Chocolate Tiffin Recipe (no bake)

I first discovered chocolate tiffin at a Costa Coffee cafe in the UK and fell in love with it instantly. I've made this a few times and think I've finally found the perfect balance of ingredients.

This recipe serves around 10 depending on how big you cut the squares (the bigger the better in my opinion).

It's really simple and requires no baking, just a cook-top and a fridge (or log fire and cold box if you happen to be camping).

Ingredients:

125g butter (or hard margarine) cut into small chunks

3 heap tbsp cocoa powder

3 heap tbsp golden syrup (I like to add an extra squeeze for good luck)

2 tbsp caster sugar

200g broken digestive biscuits (ideally you want mainly small chunks with some crumbs)

2 handfuls sultanas or raisins

200g of your favourite chocolate for topping

You'll also need; a saucepan, small-medium size baking tray lined with either grease-proof paper or cling film and a medium size bowl.

Recipe:

Melt the butter, syrup, sugar and cocoa powder over a low-medium heat, stirring regularly until smooth, taking care not to burn the mixture.

Once smooth, remove from the heat, add broken biscuits and sultanas (or raisins) and mix until the biscuits are well covered.

Spoon the mixture into your lined baking tray and press down to flatten, you can make the tiffin as thick as you like, it doesn't have to fill the tin completely.

Allow the mixture to cool a little now while you melt your chocolate, you can either do this in a microwave (spurts of 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between to ensure the chocolate doesn't burn) or over a bain-marie as shown in my Mars Bar Cornflake Cake recipe.

Now simply pour the melted chocolate over the mixture and pop it in the fridge for 1-2 hours. 

Then cut the tiffin into chunks and eat!

This photo is a last minute addition - I've just had a piece and yep... Best recipe yet! Delicious!

If you like this recipe, why not check out my new recipe for Jaffa Cake Cupcakes!

Chicken Teriyaki: simple and delicious!

The first meal I made in my mini kitchen (that wasn't soup from a can or cereal) was chicken teriyaki. It's so simple to make and absolutely delicious!

The below recipe serves 2.

Ingredients
1 large chicken breast
2 Tbsp Vegetable oil
One small onion cut into medium sized pieces
1 Yellow pepper cut into medium sized pieces
Handful of mushrooms
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

For the sauce:
2 Tbsp sake
4 Tbsp soy sauce
4 Tbsp mirin
4 Tbsp sugar
grated ginger


Recipe
Mix the sake, soy sauce, mirin, sugar and ginger in a bowl. Cut the chicken into strips or pieces and poke with a fork.
Place the chicken in the sauce and mix well so the chicken is fully covered, marinade for 15-30 minutes (or longer if you have the time although it doesn't need much more than an hour).
Once marinated, heat half the oil in a frying pan and place the chicken strips (or pieces) in the frying pan, fry until they begin to cook. Then pour the sauce into the frying pan and cook thoroughly on a medium to low heat.

In a separate frying pan (or good saucepan - which is what I used) heat the remaining oil and add the onions. Once the onions have started to brown add the yellow pepper and mushrooms, the pinch of salt and pepper and fry for 3-4 minutes (until they begin to soften).

All that's left to do now is serve and enjoy!

As stated above the recipe, follow these guidelines for 2 people, increase measurements accordingly.

You could just as easily make this with pork or turkey depending on your preference and it's so versatile it can be served with rice, noodles, vegetables (like I did) or salad. 

I really hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

I'm back...

Well that lasted little over a month!

I decided, although I had other projects to work on, I couldn't abandon Polygarble, I missed her too much.

As you'll be aware (I rambled on about it enough) I've recently relocated to Australia, I'm currently living in a little studio apartment in the Sydney suburb of Potts Point. 

It's taken a while to settle in and has felt very much like an extended holiday up to now with lots of visits to restaurants and cafes and I have decided its about time I cooked for myself again (plus I'm swiftly running out of money).

I'm a great believer that you can cook a really tasty meal in whatever kitchen you have available to you. In my mini kitchen I currently have an electric cooktop (2 burner) and a microwave oven.

Over the coming months I'll be experimenting with a variety of recipes, which I'll share with you, these may be particularly useful for (but are definitely not limited to) travellers and holidaymakers staying in self catering apartments, short stay hostels and those using camping equipment. They'll be tasty but super simple so wont be time consuming. 

I hope I can inspire you to whip up a storm in your mini kitchen.

Farewell For Now...

I've been a little 'off the radar' recently with my relocation to Australia.

I'll be putting Polygarble on hold for the foreseeable future while I concentrate on my work with Chasing Ourselves. 

We are taking our music, film and photography on the road and have created a Chasing Ourselves blog which I hope you'll have a peek at. 

http://chasingourselves.wordpress.com/

This isn't goodbye, I'll be writing for Polygarble again and will keep you posted through my facebook, twitter and google+ pages when I do.

So with a few photo's of my Polygarble life, I bid you farewell... For now!

 

 

The Big Move - Arriving in Sydney

So we finally arrived after a laborious 13+hour flight. Rushed through immigration surprisingly quickly and ushered ourselves swiftly into a taxi. We were literally shattered, hadn't slept much on the plane due to lack of space and it was incredibly uncomfortable.

All we wanted at that point was to get to our guest house, shower and sleep as quickly as possible.

However nothing prepares you for Sydney. Anyone you know who's been will tell you what a spectacular sight it is but you'll never fully appreciate it until you see it for yourself. Only one word sprung to mind... 

WOW!

The harbour bridge and the opera house are set against high rise buildings and multiple bays and coves. Being the main tourist attractions in Sydney they are instantly recognisable but no less incredible than you would imagine.

After wandering through Sydney centre for the last few days I began to get the same feeling I had when I visited Hollywood, it has a similar sense of creativity and success. 

I'm so excited to be starting my travels here.

The Big Move - Leaving

I won’t bore you with the details but this last 12 months has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me. 

I made the decision in June this year that I wanted to travel and my first stop is Australia. 

I'll be leaving the UK on 3rd September and starting in Sydney. 

I’ve never done anything like this before, I didn’t think I wanted to travel. Thought I was happy in my comfortable job at my local council, would get married and have a few kids and that would be it.

Then I met my current partner and things just changed. 

My Little Tour of America - National Parks

In-between the city stops on the USA tour we also visited three National Parks. Deciding which ones to see was tough considering how many national parks California has to offer.

The first park we visited was Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is stunning. What seems like infinite forests of Pine trees stretching as far as the eye can see…

My Little Tour of America - Las Vegas

The final city (booo!) on my tour was Las Vegas.

It’s quite a surreal place, all those mini ‘cities’ within walking distance from each other. It really is like being in a different world. 

The 'Great' British Summer

Lovely weather we're having! 

This start to the 'Great' British summer has been an excellent preview of my pending relocation. On the 3rd September I'll be taking Polygarble to Australia. 

Although I've been busy with preparation, this beautiful sunshine has allowed me to take my breaks outdoors...

My Little Tour of America - Los Angeles

The second city I visited during my little tour of West Coast USA was Los Angeles.

It’s hard to say because my trip was so varied but I think L.A. (Hollywood in particular) was my favourite part.

It has such a good vibe. There's an abundance of creativity all around you. I felt as though I was really in the heart of where ‘it’ was all happening.

My Little Tour of America – San Francisco

My little tour of West Coast USA was the first trip of this kind for me. I used to be a beach, hotel pool, resort type of girl but have been introduced to a whole new way of holidaying and I have to say – there’s no going back. Moving from place to place, 2-3 days at a time, getting to see so much in one trip is an amazing experience.

The tour began in San Francisco…

A beautiful city with an abundance of culture. 

                               
                                            Chinatown                             St Peter and Paul Church

                       
                                             The Bay                                          Pier 39

This was also the first time I had experienced an ‘American breakfast’. It consisted of bacon, eggs, sausage, hash browns, pancakes and maple syrup all on the same plate. It was amazing! Probably a good thing I don't live there, I’d be huge. 

While there I took a Segway tour of the city and learned more from the young tour operator than I could from any book or website. It was great to quickly and easily move around the city hearing about China Town, the gold rush, Little Italy, Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe and so much more. Fabulous!

I also visited Alcatraz Island home to Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, what an experience that was. For the most part it’s grim; derelict buildings where the prisoners, guards and the guard’s families lived for months, even years.  

And the yard the prisoners spent their daytime, surrounded by a huge wall with amazing views of San Francisco just out of sight.

Then in contrast there are beautiful gardens and nesting sites for many different species of birds e.g. seagulls, cormorants and snowy egrets (no I’d never heard of them either and they make a very strange noise!). 

   

And finally, if the notorious San Francisco fog has lifted, there's the Golden Gate bridge…

All in all San Francisco is an amazing city, and a wonderful introduction to the West Coast!

Birthday fun...

I love birthdays (especially my own), always a great excuse to get together with the family and consume copious amounts of food, cake and in my family’s case, wine.