BABY BABY!

Cultivating bush baby marrows was meant to avoid last year's surplus when we were inundated with an overabundance of the more grown up version none of us could keep up with but somehow the same thing seems to be happening again already!  So a moreish *marrow and raisin cake reminiscent of  the good old fashioned Farmhouse fruit cake we used to eat for Sunday tea all those decades ago has been baked and frozen although some was consumed greedily with creamy custard before it got there!

http://www.mumsnet.com/food/recipe/473-Marrow-and-raisin-cake

 

Taking another trip down memory lane, a savoury option stuffed with mince and peppers, topped with melted cheese will be tonight's tea - a tried and tested retro recipe from an old dog-eared book circa 1978 bought in the Boots cookshop an eternity ago!   (Unbelievably used copies still available on Amazon for 47p!!)  Anyone remember Timothy Whites?

Halve your marrow lengthways and scoop out the seeds and arrange in a greased baking dish.   Fry two onions, two carrots and a chopped green pepper till soft and then add the mince and brown.  Stir in a large tin of tomatoes, a teaspoon of paprika and bring to the boil and cook for five minutes.  The recipe then suggests using breadcrumbs but I always throw in a couple of handfuls of sage and onion stuffing instead which gives a bit more flavour.  Then add an egg to the mixture.  Spoon into the marrow cavity and sprinkle four ounces of cheddar over the top.  Dice a little butter and scatter on the cheese or the sides of the marrow.  Bake for one hour at 160 degrees (fan oven).  Lovely served with new potatoes but this is really a meal in itself.