Using up Dried Fruit

After sorting the pantry out just before Christmas I have quite a bit of dried fruit that has its sell by date fast looming and rather than waste this precious resource I have decided to start early by making some dried fruit chutneys as well as Mincemeat, which with the addition of other ingredients will turn these fruits into something different and filling for the pantry shelf as well as delicious for the family table. Its also a way of using up little amounts of things too especially when making a mincemeat in a large crock as you can perpetually add ingredients as long as you give them a good mix inbetween.  Its a bit hubble bubble in its creation but by golly its one of the best ways of making mincemeat I have come across. Mincemeat made in this fashion contains no suet and it  is very juicy and moist. The rest is Alchemy.  Not only that I will have most of my mincemeat and other goodies if made now on hand for use throughout the year and also in readiness for the Christmas celebrations or putting into a Christmas hamper (I use the word lightly) for friends and relatives.

There are all sorts of goodies that you can make from this oh so precious resource ranging from items that take a lot of long cooking to items that are quite simply steeped in a liquid of some description or other, but they all taste good.  Its usually an alcoholic liquid  of some description in this household.  But dried fruit helps the housewife create something special during those lean months to add to the larder/pantry shelf.  The only real expensive bit is the time element, the nurturing, the creative bit.  They are simple ingredients but they can liven up even the most simplest of dishes. Just because it is the winter months doesn't mean that you cannot be creating something to add to the plate.  If you have ingredients lurking in the cupboard or the pantry that needs using up you may find a use in the following posts and recipes.  I have listed them separately in an effort to be user friendly.  

Hope they prove to be of some use to you.