The nincompoop – aka the fool!

I thought this little missive might make you smile.

It may not have escaped your notice that the weather in the UK has been the absolute pits - the worst we've had for a decade at this time of year.

Horrible weather makes you want comforting food, sweet or savoury.

This weekend, snowed in, was not going to be good and to prove my point here's my back garden (yard) :

Never wanting to waste good cooking time I decided to make Grandad Jack's Tea Loaf and so weighed out the fruit, added the mug of strong tea, covered it and left it to do its magic overnight.

A spot check revealed I only had one egg – not a problem, the following morning I attach my snow grips to my boots and trudge to the village shop where they sell fresh eggs – dedicated or what.

How virtuous am I – not only fresh eggs but hard exercise in the snow too.

Back home on went the oven to pre-heat – it takes 5 minutes to mix the cakes and away we go … or so I thought.

You know how I'm always droning on about store cupboards and fully stocked freezers, not to mention planning blah, blah.

Having soaked the fruit and climbed Mount Everest – the equivalent in my world anyway – I only needed three more ingredients – optional cherries, check - one mug of soft light brown sugar, check - two mugs of self raising flour – you have got to be kidding. I keep my flour(s) in large glass pots for two reasons, one – I use both so frequently it makes sense and two I can see at a glance how much flour I've got left – OR NOT!

I had only one mug of flour. I'm struggling to decide which expletive would best suit my discovery – upset puts it mildly – stamping feet and throwing toys out of pram would be better. It just serves me right.

Just in case you think I'm making this up – here's a photo of the empty jar :

What's that expression “necessity is the mother of invention”? Having resisted the urge to retire to a darkened room with a bottle of gin and a straw (just joking) I went rooting in my pantry instead. The flour fairies had not been – no reserve bag of self raising flour had materialised. What I did find was a bag of organic self raising wholemeal flour. It's worth a shot – hey it could turn out well.

It did – here's the proof and a photo of the sliced cake.

The moral of the story – we all need a kick in the pants occasionally.

Some things are meant to be – another tweaked recipe.

P.s. If you'd like the recipe check out “Cake” label – Sweet week Grandad Jack's Tea Loaf.

Veggie Rendang – the shucking and the photos

The shucking stuff

Tip your chick peas onto a shallow tray lined with kitchen roll. Add another layer of kitchen roll and move the kitchen roll using the flat of your hands for 30 seconds. Lift the kitchen roll and you'll see the outer husk of the chick pea comes away. You don't have to do this if you don't mind the husks – I think it's worth the effort and you can shuck whenever you have five minutes. This is all stuff that you can prep when it suits you.

It's academic anyway if you choose to use other veggies – the choice is yours!

The photo stuff

This curry really appeals to me – the ultimate in “feet up in front of a boxed set” food – a bowl of curry, bread and a spoon … what more could a girl want!

Veggie Rendang

Remember all our recent Indian bits and pieces – chicken salad … but not as you know it and Malai wali murghi (MWM) from Post holiday blues?

For a supper with friends I decided on the MWM, meatball size lamb koftas, and all the usual suspects, raita, mango and naan. The only element that was missing was for me – the veggie curry. Speed, as usual, was my main aim. Here's my veggie rendang.

You can make your own speedy rendang sauce :

Rendang Sauce

Serves 2

100ml coconut cream

50ml water

3 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp curry powder

(strength to suit your palate – I used mild

to suit my guests)

1 tbsp kecap manis

(sweet soy sauce)

Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan over a low heat and it's ready to roll. You can make this ahead and re-heat.

Add whatever veggies you like – do a fridge raid if you think you've got a miscellany of stuff that needs using up for a mid week supper. If your raid produces leftover cooked veggies that's great if not, then uncooked veggies should be cubed to the same size and sautéed in a drop of rapeseed oil. They don't need to be cooked through since you'll be adding them to the rendang sauce.

It's difficult to give exact quantities since I know from experience that meat eaters always eat the veggie stuff – don't ask me why it's one of the great mysteries of life! Some guests may take a spoonful to try or to compliment the meat and poultry dishes – to cover yourself I'd double the above recipe to serve 4.

I used onion, potatoes and chick peas :

1 medium onion chopped finely and sautéed in a drop

of rapeseed oil

500g baby potatoes (I used Cornish) cooked, cooled

peeled, cubed and bagged until ready to use

1 400g can of chick peas, drained, rinsed and shucked

2 handfuls of frozen petit pois – optional

There's a downside with chick peas … the shucking - just in case you're not sure about shucking it's to remove the outer covering of anything that is eaten from an oyster to cereal or corn.

I find it therapeutic but then I'm sad!

Rocky Road – step by step photos

Bag the Rocky Road in cellophane bags and add a chick or bunny and tie with yellow ribbon. There are loads of decorative bits and pieces out there and if you shop around you won't spend a fortune either.

Three different chocolate treats for Easter – all easy peasy – Pets D'Ange, Maya's Chocolate-Chip Cookies and Rocky Road Take 33!

Rocky Road – Hints and Tips

After your Rocky Road has been fridged you can let your inner Jackson Pollock take over and decorate with 150g of melted white chocolate. You can microwave, use a bain marie or an electric chocolate melting pot. I know I've said it before - I'm not one for spending huge amounts of dosh on kitchen kit that gathers dust but this little pot is worth the investment. It's quick and easy to use and all you have to wash up is one small pot. You get three pots in the kit – each will take a maximum of 250g of chocolate. This element is entirely optional. If you do decide to decorate then you'll have to fridge the Rocky Road again to allow it to set.

You can portion the Road as you prefer – I cut it into bite size pieces, measuring approximately 3.2cms (ish) – you don't have to lose sleep over exact pieces! The good news – you get over 100 pieces. I find the best way is cut the slab in half then cut each slab into lengths and then each length into bite size pieces.

The Road freezes well as have all the others – you might want to freeze in smaller portions if you intend to use it as part of your own muddle invention. Bear in mind that you have the freeze-dried raspberries and strawberries in the recipe and so can add a fresh fruit to a muddle. I know that it goes against the grain to buy fruits that are out of season but you can get fresh strawberries and a little indulgence in this miserable winter weather lifts the spirits – that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Here's a photo of the freeze-dried raspberries (10g) and strawberries (7g) - to give perspective the tubes measure 14 x 3cms. Try your favourite on-line grocer's search engine. If you live the in the UK then I may be able to save you time by saying that I bought mine from Waitrose.

Clever idea and they taste great in the Rocky Road.

Rigorous testing has of course taken place. The verdict – unanimous – better than all previous offerings and the shortbread ingredient is brilliant.

Step by step photo guide on its way.

Rocky Road – again

I know I can't leave it alone – I can't resist experimenting with different ingredients and I know that the consensus is “if it ain't broke don't fix it” but they also say “the exception proves the rule”.

Rocky Road – Take 33! - I know I exaggerate

225g each of dark and milk chocolate

300g shortbread

100g mini marshmallows

7g freeze-dried raspberry pieces

4g freeze-dried strawberry pieces

175g soft butter, unsalted - cubed

4x15ml tbsp golden syrup

150g brazil nuts, chopped

150g white chocolate to decorate

I used a foil tray bake – measuring 32 x 20cms.

Place the shortbread in a bag and bash away – a mixture of size of crumb is what you want.

Tip the crumb into a large bowl and add the marshmallows together with the raspberry and strawberry pieces. Add the chopped brazils.

Meanwhile, place the plain and milk chocolate, butter and golden syrup into a large saucepan and melt on a low heat.

Remove from the heat and leave on a cool surface for a minute or two and then tip the crumb et al into the melted chocolate and mix gently to ensure that the crumb mixture is covered. Tip it into the foil tray ensuring that it reaches all the corners. You will have a lumpy surface.

Fridge it for at least 2 hours – longer will not be a problem.

This smells really good … more good news to follow.

The chocolate chip cookie photo guide …

and adieu.

If you need to be convinced :

A definite candidate for an Easter treat.

Here's another thought – remember the “muddle”? You could use a microwaved, crumbled cookie as part of your creation, like this one :

Finally, huge thanks to “The Little Book of Chocolat” - it has been so much fun – this book does “exactly what it says on the tin”!