Tomate du Saltambique

Ingredients:
6 tomatoes ( I used plum tomatoes, but beefsteak or large tomatoes are probably best)

Filling-
1/4 cup pecans
1 orange
1 mango or passion fruit
1/4 cup cranberries

Caramel-
1 cup sugar
6 tbs butter
1/4 cup cream
1/8 tsp salt

Directions:
1. Make the caramel by heating the butter and the adding the sugar and salt. Dissolve the sugar slowly and add the cream. this should turn into a brown liquid.

2. Core the tomatoes, discard the and skin but save the insides for filling. Blanche the tomatoes in the caramel for thirty seconds and then place on a baking sheet. (I actually made a grid of rolled tin foil on the so the tomatoes would have their own compartments, this worked out well, and prevented the tomatoes from spilling over.) Preheat the oven to 250 F.

3. Dice the fruit and nuts and add to the caramel. Stew for 20 minutes. The cranberries will become sweeter the longer they stay in the caramel. But so will everything else. If you are try to avoid overly sweet things, perhaps leave them in for only 5 minutes, and use different fruits to substitute the cranberry like apple or kiwi instead of cranberry.

4. Drain the fruit from the caramel, while preserving the caramel. I used a meat strainer to pull out the fruit.

5. Stuff the tomatoes with the fruit. Over stuff slightly as it will cook down a little.

6. Cook in the oven at 250 F for 10-15 minutes. Serve with ice cream or whipped cream and the extra caramel sauce.

Recipe Source: The IDEA comes from Alain Passard when he cooked at the White House, but since this recipe doesn't EXIST I used the description provided on the West Wing as well as my VERY FORTUNATE one time experience from eating at L'Arpege in Paris. The recipe is therefore my own meddling with the ideas of a true master, so forgive me.