Invention Test Roadshow

Speaking of cooking shows, I really like what Masterchef has done with the invention test, where contestants are given a box of possible ingredients and have to use a selection of them to make something edible. It's the easiest bit of the show to 'play along' with, armchair chef that I am. Of course it's not the same, what with the pressure of being put on the spot and not having access to the stuff you would usually have in your kitchen, but I like to think I'd do pretty well if I had to.

Rather sounds like fun, in fact.

So this lovely Easter weekend, Pete and I thought we'd do something a little different for dinners. One of us would go out and get various ingredients, the other one would have to make something out of them.

The rules:

1) The buyer will get four ingredients, and the chef will have to use at least three in the final meal.
2) Only other ingredients that are already in the kitchen can be used (we had no meat, no cheese, a little creme fraiche, carrots, potatoes and onions for veg, and the usual store cupboard staples and spices).
3) The buyer shouldn't be too mean.

We flipped a coin, and I went up to bat first. I braced myself as Pete went to the shops. He came back with:

Brinjal pickle
Beef burgers
Limes
Ritz crackers

As you can see

I'll pause while you have a think about that.

So. I figured the beefburgers would make up the bulk of the meal, but keeping them as they were seemed a little boring, so I was inclined to cut them into bits. Flavour wise, the brinjal pickle was obviously going to lead the way (I tried some, and it was deep, salty and hot), and that left limes and crackers. Since the pickle was so hot, I thought a little cool, creamy dip incorporating limes would work well. The crackers I should have left alone, but whatever. I thought I could make a crunchy topping with them. Whatever. I don't even care.

Ideas formed. Pete watched excitedly.

Excited.

I started off by cutting the burgers into quarters, then loosely forming them into meatballs and frying them. While they cooked, I chopped an onion and softened it a little in the saucepan before adding 3-4 tablespoons of the pickle. This turned out quite gluey so I added about a mug of water, and let the whole thing simmer for about 10 minutes.

I then took some of the creme fraiche that was in the fridge (about 4 tablespoons) and added the grated zest of a lime, and a small clove of crushed garlic. The lime flavour didn't come through as much as I thought it would, so I also added the juice from half a lime. The other half I put into the brinjal sauce, because I hate waste. I made a crunchy cracker topping by crushing the crackers and mixing them with toasted sesame seeds and coconut flakes, and a good pinch of ground coriander. I put these two in bowls to serve separately.

Like a muller crunch corner

I knew the cracker topping wouldn't be nearly enough of a starchy contribution to go with the meatballs, so I also sauteed some potatoes. They took ages and I ended up burning them slightly, but whatever.

So the whole thing:

Beefburger meatballs in brinjal pickle sauce, with sauteed potatoes, lime and garlic dip, and crushed cracker, sesame seed and coconut topping.

Conclusion: Yeah, pretty good. The sauce was excellent and worked well with the beef, and the creamy dip I think was a necessary counterpart. In fact, I liked the dip so much I will probably make it again. The crackers were fine, but entirely unnecessary. Whatever.

The next day was my turn to buy. The next day was also Easter Sunday, which I had not factored into my plans, as it meant the grocers was shut and I couldn't get any weird veg, which I really wanted to do.

Buying was trickier than I thought. I didn't want to get anything that pointed in one particular direction, so my instinct of picking one thing and following up with things I thought would go with it was off the table. I finally settled on:

Gammon steaks
Butternut squash
Coconut milk
Olive ciabatta rolls

Boom.

It was terribly exciting watching Pete steeple his fingers and walk up and down with purposeful intent. I can't tell you exactly what he did, since the whole process is shrouded in secrecy, but I can tell you that it involved many pans and some swearing.

Hard at work.

This is what he ended up with:

Gammon chunks in a smooth squash and coconut sauce, spiced with cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chilli, with toasted ciabbatta rolls for dipping.

Gammon curry, basically.

It was a really delicious and warming combination, and it made the whole house smell amazing.

It's hard to say who won exactly. I think we were both more critical of our own efforts, so I preferred his dish and he preferred mine. The whole thing was good fun but is best reserved for holiday weekends since it needs a little prep work, but I'd still recommend it. And I don't doubt we'll try it again - come back again for round 2.