The Gnome at the Bottom of the Garden

For lunch tomorrow they are getting one of my favourite dishes, Mustard Chilli Chicken. I’ve banned myself from eating it for a while because it’s deliciously naughty seriously full of calories. The shearers, on the other hand, will burn this off pretty quickly.

 There isn’t a recipe as such -  just a set of instructions. I precook 1 chicken breast per person, then let then cool. Into a frypan, put a blob of Thai Sweet Chilli Sauce, a blob of Wholegrain Mustard and enough cream to make it into a sauce. Rip the cooked chicken breasts into bite sized bits and cook them into the sauce until everything is hot. Serve with a green salad using the sauce as a dressing.

Did you miss me? Life sometimes starts whirling around so fast that you just have to say “Stop the bus. I’m gonna puke!” When not a literal puke, but a metaphorical letting go of things.

But I’m here to reassure you that the Gnome at the Bottom of the Garden has returned.

Oh and the mud cake from the last post:

2kg of dark chocolate (plus some flour and eggs and some sugar……)

The angels on the top? Modelling chocolate! Yes chocolate that you can use like plasticine only it tastes better!!! Take 300g chocolate and melt in a bain marie or the nuker. When it’s all smooth and runny stir in 1/3 cup of glucose syrup (light corn syrup for those in the US). At first it will go gritty and grainy. When it is completely combined (it doesn’t matter if it’s still grainy). Cover with cling film (actually touching the chocolate, not just over the bowl). When it’s cool enough to touch, squish it in your hands (just like playdough) until it’s smooth. When you use white chocolate, you will get a lot of oil squeezing out. If it sets hard, just nuke small pieces for a few seconds. It sets quite firm after a while and you can use it to make all sorts of yummy decorations.

This is my Mud Cake in progress:

See how full of yummy choclatiness it is? And when it is ready to eat, it’s not one of those rich chocolate cakes that calls itself a mud cake like so many of them do. This one is gooey and smooth and is definitely more mud than cake. There are no crumbs on your plate when you eat my Mud Cake, because my cake doesn’t have crumbs, it has chunks that you can pick up with a fork.

Do ya want some???

Tonight we made my version of Honey Crackles. Its pretty much the standard recipe that you find on the cornflakes box with a little twist. Tonight we baked them in patty pans (makes about 24), but as an alternative, you can bake it as a slab, making sure you press into a lined pan quite firmly. You will need to cook it a bit longer. While its still warm cut into bars (but leave it in the tin). When cold, remove form the tin and recut. Homemade Crunchy Nut Bars! 

4 cups Cornflakes
1/2 cup crushed nuts
100g Butter
1/2 cup Caster Sugar
2 Tblspn Honey

Place butter, sugar and honey in a saucepan. Heat slowly until the sugar dissolves then increase the heat until the mixture boils and becomes frothy.
Mix the  nuts and the cornflakes together. Pour 1/3 of the cornflakes / nuts into the saucepan and mix well. Pour all this back into the bowl with the rest of the cornflakes and mix well.
Place into patty pans that have been placed in a muffin pan. Pack the mixture in well. Bake at 150C for 10 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan. Try to eat just one!