Great Way Weekly

For about a year now, I’ve been thinking about trying to make home-made mincemeat for my husband. My father loved mincemeat, and my mother would buy jars of Nonesuch Mincemeat and make a pie for him every winter. As a picky eater, I resolutely refused to even taste it. I don’t think my mom especially liked it, and perhaps my older brother would eat a bit. Despite my refusal to have even one taste of it, I remember thinking it smelled good. It was dark brown, and smelled sweet and spicy.

My memories of this good smell made me think that my husband would enjoy mincemeat, and that I might actually like it, too. We both love that other, much-maligned holiday treat, fruitcake (but only from Deluxe Fruitcake in Corsicana, TX–it’s the only one worth eating). I did some internet research for recipes and found one that looked like the right combination of tasty and not too difficult.

So, what is mincemeat? It’s been around for hundreds of years and no one seems to know what it’s all about. Traditionally, it did contain finely minced beef, along with fruit (fresh and dried), spices, fat (as suet) and some sort of alcohol like wine. It was a way to preserve meat and fruit in a time before refrigeration. I did find several recipes that had beef listed as one of the ingredients, but since I don’t eat beef (and since it sounds kind of yucky to put it in a sweet pie), I sought out an all-fruit version.

From reviewing several recipes, I determined that it’s a fairly flexible recipe that should contain some fresh apple and maybe some fresh orange, a variety of dried fruit (raisins, cherries, peaches, apricots), butter, spirits like brandy and spices. It’s actually really easy to assemble, and cooked quietly and happily on the stove for about 40 minutes.  I used the recipe for Bubby’s All-Fruit Mincemeat (found at globalgourmet.com), and adapted it to what I had on hand. Here’s a link to the original recipe.

I haven’t yet made my mincemeat pie, but this stuff is awfully tasty just eaten with a fork!

My adaptation of Bubby’s excellent recipe is as follows:

Cathy’s Mincemeat

1 Granny Smith apply, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces

1 naval orange, cut into small pieces (including skin and pulp)

2 small (or 1 large) Bosc pears

1/2 cup red wine

1 cup succanat (or rapidura, an unrefined sugar)

3/4 cup Brandy

1/4 cup dark rum

1/2 cup water

4 oz raisins

4 oz dried bluberries

4 oz dried apricots, cut into small pieces

3 oz mixed dried apples and peaches, cut into small pieces

5 tbsp butter

1 oz candied ginger, cut into small pieces

1 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp salt

pinch cayenne

Combine all ingredients in a 6-quart saucepan and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat to low and let it gently simmer for about 40 minutes, or until all of the dried fruit is plump and soft, and the liquid has been reduced to a very thick syrup. Cool completely. This should keep in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Now you’re ready to make pie!

Let mixture cool completely. It is not ready to use as a pie filling, or whatever else sounds good to you.

In my family, holiday meals are a time to indulge in rich foods that we don’t usually eat, and to eat just too much food.  I know I’m supposed to say that this is bad for you, and you shouldn’t eat too much , yadda, yadda, yadda.  I believe that if you generally eat a healthy, balanced diet and get some exercise, you can and probably should indulge from time to time.  I think that occasional spurges into naughty foods can help keep you on the straight-and-narrow that rest of the time and keep you from feeling deprived.

That said, there’s nothing wrong with making healthy foods for celebrations, as long as they taste good.

Here’s a recipe from the New York Times online, and it sounds like one of those healthy and tasty foods that I’m always looking for.  Sweet potatoes are rich in beta carotene, an important antioxidant, and have a low glycemic index (which always surprises me since they are so sweet).  Hungry for more health info about sweetpotatoes? Go here.

The apples in this recipe are also very good for you, as we all know.  I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but I do have all the fixins at home, so I’ll probably give it a whirl.  I think that I will add some spices to it, though–some cinnamon and maybe some ginger.

Please also note that this recipe is gluten-free.

Martha Rose Shulman at the New York Times shows us how to make

Sweet Potato Puree With Apples

This dish is great for Thanksgiving and always goes over well. Once you’ve tried it you’ll never want those candied yams again.

2 pounds sweet potatoes, scrubbed

2 tart apples, such as Granny Smith or Braeburn

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt

1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted (to taste)

1 tablespoon mild flavored honey, such as clover

Pinch of salt

1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Scrub sweet potatoes and pierce in several places with a sharp knife. Pierce the apples in a few places. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the potatoes and apples on top. Bake for 40 minutes and remove the apples. Continue to bake the sweet potatoes until thoroughly soft and beginning to ooze, 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the size. Remove from the heat and allow to cool until cool enough to handle.

2. Turn the oven down to 350ºF. Remove the skins from the potatoes. Peel and core the apples, scraping all the flesh from just inside the skins. Chop the potatoes and apples coarsely and place in a foot processor fitted with the steel blade. Puree until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well. Transfer to a lightly buttered 2- or 3-quart baking dish.

3. Heat the puree in the 350ºF oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until steaming. Serve hot.

Yield: Serves 6

Advance preparation: This can be made through Step 2 a day ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator. Reheating will take 30 to 40 minutes.

–photo and recipe from the New York Times

You hear a lot these days about inflammation.  In the past, inflammation was viewed as an unfortunate byproduct of disease.  It made a lot of trouble for the patient, but the thing to do was to bring it down with things like steroids and non-steroidal anti inflammatories (NSAIDS–like Advil).

These days, inflammation is seen as a cause of illness, an integral part of the disease process. It’s something to be avoided as best you can, but how?

One of the best things you can do to protect your health in both the short and long term is to eat a healthy, balanced diet. You hear that all the time,  but what does it mean in practical terms?

The very best diet for minimizing inflammation in the body is primarily vegetarian + fish/seafood, with a little bit of lean meat on occasion.  Whole grains, lots of veggies, extra-virgin olive oil–these foods deeply nourish the body and help it make qi (or vital energy). My husband and I have been lacto-ovo vegetarians (meaning we eat eggs and milk) for over 15 years.  We also recently decided to add some seafood to our diets.  We feel great on this diet, and are the thinnest members of our families.

In Chinese medicine, we believe that food is a type of medicine.  You must be mindful of what you are eating at all times, and do your best to eat foods that give your body something to work with.  Refined, packaged and fast foods are convenient, and in a pinch, are fine to consume occasionally, but they should the the exception and not the norm.  Take the time to prepare healthy meals for yourself and the dividends will be tremendous.

Dr. Andrew Weil has redone the food pyramid to reflect our understanding of what to eat to minimize inflammation in the whole body.  Following this type of diet should pay off in more energy now, and some protection from bigger health problems in the long run.

Dr. Weil's Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid

One thing about this pyramid that I disagree with is the notion that you need to eat chocolate “sparingly.”  I think that so long as you eat dark chocolate, you can (and should) eat a little every day.  I see dark chocolate as a special “vitamin” that we need regularly.  So indulge, but don’t over do it.