Deli Toppers from Baxters

Pickles, mmm, when it comes to pickles, I am a self-confessed addict. They always add an extra oomph to any plain dish, be it a sandwich, burger or a bowl of soup.
Recently Baxters introduced a new range called Deli Toppers - created for foodies who love to add an extra zing to dishes they cook and serve.
There are four inspiring varieties to choose from - Red Onion, Red Saw, Spicy Slaw and Jalapenos. They are created to add the ultimate bite to your food, for dishes such as hot dogs, pulled pork, burgers, salads, wraps, pizzas and nachos.

Red Onion jar is jam-packed with big sized picked onion rings.
I like pickled onions sightly sweeter and less vinegary, and I also cut them into thinner rings. They add a good crunch to a burger, like the one below - chorizo burger with grated cheese and onion rings.

Red Slaw is made from mixed vegetables (red and white cabbage onions carrots), barley malt vinegar, sugar, sea salt, caraway seeds, black peppercorns, ground ginger and cinnamon.
Just add a forkful for a bit of punch to burgers, pulled pork and cold (or hot) meats.

Take a slice of wholemeal bread, toast it well, and top up with apples stewed with cinnamon, chopped pork sausage and a good spoonful of red slaw - totally delicious.

I have also added red slaw to a Russian style cabbage soup schi. As the red slaw is quite vinegary, give it a good rinse under the cold water before adding to soup. This was a vegetarian soup made with green pointy cabbage, tomatoes, potatoes, red slaw and a vegetable stock cube.

Schi, Russian cabbage soup

Just the other day I made myself a leftovers lunch with two sausages, one big apple and half a jar of red slaw and spicy slaw. Heat up 1tbsp of olive oil in the deep frying pan, add the chopped sausage (already cooked) let it brown slightly. Add a cored and sliced apple (don't peel, it just add more fibre to the dish), keep frying for about 5 minutes, then add the rinsed slaw and a glug of chilli dipping sauce for an extra sweetness and flavour. Cook on low for about 10 minutes adding a bit of water in the process.

Spicy Slaw is a mix of shredded vegetables in vinegar with red chillies. It is relatively mild on the heat scale.
A lovely topper, it added crunch and texture to a chicken mayo sandwich on wholemeal bread.

Chicken sandwich with mayo and slaw

Jalapenos are jalapeno peppers in vinegar. I must say I laughed when I read that they are medium on the heat scale. I wonder what the next step on the scale would be. I found jalapenos pretty lethal as they are.
These pretty sliced peppers come in two colours - red and green.
My advice is to go sparingly, unless you are a fire eater. They definitely deliver a punch.
I added a few little slices to rice and broad beans dish.

They worked really well with the sturgeon pate on wholemeal toasted bread.

Sturgeon pate sandwiches with jalapenos

I recently cooked a Sardinian fish stew - fregola sarda, and served it in bowls with a little bit of jalapenos. This was a delicious combination.

Fregola Sarda, served with jalapenos

Now that the mornings are turning to frosty and days have a certain chill to them, stews and soups become a must meal. We love tomato-based stews, and to add a bit of heat to the tomato veal stew, I put several pieces of jalapenos just before the end of cooking. It certainly added the heat, so much that I'd say your sinuses will be all cleared if you had a bowl of my stew.

Veal stew with red wine and tomatoes, with added jalapenos

As you can see from my suggestions, there is a lot you can do with Deli Toppers, from sandwiches to soups, from burgers to stews.


To give you even more recipe ideas, please check out the most comprehensive guide on Deli Toppers as written by Jacqueline from Tinned Tomatoes. She did an amazing job of compiling lots of hacks and recipe suggestions.

Disclosure: I received a selection of Deli Toppers for the purposes of testing and reviewing, but this is not a commissioned post. All opinions are mine.