This week, the UK and fans across the world lost a British soap icon. Anne Kirkbride played Coronation Street’s Deirdre Barlow, the heavy smoking, red wine drinking mother of everyone’s favorite villain, Tracy, and wife of everyone’s favorite philandering husband, Ken. Oh, and maker of the oft-lamented and somewhat reviled Stuffed Marrow.

She’d been with the show since the year I was born, 1972. I remember being fascinated with her glasses when I watched the show as a youngster, those big specs drowning her face, but still revealing her eyes. Freaked me out a bit, but I couldn’t look away.

When my mom started watching Corrie after she retired, Deirdre and her mother Blanche became two of her favorite characters. Blanche has been gone a while now… and I admit, after Mom died in June, I kinda stopped watching much Corrie because it felt odd (even though I’d watched it for twenty years before she started!). It was hard watching Deirdre smoke like she did, because, well… Mom. And now she’s gone, too.

I know the Other side is huge, but I’d like to think that maybe they’re sitting together somewhere, having a glass of red and a smoke, bitching about their wayward daughters.

This isn’t the ‘official’ Deirdre Barlow Stuffed Marrow recipe. I don’t know if there is one, but it’s the closest to what I imagine was in hers, since the ingredients look about right.

Stuffed Marrow

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef, lean
1 beef OXO cube, or 2 tbsp OXO powder
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
5 lg white button mushrooms, quartered
1 med. can diced tomatoes
1 tsp crushed red chili flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt, optional
1/4 tsp pepper, optional
1 lg marrow squash (or other summer squash will work)
1 c grated mozzarella or Italian blend

Directions

Preheat oven to 350*.

Brown the meat, then add the OXO; continue to cook for a few minutes, stirring regularly. Add the onion, peppers, mushrooms and garlic, and cook until the onion is *just* done, and the mushrooms have softened and shrunk.

Add tomatoes and herbs, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.

Cut the marrow in half lengthwise, and remove the seed pocket from either side. Foil line a baking sheet, and spray minimally with cooking spray. Place the marrow skin down on the sheet, and stuff with the meat mixture. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and add cheese; return to oven and bake until the cheese has bubbled and started to turn golden (approximately 10-15 minutes).

Serve with your choice of starchy side dish (fettucine alfredo is the go to here!) and garlic bread.

You’ll be missed, Deirdre Barlow, as will your marrow. Rest in peace, Anne Kirkbride!

<3 JL