The culinary equivalent of bubble wrap

Over the weekend I watched Nigella Lawson's Christmas special on Food Network, and the first thing she made was this Cranberry Studded Mincemeat, which she made into wonderful-looking little mince tarts. I was absolutely charmed by them, and then I realized that I had the wherewithal to make the mincemeat, in my house, right at that very moment. (Okay, I made a couple of substitutions, like red wine for the port, and extra raisins instead of sultanas. Nigella wouldn't mind. Hi Nigella!)

It took me a few days to get around to it, but today I finally made the mincemeat. It smells fantastic, first of all. And as it simmered it made a gentle popping noise as the cranberries burst one by one. But best of all was, toward the end of the simmering phase, when I gave it a stir: I saw a couple of still-whole cranberries and mashed them against the side of the saucepan with the back of the spoon, and they burst with a very satisfying snap! Just like bubble wrap. I can't resist bubble wrap. Or cranberries, apparently. I stood there stirring for a couple more minutes, hunting down every last whole cranberry and popping them against the side of the pan. It was great. I almost forgot to put in the vanilla and honey.


After it cooled, I packed it into a jar, where it waits patiently for me to get around to making mince tarts. I've got two weeks. Sounds like a weekend job to me!

(Also: I am not a food photographer. My little jar of mincemeat is much more charming than this, though that won't stop me from baking it into tarts.)