Pear Mincemeat

Here's the recipe we use for our pear mincemeat. I have not tried adding apples, but it's certainly an option that I think would be good. Also, we have used keifer pears with good success.

Two other notes: 1. I peel the pears. 2. I cut the spices in half! With the amounts they have here, it was very overwhelming... At least to us.

Enjoy!



Ball's Pear Mincemeat

Makes about 9 pints

A simple pear mincemeat with full-on flavor. Serve as an accompaniment to roast pork or beef, as a side dish. Put a generous dollop of Pear Mincemeat into the cavity of halved acorn squash during the last 15 minutes of baking. Drizzle warm honey over acorn squash before serving.

YOU WILL NEED

7 pounds Bartlett pears (about 21 medium)
1 lemon
2 pounds golden or dark raisins
6 ¾ cups sugar
1 tablespoon cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon allspice
1 teaspoon ginger
1 cup vinegar, 5% acidity

DIRECTIONS

PREP: Wash pears and lemon under cold running water; drain. Cut pears in half lengthwise and core. Coarsely chop pears. Cut lemon into quarters and remove seeds Finely chop lemon, including peel, using a food processor or food grinder.

COOK: Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring to prevent sticking. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.

FILL: Ladle hot mincemeat into a hot jar, leaving ½ inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Clean jar rim. Center lid on jar and adjust band to fingertip-tight. Place jar on the rack elevated over simmering water (180 degrees F) in boiling-water canner. Repeat until all jars are filled.

PROCESS: Lower the rack into simmering water. Water must cover jars by 1 inch. Adjust heat to medium-high, cover canner and bring water to a rolling boil. Process pint jars 25 minutes. Turn off heat and remove cover. Let jars cool 5 minutes. Remove jars from canner; do not retighten bands if loose. Cool 12 hours. Test seals. Label and store jars.

AM ... Thanks for the recipe,  The ingredients look a lot healthier than what is in the store bought mincemeat I used this past weekend.

trolleydriver wrote:AM ... Thanks for the recipe,  The ingredients look a lot healthier than what is in the store bought mincemeat I used this past weekend.

I  bet the ingredient list was a mile long.  All those long words added after the main ingredients.

Kelejan wrote:

trolleydriver wrote:AM ... Thanks for the recipe,  The ingredients look a lot healthier than what is in the store bought mincemeat I used this past weekend.

I bet the ingredient list was a mile long.  All those long words added after the main ingredients.

It's been years since I used None Such mincemeat.

I don't really like a chunky mincemeat, so I chop it finer than what they're probably suggesting...

It's REALLY good!