Hey! I'm the first one back! That means I can do anything I want! Lets see here...
::deep breath::
FOOD FIGHT!
Okay, Devon is getting hungry again, so here is my long-awaited Outback Apple Crisp recipe, but first, a word about international measurements: DON'T BOTHER! Yeah, a cup in one country is technically different from cups in other countries, but they aren't so different that it makes that big of a difference for the recipes I deal with.
If I was making bread dough with it's low tolerance for error, it would be a different story, but my favourite recipes come from around the world and I dragged them around the world with me, so half the time I had no idea what I was measuring with anyway. Sometimes I just guess and throw handfuls of stuff in the pot. Don't worry, be happy!
Why don't I go Metric? Awww... that stuff'll never catch on!
Crust:
3 cups quick oats
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup melted butter
Filling:
6 to 8 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
Mix the crust ingredients together in a large bowl with a large spoon.
Mix the filling ingredients together in another large bowl. I find a salad-tossing technique to work best on the apples.
Butter or grease the bottom of a nine to twelve inch Aussie Camp Oven. I'm using this term to avoid angering the many Dutch Oven enthusiasts out there that would claim that, even though this style of oven has been serving outback cattle stations for generations, it lacks the proper feet to make it official.
I dragged this oven and a smaller one back in my luggage after a trip to Australia, even though the original plan was to either throw them away or give them away once I was done with them. Both of my bags were 1/2 a kilogram under the airline's weight limit!
Spread half of the crust mixture across the bottom of the oven, followed by the filling, then finish by topping with the remaining half of the crust mixture.
Next, place a small quantity of coals and ash on a spot of dry earth, or failing that, a disposable pizza tray (This is the part where you use the shovel, by the way -- you can't cook dinkum Aussie without a shovel...). I actually had about three or four coals too many in this photo, and the bottom scorched a tad. Don't over-do the coals!
The tool you see on top of the oven below is used to manipulate it and the lid once they are hot. Each rod has a hook on one end, and the other ends are connected together with a short piece of chain.
Place the camp oven on top of the coals, then place more coals and ash on top. This was a good quantity, but maybe two more would have been better. Note the lip on the lid which keeps the coals from falling off the top.
After about twenty minutes, check to make sure the Apple Crisp is beginning to sizzle, or at least steam. Add or subtract coals to the top and/or bottom as neccessary.
Total baking time should be about 40 to 50 minutes.
And there you have it! For the less adventurous, you can use a 9 to 12 inch baking pan and bake it in a 175C/350F degree oven. I've never done it that way though, so let me know how it turns out!
Caramel Sauce
2 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 cups light corn or cane syrup
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Dos Equis, Newcastle Brown Ale or an Octoberfest beer or Vienna Lager
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
Candy Thermometer
Mix sugar, syrup, butter, salt and beer in a heavy sauce pan over low heat, stirring constantly.
Once sugar is dissolved, bring to a boil and cook without stirring until the candy thermometer reaches 115C/235F degrees. Beware of boil-over! The stuff is pretty unstable at this point!
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Allow to cool for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
Slowly stir in cream until smooth and glossy.
Use warm or cold. The caramel sauce is great on just about everything by the way.
Oh, and Devon will have to make this for Gloria the next time they are in the same place together to make up for my polluting of her fine Forum. Devon didn't know that of course...
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