The return of The Mystery Box.

To celebrate MasterChef season 2 back on air last night, my stay-at-home human [who's in denial that she's a reality TV addict] is dedicating this whole week to her home recipes.

This is quite ambitious for a person who fried her first egg at 18 and didn't make her first cup of coffee until her [early] 20s.

Don't say I didn't warn you, but since I have no opposable thumbs or typing skills to speak of and depend solely on her goodwill for getting my blog out, I must, reluctantly, let her have her way.

Her first recipe is specially for The Talented Mr Prab who dropped by on Sunday when I was down at London having beer-on-the-floor and soggy chips.

I'm definitely not allowed this one because it has chocolate, but I love bananas! And figs and strawberries are OK too.


Mr Prab's Patience Please! Chocolate Fruit

*Firm strawberries, figs or segments of banana - keep cool in fridge.
*Large block of plain good quality EATING chocolate [variants like chili or coffee chocolate are nice too]. How much? Approx one piece per strawberry.
*If you like - roughly chopped nuts, liqueur like cointreau or kahlua, spices like powdered cardamom, chilli, or ginger

You will also need:   
*a couple wooden satay/kebab sticks

*1 or 2 metal trays, depending on how  many you're making

STEP 1    Before you do anything else - put the metal trays into the freezer!

***

Heat up a pan/wok of water. It doesn't need to boil. [Water about a third to half the height of the bowl/mug that you'll be using is plenty].

Break the chocolate into pieces.

Put the pieces into the bowl or mug. Mugs are excellent because the handle will help in the dipping process. If you're using a bowl, make sure it's a deep one.

Once the water is simmering, place the bowl/mug of chocolate pieces into the pan/wok.

[Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate in the microwave at a very low setting, a minute or 2 at a time - opening to stir before reheating.]

WATCH the chocolate as it slowly melts, giving it a stir now and then. DO NOT let it overheat and get oily. PATIENCE Mr Prab!

Once the chocolate has MOSTLY melted, turn off the heat. Residual heat from the water will finish melting the chocolate. If it's cold weather and the chocolate starts to solidify, you can always turn the heat back on.

If you're using liqueur, nuts or spices, now would be a good time to mix them in.

***

While chocolate is melting, prepare the fruit. Hopefully, your strawberries aren't grape sized because that would make them quite hard to handle. Clean the fruit by wiping rather than washing. if you're determind to wash, pat them dry before using. Leave the green bits on the strawberries because they're pretty. If you're using bananas, cut them into 2-3inch segments.

***

Time to get 1 tray out of the freezer.

Skewer the fruit GENTLY. No need to poke it all the way through, just enough for you to be able to handle the fruit without it slipping off.

Dip the fruit in the chocolate. Give it a little twirl and very VERY quickly, place the chocolate-dipped fruit onto the cold tray. Because the tray and fruit are cold, the chocolate will set pretty quickly i.e. with less mess!

GENTLY ease the skewer out, and start working on the next fruit. Give each one enough space on the tray to allow for a litle settling of the chocolate.

Once the 1st tray is full, put it IMMEDIATELY into the fridge and start with the 2nd metal tray. I'm assuming you're making LOTS here!

By the time the 2nd tray is done, the 1st should be ready to place into containers or onto your serving plate.

STORAGE: Doesn't really keep well. Maybe a day or 2 in fridge, if the fruit is very fresh and firm. Bananas - forget it! Eat or chuck!

E*N*J*O*Y  

p.s. If you have leftover melted chocolate and, by chance, some leftover cream in the fridge, you might want to make yummy truffles! [Recipe in March post] : )

*****

Hmmm...WHY can't I eat chocolate?
http://www.bigpawsonly.com/chocolate-poisoning-in-dogs-health.htm


The Talented Mr Prab takes real pictures of me, unlike my stay-at-home-human who takes pictures of me on her mobile phone. You can see Mr Prab's work at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/louvadeus/