Stuff it

I love things stuffed.

No, I don't mean animals either the kind you can win at the fair with a display of athletic prowess or the ones you shoot while hunting and might hang on the wall.

I'm talking about food something that really can comfort you.

About this time of the year, I start thinking about about stuffing some vegetables peppers and cabbage usually come to mind first.

But after looking at Darren McGrady's "Eating Royally" (Thomas Nelson, $24.99, 224 pp.), I've added stuffed eggplant to the list.

In case you don't know, McGrady was employed as the British royal family's personal chef for many years, starting work in Buckingham Palace just after the marriage of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana.

McGrady worked for Diana (the 10th anniversary of her death was Friday) when she was focused on regularly going to the gym and on healthy eating.

One of Diana's favorite dishes was McGrady's stuffed eggplant, which contains zucchini, bell pepper, onion, a large tomato, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, among other things.

And with an abundance of several of those ingredients in my garden, Lady Di's eggplant recipe seemed like a logical addition to my repertoire.

But my penchant for stuffed food goes well beyond vegetables.

I guess my first taste of something stuffed was associated with either turkey or chicken filled with dressing, as my family likes to call it.

But since then, my sampling of things stuffed has grown considerably.

Many of my favorite stuffed dishes are distinctively ethnic. I love enchiladas, especially Mexican Village's seafood version.

My most memorable south-of-the-border dining experience that featured stuffed food came several years ago, when I was visiting my brother, Kevin, and his wife, Lynn, in Grand Junction, Colo. The chile rellenos served in Los Reyes were the kind you can find only in an authentic Mexican restaurant.

I've also had my share of stuffed dishes that had their origins in the Mediterranean area, my favorites being stuffed grape leaves and the manicotti filled with spinach, ricotta and Parmesan cheese that my wife, Therese, makes.

Perhaps, my most ususual dining experience with a stuffed ethnic food came in Beulah, N.D., when I had fleischkuchle. The Germans from Russia favorite deep-fried turnovers that are stuffed with a wide variety of fillings including hamburger can be found on almost any cafe or restaurant menu even the local Dairy Queen in south-central and western North Dakota.

I don't think you'll find that recipe in "Eating Royally."

Tiedeman is food editor at the Herald. Reach him at (701) 780-1136 or toll-free at (800) 477-6572, ext. 136, or jtiedeman@gfherald.com .