Stuffed Mirliton

I decided to attempt to make an old recipe healthier than the one I found on the internet... Mostly it worked out, some of it didn't. When I was little, I remember my grandmother used to have this little southern vegetable, mirliton, growing on a rather large vine in her backyard. We used to pick them when they were seasonal and she always used to show me which ones were ripe. I've never made stuffed mirlitons, but when we went to the farmer's market and saw they were in season, I had to take the challenge. I found this recipe online from the Crescent City Farmer's Market, and wanted to give it a try.

I started by halving then boiling the mirlitons, then did as the recipe described, de-seeding them, and chopping the meat out of the vegetable. Next, I substituted chopped carrots for the celery (because I didn't have any in my house), and sauteed the vegetables (carrot, onion, and green bell pepper from the Farmer's Market Box) in a little bit of butter, then added the shrimp. Instead of adding the french bread the recipe called for, I added quinoa. This did a pretty good job of sopping up the broth, and seemed like a great, more nutritious, substitution.

Next, I added the meat from the mirliton, and Italian Style bread crumbs, as well as green onions, parsley, Worcestershire, black pepper, italian seasoning, and salt... Then I decided to get lazy and not measure the Tabasco... BIG mistake... Measure and USE HALF of the recipe's Tabasco suggestion...unless you like your mouth to be on fire.

Anyway, I cooked that for around 6 minutes, and removed it from the heat.

Next, I stuffed the mirlitons with the mixture, topped it with some grated parmesan, and put them in the oven at 350 for 15 minutes.

When I pulled them out, they looked delicious. Mike wasn't a huge fan, and I think next time I try this dish, I'll pulverize the mirliton pieces (he said they reminded him of tomato, which he doesn't eat). I also plan to eliminate the Tabasco all together- you can always add it later.

I saved the stuffing leftovers and will likely either add more quinoa, or some cream to it and sautee it for some peppers later in the week. Hopefully that cuts it a little, because the spice was almost too much to handle!

PS, I can't take credit for the yummy looking gumbo, it's my Mom's.