GREEN TOMATO MINCEMEAT FRIED PIES

Green Tomato Mincemeat Fried Pies image

Mincemeat filling made from the early season OR late-season green tomatoes. This filling may be used with any fried pie recipe.

Provided by Jerry Bledsoe

Time 2h15m

Yield 24

Number Of Ingredients 18

Ingredients

2 pounds green tomatoes
¾ cup distilled white vinegar
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 cups cold water, divided
3 pounds tart apples - peeled, cored and chopped
1 ½ pounds raisins
3 ¾ cups packed brown sugar
3 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon ground cloves
¼ cup lemon juice
½ cup butter flavored shortening
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
⅓ cup shortening
3 tablespoons ice water
3 cups shortening for frying

Steps:

Coarsely chop the tomatoes. Place in a colander and, pressing with your hand, squeeze out as much tomato juice as you can. Transfer tomatoes to a large saucepan with 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; remove from heat and drain well.
Return tomatoes to saucepan with 1 cup of cold water, bring to a boil; drain again.
Place tomatoes back in the saucepan with remaining cup of water, apples, raisins, brown sugar, 3 1/2 teaspoons salt, vinegar, and 1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening. Cook slowly over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are transparent, about 30 minutes.
In the last 5 minutes of cooking, add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, lemon rind and juice. Remove mincemeat from heat and set aside to cool.
For the Pastry: In a large bowl, combine flour, 1 teaspoon salt ,and shortening. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough barely holds together. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll dough out to 1/8 inch thick on floured surface. Cut a 5-inch circle, place a large spoonful of filling on one half of the circle. Fold over and seal the edges by pressing them with a fork. Repeat with remaining dough.
In a large heavy skillet, heat shortening to 360 degrees F (182 degrees C). Carefully place 4 pies in the hot shortening. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining pies.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 382.6 calories, Carbohydrate 74.4 g, Fat 10.5 g, Fiber 3.3 g, Protein 2.6 g, SaturatedFat 2.3 g, Sodium 455.7 mg, Sugar 57.7 g