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Stuffed Tomatoes

A tomato filled with a seasoned meat and cracker mixture, baked until tender.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Stuffed Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Cut the tops off the tomatoes and remove the seeds and pulp.

  2. Chop the steak, bacon, and tomato insides finely.

Make the filling

  1. Mix in the fried onion, salt, white pepper, cayenne pepper, parsley, and rolled crackers.

  2. If the mixture is too stiff, thin it with stock, water, or cold gravy.

Stuff and bake

  1. Fill the tomatoes with the mixture, packing it tightly.

  2. Sift cracker crumbs over the tops of the stuffed tomatoes.

  3. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,398 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Form the edible shells that hold the filling while they soften and release juice during baking.
Lean steak
Provides the meaty body and savory flavour of the stuffing.
Bacon
Adds fat and smoky flavour that moistens the lean meat as it bakes.
Rolled crackers
Bind the filling and absorb juices so it holds its shape when packed.

The step that matters

Packing the tomatoes tightly. Loose filling can leave air gaps that collapse or dry out during baking. Firm packing keeps the stuffing cohesive and moist, so it holds its shape when served.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, onion, pepper, parsley):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Garlicfits better
  3. Celeryfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, onion, pepper, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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