00:00Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com, with Great Apple Crisp!
00:08That's right, according to a recent made-up study, the main reason people listed for not
00:12making an apple crisp, was the peel and corn and slice and prep on the apples.
00:17Well, thanks to this new great technique, that is no longer a valid excuse.
00:23So with that, let's go ahead and get started with my double entendre, since this great
00:27technique involves grating the apples instead of peeling and slicing them, which is not
00:32only faster, but definitely better for people that don't have great knife skills.
00:37And what we'll do is grate six apples into a bowl, and I'm using Honeycrisp, but please
00:42feel free to use whatever you want.
00:44I mean, you are after all the Johnny Appleseed, of which apple to use for this deed.
00:49And the only thing to look out for here, is to not grate in too far.
00:53And a great tip for how to tell if you've gone too far, is you're going to see seeds
00:57in the bowl, which we don't want, so don't go that far.
01:01And then once we have our apples grated, we'll squeeze in the juice of one lemon, and I guess
01:05you could add the zest if you wanted, but for me that might give it a little too pronounced
01:09of a lemon flavor.
01:11And here we're going for mostly the acidity, with just a little hint of lemon flavor.
01:15And once that's in, we'll add a little touch of cinnamon, plus a very small touch of corn
01:20starch, just to help tighten up those juices a little bit.
01:24And that's it, we'll finish this up with some white sugar, as well as some light brown sugar,
01:29at which point we'll take a spoon and give this a thorough mixing.
01:33And by the way, if all you have is dark brown sugar, you can use that.
01:37For recipes like this, light brown and regular dark brown sugar are pretty much interchangeable,
01:42and the only difference is that the dark has more of a molasses flavor.
01:45But anyway, the point is, they both will work.
01:48And no matter what you use, make sure everything is mixed in very evenly.
01:52Once it is, we will stop, and transfer this into a buttered baking dish.
01:57As in a very, very generously buttered baking dish, like a couple tablespoons.
02:02And you can and probably should do this ahead of time.
02:04Alright, I decided to start the video by showing you the apple prep, since that is slightly
02:09more exciting than watching someone butter a dish to open a video.
02:12But it's generally a good idea to have that stuff prepped before you start a recipe.
02:17In any event, once that's greased, we'll go ahead and transfer our apple mixture in, and
02:21we will distribute and spread that out as evenly as we can.
02:25And by the way, raise your hand if you needed that instruction, and you were actually going
02:28to pile it all up on one side.
02:31I know you weren't, but that's just something people like me say.
02:35And then once that's been accomplished, we can move on to our topping, which starts with
02:39one ingredient that goes in just about everybody's recipe for apple crisp, which would be some
02:44rolled oats, followed by an ingredient that's in almost nobody's recipe, and that would
02:49be some grape nuts.
02:50Oh yeah, the cereal.
02:53And while it is true no one really knows what grape nuts are, we all know what they aren't,
02:58which would be nuts from grapes.
03:00But whatever they are, they work great in toppings like this.
03:04And then to that we will add some all-purpose flour, as well as some white and brown sugar,
03:09followed by a small, but very important pinch of salt.
03:12Oh yeah, don't forget the salt, which I think I did in the apple crisp video I posted over
03:17a decade ago.
03:19And that's it.
03:20We'll finish up with an entire stick of melted butter.
03:23And once that's in, we'll take a spoon and give this a thorough mix.
03:27And I really do want you to take your time here, OK, not just because stirring things
03:31are relaxing and therapeutic, but also we want to make sure every rolled oat and every
03:36single grape nut is coated evenly with the butter.
03:39So take your time and do a very thorough and thoughtful job.
03:44And that's it.
03:45Once properly mixed, we'll spoon that over the top, and we'll distribute that as evenly
03:49as we can.
03:50I know you wanted to pile it all up in one spot, but don't.
03:55And then after I had that spread over, I did something I don't want you to do.
03:59I went around with the tip of my spoon, and I poked some of that down into that juicy
04:02apple mixture, which at the time seemed like a smart thing to do.
04:07But as it turns out, I think we want to leave everything right on top, so it comes out a
04:10little crispier for you.
04:12All right, using grated apples instead of sliced apples for this was a new thing for
04:17me.
04:18So I was learning on the fly.
04:20But anyway, once that's topped, it's ready to transfer into the center of a 375 degree
04:25oven for about an hour, or until our apple filling is firmed up and the top is golden
04:31brown and crisp.
04:33And it hopefully looks like this.
04:35And then if you want, you can serve this up piping hot, but personally, I do think it's
04:40better taste and texture wise if you let it cool down.
04:44So I did let mine sit there for a while before I served some up, and at this point it was
04:48just barely, barely warm.
04:50Just barely warm enough to slightly melt the next ingredient, which of course would be
04:54a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
04:57And no, not a big scoop.
04:58A nice small restaurant scoop.
05:01I know, you're going to put more on at home.
05:03That's fine.
05:04And that's it.
05:05I finished up with a completely unnecessary sprig of mint, although to be fair, that might
05:10be the best looking sprig of mint in the history of YouTube videos.
05:13And if it isn't, I'd love to see the one that is.
05:16But anyway, I grabbed a spoon and went in for the official taste, and I could not have
05:21been happier with how this came out.
05:22Right, I love the flavor of a classic apple crisp, but what I don't always love is the
05:27texture of those larger slices of apples you get under the crisp.
05:31Which is why I was really excited to try this grating technique, and it really did work
05:35out amazingly well.
05:37OK, those little shreds of apple still have a little bit of texture to them, but the overall
05:42mouthfeel is much more luxurious.
05:45And we're almost getting like apple butter vibes from this.
05:48Which if you're not familiar, is when we cook down apples for a really, really long time
05:52with lots of sugar and some butter, and it turns into this rich brown sweet and tangy
05:56paste that's one of the most delicious things you'll ever eat.
06:00Well that's kind of what we have going on here, except it's topped with all this crumbly
06:04crispy goodness.
06:06Which reminds me, my only dilemma here is that the topping is definitely crispier when
06:11it's freshly baked, so I probably enjoy that part of this better when it's warm.
06:15But as far as the apple component underneath, I definitely enjoy that part more when it's
06:19cold.
06:20Right, once it's cold it's very jam-like, which is why I compared it to apple butter
06:24earlier, and I just enjoy the balance of the flavors a little more when this is chilled.
06:30But anyway, suit yourself, and no matter what temperature you enjoy this at, I really do
06:35think this technique is great, pun intended, and I really, really do hope you give this
06:41a try soon.
06:42So please follow the links below for the ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much
06:47more info, as usual, and as always, enjoy!
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