Thursday, January 29, 2009

An Interesting Piece Of Strange

Mired in a microbial morass, sleep-deprived, and with a heartless wife abandoning me for some girl time out at a restaurant with friends, I scoured the cupboards for something quick, easy, and kid-friendly to make for dinner. There was ground turkey in the fridge, and I was just going to make a stir-fry with that and some kale with kimchi and egg when I spotted a little jar of Poubelle Blanche's homemade Thai eggplant chutney. On the (half-assed, non-woodblock printed) label, she helpfully suggested mixing it with coconut milk for insta-curry. Right next to it on the shelf was a little can of coconut milk. Wheels turned.

So I took the turkey meat and mixed it with garlic, various spice powders, minced onion, and a little ginger, then used the ice cream scoop to make meatballs. I browned them in some oil with more onion, removed them, and added the eggplant paste and coconut milk. Then the meat went back in and simmered while I cooked some kale in a little leftover pork stock with fenugreek, coriander, and mustard seeds and then blended it smooth to make a pseudo-saag. We ate the kofta and kale over (also leftover) brown rice. The eggplant chutney added a nice measure of someone else's home-cooked flavor, and surpassing convenience; such was the ease of making this that I actually had the strength to do the dishes and I was hardly crying at all when Christine got home.


4 comments:

Heather said...

Next time, I promise I'll include woodblock printed labels, or just embroider them like Brittany's sister.

Glad I could facilitate your laziness and extremely half-assed meal preparation. That's what jarred sauces/chutneys are for.

Zoomie said...

Only you could make a gourmet meal while sick as a dog. Feel better soon.

michael, claudia and sierra said...

that eggplant stuff is just damn wonderful
i like mine with a spoon...

sorry y commenting has been remiss
i'm a new mother
she's sleeping now...

Brittany said...

Have Heather send a few jars to my sister where she can douche em up with a snappy embroidered peacock. Then, I WILL STEAL a jar because I am now jealous that I am Thai eggplant chutney-less.
Then she'll ship em right on over to ya.

youbetchya.