DAMPER PARMIGIANA

DAMPER PARMIGIANA

INGREDIANTS:    3 Level camp mugs self-raising flour
                               2 heaped tablespoons grated parmisan cheese
                               2 heaped tablespoons sugar
                               1 level teaspoon salt
                               1 cup of water

METHOD:    Wash your bloody hands first!

Mix the exact quantities of dry ingredients in the bowl with a spoon and make a crater in the center before adding the exact amount of water. This is critical as any more or any less will make the mix too dry or too wet.

Initially mix with the spoon and finally mix by hand in the bowl until all of the ingredients are homogenous and the lump of dough has been flattened and folded many times to get uniform disposal of moisture content.

Smoothly mould the dough into a flattish disc shape about the size of the camp oven. The inclusion of the cheese produces a golden brown damper if not overheated and is a welcome change from that slightly bland standard damper taste.

Put about 5mm of dry flour in the bottom of the camp oven prior to the damper going in and the damper will lift out with very little mess. Pre warm the oven in the sun or near the fire and keep it there with the damper in it for at least 30 minutes before cooking. This will allow the damper to rise.

Cook the damper using coals in a shallow depression, using twice as many coals on the lid as underneath. The shallow depression can be dug with a shovel about half as large again as the camp oven and coals put in the bottom. Don’t use too many coals or the damper will burn and cooking time will usually be 45 to 60 minutes.

Camp Oven Cooking

Camp Oven Moroccan Roast Goat With Mint & Garlic
Or You Could Use Lamb!

Ingredients:      1 x 2 kg (approx) boned out *young goat leg.
                        4 cloves garlic – finely chopped
                        Handfull chopped mint leaves.
                        1 Tablespoons salt
                        Master Foods Moroccan herbs.
                        Pepper grinding to taste.
                        1 x can diced tomatoes.
                        1 x large carrot – long diced
                        2 x spuds – sliced
                        1 x sweet potato – cubed
                        4 or 5 pieces cubed pumpkin
                        1 x stick celery – small dice
                        1 x large onion – finely chopped
                        Juice of 1 lemon
                        3 x Tablespoon olive oil


Trim any fat off the goat leg open it out, flesh up. Season flesh side with garlic, mint, a good shake of Moroccan herbs, pepper and salt. Roll up and tie firmly with butchers twine or brown string, at a pinch you could use fencing wire! Splitpin said he once used fish hooks!!!

Pre-heat the camp oven, with trivet in, oil trivett and cover with sliced spuds. Place the goat leg on the spuds. Pour the lemon juice over the goat leg and drizzle the olive oil over it.

Place the rest of the veges around the goat leg and pour the can of tomatoes over the veges and season the lot with the Moroccan herbs.

Place camp oven on a good bed of coals and place a shovel full of hot coals on top of camp oven.

Sit back and have a few beers and test meat after 1 hour with skewer if the coals are nice and hot. If it is windy it will take longer to cook. A good idea if it is windy is to dig a cooking pit at least as deep as the camp oven. If clear liquid comes out when you skewer the goat leg, she’s cooked mate so take it off the coals or it will overcook. If blood comes out when you skewer it, she’s raw! More time needed.

When cooked, the goat should be pink on the inside. Now where have I heard that before? A nice sauce can be made with the juices left. Skim any fat off the top and make into a gravy with an instant gravy mix like Gravox.

This dish goes marvelously with Parmigana Damper, beer and/or red wine!

*A young goat is preferable, don’t shoot an old billy or a female in season. Too many hormones and too gamey! Hang the leg, wrapped in cheesecloth, for a day in the shade after the kill to help temper the gamey taste.