When I was growing up, at holiday time everyone in my family ate up all the pumpkin pie first.  I was the one who claimed the mincemeat pie since nobody else in the family loved as much as I did.  Here is my mother’s easy recipe.  I finally have a good homemade pie crust recipe you can use here, but if you are not ready for that then a frozen pie crust will work out fine. Mincemeat pie is a very old recipe in the British tradition.  The traditional recipe actually calls for minced game meats to be added to a fruit filling. I use mincemeat fruit filling in a jar from the grocery store that actually does not contain meat so this recipe doubles as a vegetarian recipe.  The fruit filling I use is composed of apples, oranges and spices and is delicious.  11/5/2023 – Cross & Blackwell mincemeat is discontinued per Smuckers, Inc. So I’ve switched to Robertson's Classic Mincemeat, which has worked out okay. The jars are smaller, so I need two to fill my deep dish pie crust and pie plate. Ingredients: 1 jar of mincemeat filling, 29 ounces (Crosse & Blackwell - is discontinued) 2 frozen 9" pastry pie shells (you can try homemade pie crusts too) and a glass pie plate 9 x 1¾ inches 1 egg, beaten, as an egg wash for the top crust, cut with a little milk or water Now, I always have trouble with defrosting frozen pie crusts and laying the top one out to cover over this pie. It seems that the top defrosted crust will not behave and cover the top without flaking and breaking no matter how hard I try.  Here is a trick I recently learned:  First, pour the filling into the bottom frozen pie crust.  Carve off the ridge from all around the edges of the bottom crust to make a good landing zone and sealing surface for the top crust to attach to. Then take the still-frozen top crust and invert it over the filled bottom frozen crust.  As it defrosts, it will fall out of the foil pan on top of the filled bottom crust.  It may need some coaxing. Adjust it for fit and you are ready to go. The crust will defrost fairly quickly at room temperature since it contains so much fat, which defrosts faster than non-fat foods. When the top crust is well seated over the filling, crimp all around the edges with your fingers or use the tines of a fork so that a good looking seal is made.  Use a pastry brush and coat the top crust and edges with the beaten egg.  This will make the pie look spectacularly browned when it is done.  I also think that the egg wash helps protect against excessive browning or burning.  Finally, take a knife and cut several short slashes in the middle of the top shell so that some steam can escape while cooking. If you are not happy with this top crust method, try using the streusel topping from my apple pie recipe. Place your finished pie on a cookie sheet for stability and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 45 minutes.  (Time adjusted in 2021.) Extra step:  For a flakier bottom crust, pre-heat the cookie sheet alone for a few minutes before placing the unbaked pie on it to bake in the oven.  Otherwise, the bottom of the crust will become soggy as it bakes.  This really works! Watch for excessive browning and adjust baking time and perhaps temperature, since your oven may be a bit cooler or hotter than mine. With my oven I need to cover the pie with a “tent” of aluminum foil for about half of the total baking time.  This keeps the crust from browning too much while the rest of the pie bakes through. Like an apple pie, this pie tastes great with vanilla ice cream!  
Mincemeat Pie
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