Harvest Festival Stuffed Marmande Tomatoes

[gazza1960]

Its nearly that time of year and as Jude allowed me a walk around the garden under strict threat of a size 5 up my rear end if I tore open the surgeons neatly tailored 5 holes,i was to pick simple light bits in a bowl......frustrating or what....




well I picked a few nicely coloured Marmandes from the green house along with a few yellow cherry toms and a whole host of
.....whole beans..an onion....a few salad onions..a couple of Pedron Chillies...Thyme sprigs...Summer savoury leaves...Oregano leaves..sage leaves

so with the contents of my Harvest plate I thought it rude not to combine a suitable stuffing mixture for the Marmandes.



1st job was to empty the Marmandes and lets not kid each other,a sharp knife and dexterity still sees you do your best but the tommies still split so my solution is to wrap it in foil to hold the tommy together.....its not that we are stuffing a thick skinned pepper
for presentation as after 30 to 50 mins the tommies will fall apart anyway to a degree..........tools are for me a sharp knife and a dull edged spoon to get the job done.



I wanted to add some extra flavour and heat but the pedrons so far have been all delicious but little heat,but hey thats fine,so charred them under the grill and once pipped just chopped fine...........



softened the onions in some spray oil along with some mushrooms I had spare plus 1 garlic clove ,again to add some flavour to the stuffing mixture......




adding the herbs is an art form that I don't profess to achieve every time but little at a time is I find through trial and error best for me.....so just 1 sage leaf....2 oregano leaves...3 summer savoury leaves....and a sprig of thyme which goes in the pan whole....




so with the herbs added we can add some chopped whole cobra beans the chopped Marmande tomato pulp plus the grilled and chopped chilli peppers along with a splash of hot water.....bring it to the boil ...and take off the heat......taste.....and season ...once happy.....close the heat down and let it stew for 15 mins ............once cooked and cooled chop any over sized veggies to make stuffing easy.....



once you are happy with the mixture let is sit to one side to cool.........




stuff the Marmande Tomatoes and top with its little tommy lid.........spray with low cal oil and place in a cooking tray...

pre heat the oven to 190 degrees and anywhere between 30 to 50 mins will see them well cooked through....it really depends on how soft you like them.....



this is optional but again if you have some dried bread crumbs whizzed up with 50g of parmesan cheese I topped the tomatoes  and grilled this for the last 10 mins.....a tasty addition in my opinion.......as you can see the Marmandes collapse after 30 to 50 mins of
oven heat @ 190 degrees but we are after an overall combination of flavours and not really a tommy with contents......

but lowering the heat and cooking time can see you with a different outcome....that's the fun of experimenting.



and so we have a simple combinations of flavours from our plot/garden added to a beautiful Marmande Tomato without doubt
a top tommy for stuffing........yes of course you can do the traditional hollowed out and stuffed with cream cheese and grilled
cant deny that is very tasty.....but when a harvest of herbs and veggies is available for creating something is such a shame not to use them...............and yes,its not every day we end up with a vegetarian result (with bread crumbs and grated cheese topping optional ) that can be eaten as is or added to cooked meats ......

not getting carried away not a recipe as such just a use of our crops to a tasty result.........



I added them to our Dorset Butchers Cumberland sausages plus some par boiled new spuds that I dug last week that I fried off and we all enjoyed it....

so thank you Garden,you did us proud.


Gazza

[gazza1960]

[peanuts]

oh, Gazza, thank you so much!  What a good start to a wet day here (at last, after more than a week of 32-34º) to sit and read your wonderful description and vivid photos.  Sounds like you have a period of enforced rest, not enabling you to do very much except harvest carefully, and do some gentle cooking, and then sit and write in your inimitable style - well done. 
I too am about to face a similar period of enforced rest, looking after "little holes",  very annoying as at the moment I am in top form and feel so well. In addition i won't be able to eat anything I normally do for at least a month - white bread, and no veg and fruit, grrrrr.  Hoping to be able to enjoy harvesting like you, thought, and shelling of all various dried beans that have appreciated the hot weather and are looking good.
Look after yourself, Gazza.!

[Paulines7]

Glad to see you are on the mend, Gazza and it's good to see you back posting again.

The stuffed tomatoes look delicious.  My large tomatoes are still green at the moment though we did have one large ripe one which we sliced and then added olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

[gazza1960]

yes I enjoyed a bit of fun in the kitchen,only good for 20 mins then laying down at the mo,ive been good as I dare re my weight as although not had a fantastic eating regime back as yet,ive managed to lose just over half a stone in 7 days so that when I have my critical meeting in oct with my Diabetic Dr ive made some headway as she was not pleased with my current status threatening me with daily syringes of insulin rather than the oral meds so my overall eating patterns WILL change from now on,
hence a few low cal ..ish.....recipes of....fresh veggies and herbs from our meagre garden.

Today will see me using up a Turkey joint in a cassoulet with some pulses.....a light supper we can all have a munch on.

yes peanuts,its good therapy when your in your prison cell,the kitchen is awash with bits and bobs from the garden so I use what I can...I wish you well with your impending procedure,not nice when we cant eat our fave foods either,take care..ill post you something tasty.....lol...god knows what..,, ...xxx

sounds delish Pauline,i do love the sounds of a simple salad with balsamic,i was reading of the vertues of a Mediterranean diet as opposed to taking the statins for heart protection as im a fish luvver plus enjoy fresh veggies it would not be hard to convert if I had the regimen and will power ...plus the Dr allowed it.......im convinced the statins although protecting my ticker are robbing me of my memory........who am I...where am I....see what I mean.....

our luv to you and John......hope he is getting through his own issues to my dear......xxx

[galina]

What a delicious variation on the theme of 'see what's ready in the garden and then think of what to do with it'.  Mouthwatering! 

Thank you for showing us and take great care with the 5 holes.  Hope the start to feeling very much better. 

[Paulines7]

Gazza, as a diabetic, my diet is based around a Mediterranean diet and is very low carb.  That means no rice, pasta, bread, flour, potatoes or sugar.  I strayed away from it a little and my HbA1c went up to 53, so for the past few months I have been much stricter with myself and have lost 9½ lbs.  I am hoping that my next blood test will be much lower.  I feel so much better, have a lot more energy and seldom feel hungry. 

I know that there are other diabetics on A4A so I will post my Cauliflower Pilau Rice recipe on here.  It really is delicious and the carbs are much lower than ordinary rice.  There are other recipes that I use, including a Bakewell type cake and a Lemon Drizzle cake, both made with ground almonds.  You will find them and many more on here:

http://diabetes-support.org.uk/diabetes_forum/index.php 

If you do a search on the above site, you will also find a lot about statins too. I came off them recently after consultation with my GP.  According to research, they can cause heart failure, high blood pressure and diabetes.   

Thanks for your good wishes.  John has an appointment on 22nd September to see a different specialist as he wants a second opinion.

I hope you enjoyed your Turkey Cassoulet.

[gazza1960]

yes,i do have a few Italian cookery books but their tomato based sauces are fine......but ooooops....they end up on pasta or pizza bases...

yes, being strict is best but I so enjoy cooking fresh bread the therapeutic by products of kneading the bread  and the smell fills the house....its an aphrodisiac all on its own......and once cooked the crack of the crust as you cut into it and lightly smear it with butter
and just sit and enjoy it......life aint no better.......so sorry I luv life but its so miserable when you deny yourself its few pleasures....
and fresh bread is a top eat for Gazza.....just in small amounts.

yes I must look into the link im sure their are loads of exciting things for diabetics to eat if we look.

yes I know the statins get mixed messages from differing medics mine is of the opinion that they protect my heart so it is a tuff call to go against the grain and just hope that a better diet will improve your metabolism enough that statins are no longer needed.

please give john my best wishes for his next app..........

no im cooking the cassoulet today for fun.....ill post it soon.

[galina]

yes,i do have a few Italian cookery books but their tomato based sauces are fine......but ooooops....they end up on pasta or pizza bases...

yes, being strict is best but I so enjoy cooking fresh bread the therapeutic by products of kneading the bread  and the smell fills the house....its an aphrodisiac all on its own......and once cooked the crack of the crust as you cut into it and lightly smear it with butter
and just sit and enjoy it......life aint no better.......so sorry I luv life but its so miserable when you deny yourself its few pleasures....
and fresh bread is a top eat for Gazza.....just in small amounts.

yes I must look into the link im sure their are loads of exciting things for diabetics to eat if we look.

I agree with all of what you are saying about bread Gazza, but I draw the line at eating it these days.  Love the smell and enjoy smelling it very much, love baking dinner rolls with knots, plaits and all sorts of different shapes .........then hand it over and leave the eating to others.   Guess the smell is the most pleasing and the pride of having made it too. 

Yes tomato based sauces are very good.  One of my faves is browning meat cubes, then finishing off with a lovely tomato sauce in the pan, deglazing? I think it is called.  A couple of cloves of garlic, a small hot pepper, a bit of oregano and we are good to go.  I have it with the veggies and the others get potatoes or pasta with it and their veggies.  Talking courgettes - so good gently fried in olive oil, onion, garlic and tomato sauce.  Sorry thread drift   

[gazza1960]

yes yes ladies I do hear you and agree that bread/pasta /spuds are akin to weight gain but its all about a better balance of foods as long as we are strict in the amounts we take on board I still adhere to little but not so often......I hate the fact that I have a pasta machine that would get rusty......or the 5 sacks of spuds in the garage wouldn't get eaten....,or the bread machine stays hidden...

its all there just got to be more sensible .....seriously....I have my 1st meeting with the Dia Dr at the hospital in 1 month following the most straight faced medical encounter ive had ...she didn't pull punches...but I will stick with her plan and stay on the diet ....
once im up and around she has an exercise regime organised for me at the local gym as well as a monthly ....back on the horse course for me to attend so they can monitor my progress.

I do so want to be in a more resilient mind set.....but its so difficult when guys like me love to cook and eat tasty food......not fair some times......maybe I need to go back to the diabetic wards I used to work in for a re..familiarisation on the issues at hand...

yer,luv the courgettes done like that too Galina.....scrummy.