No Thanks, I’m Stuffed Green Peppers
Why “No thanks, I’m stuffed.”? Well, probably because this recipe will indeed make you full- after only one pepper. But, if you’re a 350 lb. lineman for the Bears, you could eat two. One time, I ate three, but then didn’t want to see, think about, or smell any kind of food for the next two days.
M.F.O. 7 You’ll need that same Bears lineman to help scrub the pots and baking dish, but given the less than stellar performance of the Bears this year, there’s probably a good chance this particular lineman is out of work, anyway, so he might be willing to lend a hand.
- Ingredients: 1 whole green bell pepper per person. 1 jar prepared spaghetti sauce (or make your own, I'm not twisting your arm). 1 cup cooked rice per pepper. 2 cups ground beef per pepper. salt. black pepper. enough shredded cheese to mix 1/2 cup into filling, and then more to top pepper.
- Cooking Instructions: Begin by washing each bell pepper thoroughly. With a SHARP knife (or a switchblade, if you're the "Don"), cut into the top of the pepper, making a circle around the outside edge, so that the stem and surrounding area becomes a kind of "lid". Grasp the stem, pull the "lid" out of the pepper. You should now have a "cup". Look inside the pepper. See those with ribs along the inside wall of the pepper? Those are very bitter, and should be removed with either a knife, or a spoon (just scoop). If there are any seeds (flat, white discs) just remove them with spoon, or by rinsing the pepper out under the tap. Place the peppers up side down on a paper towel, and let the little bit of water in them drain. In the meantime, combine meat,salt, black pepper, precooked rice and cheese. Mix this well, and set aside. Turn the peppers right side up and place in casserole you've put two to three tablespoons of sauce in. Just put enough in to coat the bottom. Place your peppers into casserole. Try to get a casserole that the peppers will fit fairly snugly in, so that they won't tip over. Place a heaping tablespoon or two of sauce in the bottom of each of the peppers.
Fill each pepper to slightly mounded with the filling mixture. You may have to gently smush the filling into the pepper- that's okay. Top with a nice layer of sauce, and pop the dish into a pre heated 425 oven. Now comes the tricky part. It is usually very difficult to tell how this is doing in the oven, but I've found that when the outside skin of the pepper starts to shrivel a little bit, it's a pretty good sign the peppers are getting close. As ovens vary, you should be checking on these after about 30 minutes. Take them out, look to see if the beef is getting dark (browned), or stick your thermometer deep into the filling. 180 is the recommended internal temp.
When peppers are cooked, take them out, top them with a little more sauce, and a nice sprinkling of shredded cheese.
- Pairings: These go great with a nice Burgundy, or for you Merlot fans, Woodbridge Merlot. I prefer Boone's Farm. Hee Hee.
- Disclaimer:: Again, oven temps vary, so be sure to check internal temps with your thermometer. Undercooked meat carries risks. Or so we've been told. Apparently sashimi, tartars and sushi are bad for you. Who knew?
Tags: Beef, Comfort Food, Veggies
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on Tuesday, December 29th, 2009 at 8:22 am and is filed under Beef, Comfort Food.
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