222/984 - Stuffed bush marrow with yoghurt sauce

222/984 - how impossible does that sound?! Forgive me as I get used to this new challenge total...

There were so many firsts with this recipe. Of course this is the first post of the year, but I also used the first zucchini from our garden, and to round out the trio of firsts, it was also the first time I had made a Stephanie recipe in a kitchen other than my own. 

We stayed at a friend's beach house this week and I couldn't resist dragging along my Cook's Companion and this whopper of a zucchini that was just crying out to be picked and eaten. Our garden is looking wonderful and I am looking forward to using many of the gorgeous little vegetables that are getting brighter and fatter by the day.

The holiday house we stayed in is very well decked out, but there are some kitchen implements that are just never going to be found in a beach escape where the majority of the guests choose take away meals over home cooked, and any cooking that is done tends to be on the barbie to keep the heat (and the mess) outside. Because of this the cumin for the filling was crushed with a knife (and not very well!) and the onion was diced finely rather than minced.

There was also a brief delay in proceedings when I made the yoghurt sauce and realised I was heating the house even further on an already sweltering 42° day. I put the sauce in the fridge and waited a couple of days for the heat to die down before proceeding. It didn't seem to harm the sauce although I am not sure if the consistency was altered.  

I really liked this dish although I really should have taken Stephanie's advice to fry off a bit of the meat to check the seasoning before putting it together. The final dish had a lovely flavour, but really could have done with more of it. I am sure it didn't help that my cumin seeds were only half crushed and the onion not properly minced.

But for a holiday dish I thought it was pretty good!