December 2003 - Easy Mincemeat Danish

Back to working full time has left me with little time to swan around doing whatever it is that I do. It also means that I have less time to get everything done. Needless to say I have been a little bit slack on posting. I am not sure if I like working full time. So far, I have managed to get up and get going in plenty of time each day so that is a start. Pretty tired in the evenings though and not overly keen on doing too much in the way of cooking unfortunately. 

I had planned on making Barry Vera's Peppered beef salad from this issue, but I couldn't find any nice tapanade that didn't cost the earth. I will have to make a trip out the the winery to get some. They have a variety of different local produce in the cellar door shop including a very nice tapanade. 

Bill Granger's Chicken noodle salad looked really good. Nice fresh ingredients with a lovely Asian-style dressing. Although it does use egg noodle and most noodle salads that I make I use glass noodles. The egg noodles would probably make it a bit more filling than a glass noodle salad. I just didn't feel like making it though. 

Actually what I did make was Valli Little's Easy Mincemeat Danish. One night I just wanted some thing sweet to eat and I have a jar of mincemeat in the fridge that I made. I also had some puff pastry in the freezer that had been in there for ever. The edges were starting to dry out but it was still okay. They were so simple to make and very tasty. Plus with the homemade mincemeat it is just perfect. I highly recommend making your own it tastes amazing and is so easy to do. Although I remember the first time that I did it after I bought my KitchenAid processor and I ended up with a paste as it processed things so much more quickly than my old one and I a just didn't realise it. 

Fruit Mince

2 cups sultanas
2 cups dried fruit mix
1 1/2 cups currants
2 medium granny smith apples, peeled and grated
Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, 

1/4 cup lemon juice
Finely grated rind of 1 orange
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup good Brandy 
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves

Put sultanas, mixed fruit, currants, apple, rinds and juice into a food processor and process until finely chopped. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, Brandy, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg and cloves and stir until combined.

Spoon fruit mixture into a 5 cup capacity sterilised screw-top jar. Refrigerate for up to 3 months.