Rocky Roads for a … bumpy path

The road to the Transkei is not a short one, nor is it an even one, for that matter.
Although I would like to tell a tale of panoramic views, laughter and licking of lips on our African road trip, I am perhaps more inclined to tell the truth in this case. The tale begins with an early morning frantic packing of the car, which was made no easier by certain sausage dogs refusing to believe that they were not invited and staging a sitting protest in the car, not ideal. Dachshunds out and humans in, we set out with Presley Bay in mind, only 500 kilometers to go…
As the sun started to rise, engulfed by menacing grey clouds, we exchanged comforting words of how the weather is always better in the Transkei.
When we eventually reached Mthatha for our last port of call at the supermarket and bottle store, our positive outlook was shattered as we dodged some colossal hailstones in a frantic bolt for the safety of the car.

They say when it rains, it pours and I can assure you, they weren’t lying. Windows were fogged, the windscreen wipers put up one hell of a fight and the car’s suspension was kissed goodbye to as we reached the end of man made road and continued our pilgrimage on gravel road.

So things were bad. Well, they weren’t good and our driver was experiencing a sense of humour failure of note. As thunder and lightning joined the party we were officially out of the frying pan and into the fire. Until, two things saved us. One of these things came in a tin, a tin which I had forgotten about until its persistent jabbing in my side led me to investigate this unruly bag which had escaped from its entourage of other luggage.

Our edible savior was in the form of a fresh batch of homemade snickers rocky roads, and save us they did. Our other rescuer sung to us and told us what to do. ‘Emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds… ‘ He said, and so we did, bite by bite.

The recipe for our chocolate emancipation goes like this:

4 Snickers, chopped
1 cup Rice Krispies
150g Marshmallows, chopped into small chunks
150g Peanuts
400g Milk Chocolate
2 Tbsp Oil

Melt chocolate with oil in a large pot over a low heat, when melted - stir to combine and add all of your other ingredients to the pot. Mix until everything is coated and evenly combined spread onto a lined baking tray (I used 19x29cm).
Leave to set on the counter and cut into generous chunks.

The proof is in this pudding

Waste not, want not.



We will not waste four day-old croissant. How they came to be day-old for that matter I am not sure, for left overs are something of a rarity in this house altogether.
Nevertheless, I decided upon a delectable fate for my croissant, YMCA - yesterday's muck cooked again, as my mother so articulately put it, or leftovers revamped - which sounds an awful lot nicer, don't you reckon?

To revamp these sporadic leftovers, I opted for a banana and chocolate bread and butter pudding, and I am exceedingly glad I did. Truly scrumptious.
To revamp your sorry old croissant, you will need...

Butter for greasing your dish,
300ml milk
100ml double thick cream
2 eggs
25g castor sugar
100g chocolate, broken up into bits,
2 bananas, sliced
a splash of vanilla extract
50g pecan nuts

Break up your croissant into pieces and arrange in your buttered dish, dot your nuts, banana and chocolate amongst your croissant. In a bowl beat the cream, eggs, milk and sugar with vanilla and pour over your croissant and leave to soak for 15 minutes or so.
Don't panic if the cream mixture doesn't cover all the croissant and there are some bits poking through above the custard, this will make for a nice topping.
Bake in a preheated oven, at 180 or gas mark 4 for about 35 mins, covering with foil if the top starts to brown too much.

Corn Sweet Corn

After a day of rain in the kaap, Capetonians are inevitably whipping out the electric blankets and stocking up on wood. My entire house has simultaneously come down with what could easily pass for a rather suspicious case of the swine flu...


Chicken soup anyone?

Working on food shoots means lots of yummy left-overs and today I have a delicious roast chicken in the fridge begging to be transformed into my mothers chicken and sweetcorn soup.
Probably one of the simplest soups to make, my mum doesn't use potatoes in hers but we like our soup thick and creamy so I used two, diced up, added to the pot after sauteing the onions in a little olive oil.
I stripped the chicken and chucked all the bones and skin to a pot of cold water, an onion a bay leaf, carrots, celery and peppercorns and left it to simmer for the afternoon.
Once strained, I was left with a pot of golden stock which I added to my soft potatoes and onions. I then throw in one tin of creamed corn and one of normal corn, half of the roast chicken and some milk and blend. Season, add the rest of the chicken and season to taste.
Really good with fresh brioche...