#1 stuffed tomatoes:
tomatoes - as close to same size as you can do
chopped broccoli florets
crumbled gorganzola cheese
chopped fresh (not toasted) pumpernickle bread
salt, pepper and dry basil to taste
good olive oil
core and then hollow out the tomatoes - get rid of all the seeds and some of the meat if you need to.
combine all the other ingredients, basically it should be equal amounts of all the ingredients. salt, pepper and dried basil is to taste. mix in a little bit of the olive oil so that the mixture is lightly held together (don't need to drown in in oil).
fill the tomatoes and then drizzle a bit of oil on the top. bake uncovered at 300 degrees until the skin is just starting to come away from the meat. about 20 minutes for medium size tomatoes with a fair amount of meat.
i take the crust off the bread and cube it before using the hand mixer to chop it - one of those gadgets for making milkshakes, has only one blade. can't think of the name of it at the moment
#2 fried tomatoes
large meaty tomatoes
eggs, scrambled with a dash of milk
italian style bread crumbs
oil, preferably olive
worcestershire sauce
slice ripe tomatoes in approximately 1/2 inch slices. dip in and cover with the bread crumbs and then place in egg/milk mix - turn once to cover both sides with the egg/milk. pick up with fork and let excess drain off and then put in bread crumbs again - make sure both sides are coated well with the crumbs.
put the prepared slices on a dish - one layer only - and let them sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours so that the egg/crumb coating sets(i usually leave mine in the fridge over night).
cook over medium to medium low heat in a heavy skillet (i prefer cast iron) in the olive oil. you want to cook one side completely and then turn and cook the other side. if you don't cook each side completely before turning, the coating won't stay on and you want that coating to stay there!
serve with worcestershire sauce dabbled over the slices.
recipe #1 works well with tomatoes that have lots of seeds.
recipe #2 works better with tomatoes that have lots of meat.