Apple Crumble
- Heat Oven to 400 degrees F
- Put the butter into the pan you plan to use and melt it, either in the microwave or in the warming oven (Obviously, no metal pans in the microwave)
- Peel, core, and cut up the apples; slices, chunks, about twice the size of your thumbnail
- In a small bowl, mush up the oats, sugar, flour, and spices (more or less spice to taste)
- Pour the melted butter into this and mush it around some more until it is "crumbly" (hey, where did you think the name came from?).
- Put a little Crumble in the bottom of the dish; it doesn't have to cover completely.
- Drop the apple bits into the Crumble, then add more Crumble on top, sprinkling it around until you've used it all up, and the apples are mostly covered.
- Drizzle some honey around the top -- JUST a little
- Bake at 400F for about 15 to 20 mintues, depending on the size of the pan
You're supposed to let it cool before you eat it, or scoop it onto your ice cream, or spoon whipped cream onto it.... S'yeah, riiiiight!
Enjoy!
Roast Beast
You'll need 6 ounces uncooked weight of meat per person you're serving. A family of four, for instance, needs a roast that's about a pound and a half. Check your cookbook to find the proper internal temperature (and therefore the hours of cooking time) for your roast. Remember, POULTRY finishes at a much higher internal than beef, pork, lamb, or venison.
Take the thawed roast (or turkey or large baking hen) and rinse it well. Pat it dry.
Turn the oven on to the recommended temp for the type and size of beast you're cooking.
In a bowl mix salt, pepper, garlic powder OR crushed fresh garlic, diced onions, and possibly your fave "spice mix". In another bowl, soften 2 Tablespoons of butter, and then moosh it around with an equivalent amount of good olive oil. Now, rub this all over your meat. Then sprinkle on your spice mix.
The oven won't be ready yet, so get the pan you plan to roast this in, and a rack. If you haven't got a rack, then take some aluminium foil and make tight "snakes". Coil these in the bottom of the pan and you can put the beast on that. If you haven't got a lid or top for your pan, make a foil tent.
Stick the roast in the hot oven, insert a thermo if you have one (DO NOT rely on the "pop up" thermo in purchased turkeys. Really. Please dun't.) If not, get out your stick-in meat thermo and keep it handy by. When the specified amount of cooking time has elapsed, check the meat temp. If it doesn't match what the book says it should -- Leave the roast beast alone for another 15 minutes. You can repeat this process till the temp is right.
During the roasting time, you're going to make your CranOrange stuff and your Green Beans.
CranOrange Goo
For the CranOrange Stuff, take 1 cup of cranberries and chop or food-proccessorise them to a coarse grind. Scrub an orange, then zest the entire outside. Then peel off the weird white stuff, and squish up (but not "juice) the orange. Put the cranberries and the orange squish into a small pan and add 1 cup of water, and 1/4 cup of sugar. Turn the heat on low, and stir till your hands get tired. It will thicken and gel very slightly. When it has, turn the heat off, get a dish, and pour it into the dish. (I use a crystal bowl, cause I like lookin' at the Stuff). Put the dish UNCOVERED in the frige to chill and set. This will not taste like the strange stuff you get in a can. It's tonnes better!
Green Beans
Once the Stuff is made, toward the end of the beast-roasting, get out the green beans. If you bought them frozen, just run warm water on them to thaw, and don't tell anyone. If you froze them yourself, thaw them gently in slightly cooler water. If you just went out and picked them (Oh you lucky south-of-the-equator people), then wash them and snap the ends, but leave them long. Once they're thawed or washed, drain them. While they drain, cut up 2 slices of bacon into about finger-widths and fry them, then pour off MOST of the oil, and set the bacon aside. Fry the beans, very quickly -- you basically just want them hot all the way through, and want them to turn a beautiful bright green. Once they're cooked, sprinkle the drained bacon back on them, and cover to keep warm.
Gravy
Open the oven and check the roast beast. Pour off about a half cup of dripping (carefully). Heat this in a pan on the range top. While it heats, mix about 1/2 cup of flour, a pinch of salt, and about 2 cups of water together till smooth. Easiest way to do this? Why, in a jar with a lid! and shake it baby! When the drippings are bubbling, slowly pour in the flour-water mix, stirring like a madwoman the whole time. When the flour tastes "cooked", and not like flour anymore, turn the heat almost off, and use a "tamer" if you have one. Keep the gravy warm, and stir it once in a while to preclude lumpifying.
Yorkshire Pudding
Now, for the Yorkshire Pudding! In a bowl put 1 cup flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a PINCH, a bare pinch! of baking soda. Stir it up good. In a separate bowl, combine 3/4 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, and up to 3 eggs. Mix or beat or whisk this until it's a pretty sunny yellow colour. Now, stir it into your dry ingredients, just until everything is moistened -- do not over mix this, seriously. It's okay that there are little bumpy floury bits. Really. Trust me.
By now the beast should be done. It will need to sit for about 15 minutes before you carve it, or all the juices will ooze out and frankly, who wants a non-juicy roast beast? Take the beast out and set it aside. Turn up the oven to 400 degrees, and put an iron skillet on the middle shelf. If you haven't an iron skillet, you can use a pie pan or a heavy baking pan -- DO NOT use glass. After about 5 minutes, very carefully take the skillet out of the oven -- it's going to be hot! -- and remember the bacon fat you poured off earlier? Pour that carefully into the skillet, and be sure it covers the whole bottom. If it doesn't, it's perfectly fine to add a tiny bit of vegetable oil. Now, pour the Yorkshire Pudding into the very hot pan, and put it back into the oven for a good 15 minutes at 400 degrees. While it cooks, you chase the cats off the table, get out the china, and yell at people to start washing their hands, and carve the roast beast. (If you're doing a turkey, and you have the whole "carve at the table" tradition -- then just make the preliminary cuts at wing and drumstick.) Check the green beans; if they're not hot, zap them in the micro for a few seconds (about 30 for most micros). Put the gravy in a bowl or boat.
The Yorkshire Pudding should be done by now, the beans should be hot, and the Stuff should be cold. VERY CAREFULLY get that skillet full of Yorkshire Pudding out, and slide the pudding onto a plate (yes, I know. In some families, they put the skillet on the table. I do too, when there aren't small people running about) and cut it as you would a pie.
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