Quick, Easy, Cointreau Mincemeat

I bastardised several Googled recipes for this, looking to make some last minute mince pies and, possibly, a mincemeat & apple pie for Boxing Day. 

Ingredients

• 1 bag of Sainbury's Basics mixed fruit

• 1 tub chopped candied mixed peel
• 1tub glacé cherries, chopped 
• 2 small apples, cored and chopped small 
• Glug of rum 
• 150ml Cointreau 
• zest of 1 lemon, juice of same
• 200g shredded veggie suet
• 200g dark brown sugar
• ½ small nutmeg, grated, or to taste

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl apart from the Cointreau and the rum. Add about 100 ml of the Cointreau, give it a good stir and leave overnight. If you're in a hurry ignore the resting bit. 

In the morning heat in a pan on a low heat until the suet is melted, stirring hard and often. I used veggie suet as I have veggie guests coming for Xmas. 

Stir the mix often as it cools. When cooled add the rest of the Cointreau and the rum. Stir some more. Eat small spoonfuls to ensure no more alcohol is needed. 

Mmmmm...

Damn those Archers!

Yesterday I made a batch of mincemeat using Cointreau. This morning I find that Jennifer Aldridge, in the Archers, has done the same. So much for what I thought was a moment of mincemeat genius..,

Fresh Bread

Baking your own bread has a number of things going for it. Firstly, the taste is great - there's nothing like freshly baked bread. Secondly it's cheap. Artisan bread is rather expensive, although you can get decent bread from most supermarkets these days. Thirdly, though, it's great to have the oven on when it's so bloody cold!

This is  the result of a rather nice simple French bread recipe, which I'll post soon. 

Bread, bread, cake and pie!

Tonight I'm following on from the huge success, even if I say so myself, of my whole meal loaf with a loaf of white bread. 

I'm also going to make some flatbread to go with a sweet potato & spinach curry. 

With a couple of brown bananas there's going to be a banana cake. 

And I'm going to make tuna empanadas, albeit with a wine-less pastry in consideration of our ludicrous taxes. 

More later...,