Brinjal Sweet Pickle – Gourmet Garden Blogoff

Welcome to a week-long session as I compete to the Gourmet Garden cook off / blog off. For the next week, all the items I make will be made with a range of Gourmet Garden products. I hope you will enjoy them!

The farmers markets always inspire me to create awesome food. A few weeks ago, I purchased a tub of Brinjal from a local woman named Pinny. I have never experienced it before and it was mouth-watering delicious. I decided to give it a go myself. This is my first attempt at a home-made pickle, and I managed to amaze myself! This recipe is modified from Awes me Cuisine.

[  SERVES: 3  |  TIME: 25 MIN  |  COST: <$3  ]
[  JOES' RATING: 4.5 / 5  |  MY RATING: 4.5 / 5 ]

INGREDIENTS

1 kg eggplants
2 cups vinegar
1½ cups sugar
1 onion
¾ cup oil
2 tbsp salt
1 tbsp gourmet garden chunky garlic
1 tbsp gourmet garden hot chilli paste
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp gourmet garden ginger paste
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp caraway seeds
1 tsp turmeric powder

Method

1. Wash and cut the eggplant into large bite size chunks. Dice the onion finely.
   
2. Soak the garlic, chilli, cumin seeds, ginger, mustard seeds and caraway seeds in the vinegar for an hour or so.
3. In a large sauté pan, in a little oil, fry off any dry ingredients with the onion until caramelised.
   
4. Add the remaining ingredients – the eggplant, vinegar mixture, sugar and salt.
   
5. Reduce the heat and stew until reduced and the sauce has thickened. This will take about 30 minutes.
   
6. Enjoy warm or allow to cool and serve with crackers, bread or as a side with vegetables.

Observations

• This pickle is quite sweet and mild tasting. Next time, I intend on cutting the sugar back by half, reducing the oil content by half and increasing the spice content by double.
• Today Joe and I feasted on this Brinjal with some hot crusty home-made sourdough bread!
• As eggplants are in full season, I was able to utilise two different varieties in this dish. It doesn’t matter which variety you can access.
• Diabetic Note: As delicious as it is, the recipe (ingredients) I used today is not diabetic friendly unless it’s used sparingly. The changes I mention above (observations) should make it a much wiser option for diabetics.
• Ethical Note: Pickling is a great way of utilising seasonal produce that allows you to enjoy those flavours long after the season is over. Reusing old jars and tubs is a great way of recycling.

 

Eggy Cabbage

When I was a young girl, Nana and Nanu (Maltese for Grandfather) would often have eggy cabbage for lunch. Sometimes they would have it with toast, other times as is. Every now and then, I still make it when I have cabbage in need of use. I cant tell you if it is a traditional Maltese dish or not. Perhaps some of my Maltese readers will know. If you do, please leave me a comment!

[  SERVES: 1  |  TIME: 20 MIN  |  COST: <$4 |  My RATING:  3/5 ]

Ingredients

1 handful of shredded cabbage.
2 free ranged eggs per serve
2 tablespoons vinegar
few shavings of peccorino cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Shred the cabbage as thinly as possible. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil before adding the vinegar, a pinch of salt and the cabbage. Allow to boil until tender. Drain well.
   
2. In a bowl, beat eggs with generous amounts of  (salt to taste) and pepper.
3. Heat a frying pan with a little oil. Pour your egg mixture into the pan before adding your drained cabbage. Gently mix through once to ensure its incorporated before spreading out and allowing it to set with the aid of a lid. Top with a few shavings of a hard cheese such as Romano or peccorino.
   
4. Serve and eat immediately!

 Observations

• The thinner and more consistent your cabbage, the better the end result.
• Don’t over boil your cabbage. It should not lose colour, should remain crisp but be tender and tasty.
• Diabetic Note: There isn’t much in the way of carbohydrates in this dish, so be aware of this short coming, diabetics! You will definitely need to have some fruit or bread with this dish to lift the exchange points for insulin dependant diabetics.
• Ethical Note: I only ever use free ranged eggs. The taste is better, and the chickens that produce them live far better lives. An extra dollar or two is a small price to pay for such an ethical decision. (I actually intend on writing an article about egg ethics soon, so stay tuned!)

Related articles

• Cabbage Rolls (mizrhi.wordpress.com)
• How To Cook Cabbage (mademan.com)