Green Tomato Mincemeat Fried Pies

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.