemeat pie. I was never a big fan of mincemeat pies when we first came to England in 2000. However, over time, I have started to acquire a taste for them, if they aren't too heavy and overwhelming.

Dear son Branduff had to make mince pies during his food tech class at school. In England, food tech is a class that all students take. They usually split a couple of electives during the year -- IT/Computer, Food Tech and Design Tech. They feel that knowing how to cook is critical, and it is a blessing to have someone else teach your child the basics, safety issues, and how to clean up afterward. Although I love to cook, it's not always easy to teach Branduff, especially when I'm just grabbing a pinch of this and that. He also seems to think I'm punishing him when I ask him to clean up! However, if his teacher tells him to clean up, he does it without hesitation.

Anyway . . . . back to the mincemeat pies. Branduff took in a jar of Robertson's mincemeat, which I picked up at the local grocery store. I think I like this particular brand of mincemeat because it has an even and smooth flavor. Some mincemeat pies can be strong and unsettling on my tongue, but I do like the Robertson's. In addition, making homemade mincemeat can be pretty easy, although there are quite a few ingredients.

In addition to the jar of mincemeat, Branduff also had to take in the homemade shortcrust pastry. I'm not big into making pastry, so I needed a recipe and found one on the bbc.co.uk site:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/shortcrustpastry_2801.shtml

I tend to bake gluten-free if possible, so I adapted the recipe to gluten-free flour. Branduff's teacher warned him that the gluten-free crust would crumble. However, as I'm the only one who would eat the mincemeat pies in this family, I decided it was worth the risk.

In class, Branduff learned how to roll out the dough and cut out pie circles and little Christmas trees to top the pies. Very cute! The first batch of pies, Branduff managed to burn, along with his arm (which is still healing, two weeks on!). The pies were still very edible, and since they were burnt, they didn't crumble as badly. The second set were under cooked, so they tasted really yummy, but they crumbled if a wisp of wind blew over them!

All in all, it was a good experience for Branduff. I liked all the pies -- crumbled, burnt or underdone! The Robertson's mincemeat pie filling was more tasty than most mince I've tried. Also, the gluten-free shortcrust is even more "short" and tasty than using wheat flour.

I'm going to ask Branduff to help me make some more at home during the holidays. I do think my tastebuds have certainly changed over the years, and I found these mincemeat pies very enjoyable and I was sad when they were all gone! There is something about the cold, the spice and the tradition that make the mincemeat pies more enjoyable! Also, it's very special to have them made by one's son!

Happy Christmas!

Kathy the teawife

The photo of the nutcracker is by Piotr Bizior, and you can see his photos on stockxpert (www.sxc.hu).