February 1, 2009

Brinjal Pickle


We all have our favorite bottled ingredients that make life in the kitchen 100 times faster than making everything from scratch and I am going to share one of my favorite bottled ingredients with you all!

Brinjal pickle (or as it is now called- Eggplant pickle), comes from the Patak's range and is just superb!  My mum first introduced this to me when I was still living at home as a teenager. She use to grill some chicken breasts until just about cooked then slather the pickle on top and finish them under the grill to make the pickle bubble and stick all over the chicken. Since then I have done the same and tossed the cooked, sticky chicken breasts through a salad, or used it on the side when eating some yummy aged cheddar with crusty bread. I also have been known to pop it in a stew of pork, potato and beans just at the end for a flavour punch. More recently I slathered it all over some chicken drumsticks we were having for dinner. I served the drumsticks with lentils that were cooked with diced carrot, celery, onion and tomato- a pretty standard way to cook lentils, however if you finish the meal with brinjal pickle on top of the drumsticks you really have a wonderful meld of flavours.

The pickle does have a bit of a kick to it, so if you are going to serve it to your kids do what I do and slather the pickle on top of the skin and cook it but before serving wash and peel the skin off so there is only a hint of flavour on the drumstick meat. A great way to introduce the flavour to a kids palette without the drama of them thinking their tongue is going to fall off! I cooked the meal together in one night but due to swimming schedules and library visits the boys ate theirs the following night. It worked out perfectly due to the hot day we were having, I served everything cold and it was eaten and relished!

Next time you are wondering what to have for dinner and know you have some chicken, pork or potato at home, give it a go. In no time at all you will create a delicious meal the whole family will love and you can do it in under 30 minutes!


    

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Camilla! Oh, it's true... you are back in australia!
Let me know your email address so we can actually write notes here and there. I just read all of your blog entries and am unbelievably hungry and it is nearly 1:30am! The photos are so enticing and the writing is really wonderful! I cannot wait for the cookbook!
-Celeste

Anonymous said...

Love the Bringal pickle it is now a great favourite, I put it on everything!