Mincemeat recipe goes back to early 1900s

Reader Emma Harder called recently to request a recipe for green tomato mincemeat pie.

Here’s a recipe I discovered this summer in a wonderful cookbook by Janie Hibler, “Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobber.” The book is a collection of recipes unique to the Northwest, with interesting sidebars on history and ingredients.

The Green Tomato Mincemeat recipe is one she found from a Swedish cook in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.

Here’s the recipe:

Green Tomato Mincemeat

From “Dungeness Crabs and Blackberry Cobblers” by Janie Hibler

“The nickname for Bonners Ferry, Idaho, was ‘Swede Island’ because of the many families that emigrated from Sweden to work in the town’s lumber mill. This recipe belonged to Linda Johnson, who spent several years cooking in the mill’s cookhouse after arriving in Idaho from her native Sweden in 1906. She made mincemeat every fall and substituted green tomatoes for venison when deer was not available,” Hibler wrote.

2 quarts small green tomatoes (approximately 23)

2 quarts tart apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarters (approximately 20)

1 pound raisins (2 1/2 cups)

1 pound currants (3 1/4 cups)

1 1/4 cups cold suet or butter (20 tablespoons)

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 cup vinegar

Grind the tomatoes using the course blade of a meat grinder and drain them in a colander. Put the ground tomatoes in a pot with a small amount of water and repeat this process 2 more times. Put the apple quarters, raisins, currants and suet through the coarse blade of meat grinder or coarsely chop with a food processor. (If you are using butter, melt it in the last step, when all the ingredients are combined and cooked.) Combine all the ingredients over medium-high heat and cook rapidly for 1 hour. Pour into hot sterilized 1-pint jars, leaving 1/2-inch head space. Process in a boiling-water bath for 25 minutes.

Yield: Approximately 10 pints

Approximate nutrition per serving: Unable to calculate.

Dear Cook’s Notebook: I read the recipe for canning lemon curd (in the Sept. 29 edition.) My favorite is made with some cornstarch. Can you find one with cornstarch in it? – Thanks, Nancy Parker

Dear Nancy: I found that recipes for lemon curd made with cornstarch are rather uncommon. But here’s a recipe from a cookbook called “Cupcakes Year-Round: 50 Recipes for Every Season and Celebration,” by Sara Neumeier. In the book it is used to fill cupcakes, but it also works well as a topping for your favorite baked goods or desserts.

This recipe is not suitable for canning.

Lemon Curd

1/3 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 cup sugar

Grated zest of 2 lemons

6 egg yolks

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

In the top of a double boiler, whisk together the lemon juice and cornstarch. Add the sugar, zest and egg yolks; whisk to combine.

Bring the water in the double boiler to a simmer. Using a whisk, stir the mixture until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, about 20 minutes. Whisk in the butter, one or two pieces at a time. When all the butter is combined, transfer the curd to a clean bowl. Cover the surface of the curd with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool.

Homemade curd will keep in the refrigerator up to one week and will keep frozen for up to 3 months.

Yield: 2 cups

Approximate nutrition per 1-ounce serving: 111 calories, 7 grams fat (3.7 grams saturated, 54 percent fat calories), 1 gram protein, 12 grams carbohydrate, 85 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 3 milligrams sodium.