Tomatoes, stuffed with almonds and mushroom

 

I think the first time I cooked stuffed tomatoes was in Portugal.  The markets on the Algarve were overflowing with delicous fruit and vegetables.  They varied too much in shape and size ever to be acceptable to supermarkets, but they tasted sublime.  I would walk all around the market, ostensibly comparing prices, but in reality, just soaking up the wonderful scents and sights.  And as the food was entirely affordable, I could shop to my heart's content.  I always think that a tomato will taste good if, when you sniff the stalk cluster left on (and it should always still be on!), it has an almost peppery scent to it.  Most tomatoes I buy these days not only come without that little green star, but even when they do, have no scent and not much flavour.  I can understand why when voyaging people sell up and move ashore, they nearly always start growing their own fruit and vegetables in an attempt to recapture the glorious produce of good markets.  Some supermarkets sell 'beef' tomatoes and occasionally, these are fairly good.  But the huge, oval, rather flat tomatoes I would buy in Latin countries, starting to split at the top because they are so engorged with juices, are but a distant memory.  I used to buy them, cut the top off, stuff them and serve them for dinner the same evening.  The taste is just so wonderful.

 

However, we must make the best of what we have and recently, I bought some tomatoes from Jack, who brings a well-supplied market stall to Russell every week, and I picked up a bag of tomatoes (it's OK, he takes back the plastic bags and re-uses them!), which contained two lovely, large tomatoes.  They weren't the rich red of those in Portugal, nor bursting with luscious juices (considering it's August, mid-winter, they must have been grown in a poly-tunnel), but they brought back such wonderful memories that I had to stuff one for dinner.  It was good, but ...

 

I generally find stuffed vegetables unsatisfactory and am convinced that they contradict the laws of physics.  You remove all the flesh, cook it with other ingredients and then try to stuff the result back in the empty shell.  I always have heaps left over because even softened, you still have all the original vegetable to put back in plus all the extra ingredients!  The great thing about stuffed tomatoes, is that you don't use the tomato you take out (although you can use it in the accompanying dish), so that there is actually some room to take the stuffing.  This recipe is a genuine voyaging recipe and small-income to boot.  Good fresh tomatoes keep well at sea (and I doubt you could resist the temptation to eat them for long, anyway.  Almonds, although not exactly cheap, are often grown in the same sort of places where you get these great, big tomatoes, and can be replaced with something cheaper (see Variations).  You should get a week out of your mushrooms at sea, but can use dried if necessary.  The tomatoes can be cooked in a variety of ways, which you can find in the Notes.

 

If you can buy really good tomatoes,  this recipe is great for entertaining, being easy to prepare and very attractive - but don't get distracted and overcook the tomatoes!! 

 

Serves 2

 

Ingredients

 

2 large, ripe tomatoes, at least 70mm/3in in diameter

1/2 cup almonds

1 tsp za'atar

1/2 to 1 tsp harissa

1/2 tsp garlic granules

2 mushrooms (50mm/2in dia) 

1/4 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper 

 

Method: 

• Cut the top off the tomatoes and set aside
• Depending  on how ripe the tomatoes are, scoop out the flesh and seeds into a bowl, with a spoon - or a knife and spoon if the core is very hard.  Leave a reasonable amount of flesh in the shell for taste and moisture.  
• Now put the almonds,  za'atar, harissa and garlic granules into a blender and pulse until the almonds are a coarse powder: better to have a few chunks of almonds remaining than to have almond butter!  Chop the mushrooms coarsely and then pop them in the blender, together with the salt and pepper, for a few seconds.  The end result is a crumbly paste.
• OR chop the almonds and mushrooms as finely as you can with your knife and mix them in a bowl with the rest of the ingredi ents.
• Now divide the mixture in two and spoon it into the tomatoes, pressing it down to fill the whole cavity.  Put the top back on.
• Light the cooker and put on a flame tamer.  Place a heavy-based pan on top and lower the tomatoes into it.  Put the lid on and as soon as you can smell that the tomatoes are starting to cook, lower the heat right down.  After 10 minutes or so, check them every couple minutes, so that you can take them out when they are cooked through, but before they collapse. 

Carefully lift out the tomatoes and put on hot plates.  Serve with rice, polenta, mashed potates, or whatever takes your fancy, really.  I like to serve them with rice and wild rice in a sort of pilaf: fry an onion in olive oil with rice, until it's soft, chop up the remaining tomato and add that, and then throw in the rice and stir it around, for a few moments before pouring in water, 2:1, to cook it in the usual way.

 

You might want to make some sort of sauce to go over it, if you want something more moist.  Or you can pour the sauce into the pan and cook the tomatoes in the sauce. 

 

Notes: 

• You can replace the garlic granules with 2 or 3 cloves of chopped garlic of you prefer, but the flavour of the granules spreads through the filling more effectively.
• Cooking: If you have an oven, the tomatoes can be baked in a dish, with or without extra sauce, on a medium setting, for about 20 minutes, if my memory serves. You can also cook them on a trivet in the pressure cooker, although this can be a bit fraught: if you overcook them even for a minute, they are likely to collapse on you.  If, however, the cooker is large enough to take a bowl contining the tomatoes (and you can lift it out again without burning yourself), this would be a good choice, with or without extra sauce.  You can cook them, again with or without extra sauce, in a good frying pan, as long as you have a domed lid which will fit over the tomatoes.

 

Variations:

• If you don't have za'atar, use thyme instead.
• Any other nut can be substituted for the almonds, from the lofty heights of pinenuts and macadamia, though hazelnuts, cashews and Brazil nuts down to blanched peanuts.  I wouldn't recommend walnuts, however: in combination with the mushrooms, the stuffing would have to strong a flavour.

 

 

You will find many more recipes like this here.

Mushroom pilau

I'm sorry that I don't have a photo to go with this: I'll try to remember to take one next time that I make it.

This is a great meal to make if you want a straightforward Indian meal. It’s quick to make and full of flavour. Better still, it only needs one pan, but the flavour profile is quite complex with whole spices, golden onions, garlic, and mushrooms. If you like cinnamon, this is the recipe for you and the spice complements the earthiness of the mushrooms.

Because there are only a few mushrooms, I suggest making more rice than I would normally recommend for two servings. I’m sure the pilau would also happily take the addition of some cooked beans, particularly chickpeas, if you wanted to make it more filling. You could, of course, serve it alongside curried chickpeas or tarka dal, for example.

Serves 2

Ingredient

1 tbsp oil or ghee

1 bay leaf

2 cardamom bashed

1 cm/1/2 inch cinnamon stick

3 cloves

3/4 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 medium onion diced

1 clove garlic minced or 1/2 tsp garlic paste

6 mushrooms, sliced

3/4 cup basmati rice

1 1/2 cups boiling water

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1/4 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Method:

• Heat ghee in the pan and add the whole bay leaf, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and cumin seeds. Sauté for a minute or two until fragrant.
• Now add the diced onions and garlic and sauté for a few minutes until the onion softens and turns golden.
• Add the mushrooms and sauté for 5 minutes until lightly golden.
• Now add the rice and fry for 2 minutes until toasty.
• Pour in the boiling water and stir in the turmeric, garam masala, salt and pepper. Mix well and bring the rice to boil on a medium heat. Place a lid on the pan and reduce the heat to low.
• Cook until all the water has been absorbed. Stir it up with your spoon and check the seasoning. Leave it with the lid on for a few minutes to dry out before serving.

Notes:

• Making a suggestion for how many mushrooms to add, is a bit fraught. Some button mushrooms are tiny, some enormous. I envisage some of about 50 mm diameter for this recipe.

Variation:

• If you are going to eat the pilau on its own, you can stir in some green leaves towards the end: Swiss chard or spinach would go well.

 

 

You will find many more recipes like this here.

Any Bean Curry

 

I thought I should include a ‛generic’ curry, which is fairly authentic and this recipe is for when you really want a good-tasting curry, but are feeling a bit lazy. Like so much of the Indian food in this blog, it was inspired by, and adapted from, one of Richa Hingle's delicious recipes. (I have to confess that I am less keen on her non-Indian creations.) As the title suggests, you can use any whole beans for this, adjusting the time in the pressure cooker accordingly. I think the smaller ones, such as lentils and mung beans tend to get a bit lost, although whole black gram keeps its shape more readily. Personally, I particularly like this curry with dried whole peas.

 

I recommend spooning all the spices into a small bowl or egg cup before starting, following the professional cooks’ principle of mise en place. It avoids everything starting to burn before you’re halfway through getting out spice containers, unscrewing them and spooning out what you need.

 

Serves 2

 

1/2 cup dried whole beans, soaked in 1 cup water, as usual

1 tbsp coconut or other oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped (see Notes)

1-inch knob of ginger diced, or 1 tbsp ginger paste

3 cloves garlic, diced or 1 tbsp garlic paste

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne

pinch of asafoetida

2 tsp garam masala

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/2 tsp lemon juice (see Notes)

1/2 tsp salt, to taste

1 tbsp chopped coriander, for garnish

 

Method:

• Heat the oil in the pressure cooker over a medium heat. Add the onion and green chilli, and cook until translucent. 
• Add the ginger and garlic, mix well and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the cumin, turmeric, cayenne, asafoetida, and garam masala. Stir everything in and cook until it smells fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the tomatoes, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Mix well and partially cover, cooking until there is a nice, rich sauce. If it looks too dry, add a little more water.
• Now add the beans and their water. (Drain them, if you prefer and add a cup of fresh water). Put on the lid, and bring up to pressure. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your pressure cooker and the type of bean.  
• Reduce the pressure naturally and sample a couple of beans. They should be tender enough to mash easily. If not, bring them back to pressure and cook for a few more minutes and reduce pressure at room temperature. If you like slightly thicker sauce, mash some of the beans. If it seems too thick, add some more water, or perhaps some coconut milk.
• Taste, and adjust the flavours. Curry sometimes benefits from a bit more salt than you might normally use (and unless you have high blood pressure, it will do you no harm! Indeed, vegans should consume 1/2 tsp iodised salt per day.) You might want to add a little more garam masala or, my favourite methi – dried fenugreek leaves.
• Garnish with coriander, if you like it, and serve hot with brown basmati rice or flatbread.

Notes:

• If you don’t have a fresh, green chilli, use one pickled in brine. They’re rarely very hot, but you can remove the seeds if you find that yours are.
• If you don’t have any lemon juice, add some lemon in brine, but go easy on the salt.
• As this is a ‛generic’ curry, you might enjoy playing around with it, using coconut milk or methi, as suggested at the end of the recipe.
• You can also include some vegetables in this curry, to add to the nutrition, in which case, you might want to fry them with the onion. If you don’t want them overcooked, either cook separately and add to the curry after the beans are cooked, or cook the beans for less time, reduce pressure, add the vegetables and then bring back up to pressure for a couple of minutes.

 

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