REQ: Stuffed Pepper Recipe?

On Sun 06 Mar 2005 01:34:25p, Kilikini wrote in rec.food.cooking:

Quoted message said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of
peppers! (Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas
are rice, ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a
tried and true to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!

kili

Stuffed peppers are usually a pretty simple affair and you've got the basics.
I usually a little Worcestershire sauce and Italina herbs to the mix.
Sometimes add some whole kernal corn. The last time I made them I subbed
some salsa for the tomato sauce and that was a nice twist. I don't really
have a recipe. I steam or parboil the prepared peppers for a bit before
filling.

--
Wayne Boatwright
____________________________________________

Give me a smart idiot over a stupid genius any day.
Sam Goldwyn, 1882-1974

Kilikini said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of peppers!
(Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas are rice,
ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a tried and true
to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!

This is a very simple recipe. It uses neither rice nor tomato sauce
and doesn't even require parboiling the peppers which makes it very a
very fast, easy, one pan after-work meal. Just one of many possible
variations.

green peppers
ground sirloin
olive oil
onion, diced
garlic, diced (to taste)
roma tomatoes, diced into large and small chunks
oregano (to taste)
salt, pepper
beef broth

Slice the tops off the peppers and remove seeds and membranes. If a
pepper has wobbly bits, slice a bit off the bottom to flatten it.

Heat up a high-skillet and brown ground sirloin. When meat is nearly
done add onion and garlic and stir until translucent. Add tomatoes,
salt, pepper, and oregano and stir long enough to warm and release the
juices.

Make a space for a pepper in the skillet and fill with ground
sirloin/tomato mixture. Repeat for remaining peppers. It's fine
(actually better) if there is meat/tomato mixture left in the pan.
Pour undiluted beef broth into each pepper and the rest into the pan.
Add a bit of water or white wine to dilute a bit. Put pepper tops back
on filled peppers. Cover, bring to a simmer. Takes about 20 minutes.

After the peppers have been consumed, the broth/meat mixture makes a
great soup.

Kilikini at [email hidden] wrote on 3/6/05 3:34 PM:

Quoted message said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of peppers!
(Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas are rice,
ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a tried and true
to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!

kili

I have two. These recipes were written down after I made them, based on
what I actually did. So they are definitely tried and true.

One uses raw meat in the crock pot, the other, pre-cooked in the oven.
They are essentially quite similar, ingredient-wise.

Where I've listed brands of tomato sauce, of course, that's what I use
because I like the flavor. Use the brand you like best, or use home-made.
Whatever works best for you. The idea is to use a well-seasoned tomato
sauce in either case. In the pre-cooked filling recipe, if you use a smooth
sauce, I would add a can of diced tomatoes, drained of all juice, which can
be added to the sauce mixture. The tomato pieces in the filling really are
essential, for look and taste.

Here ya go:

Baked Stuffed Peppers

3 large bell peppers
2 cups cooked white rice (I made extra yesterday knowing I was making this
today)
3/4 pound ground beef (no reason not to use turkey)
1 medium onion
1 jar Bertolli Olive Oil and Garlic spaghetti sauce (or other chunky tomato
sauce)
1 cup shredded "Italian 6 Cheese Blend" (mozzerella, provolone, romano,
parmesan, asiago, etc)
2 cloves garlic, minced
basil, oregano
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 egg, well beaten

Wash and halve the peppers lengthwise, removing the core and all membranes.
Set aside.

Mince the onion and garlic. In a large skillet, heat the oil, reduce to
medium heat and saute the onion until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and
ground beef, and stir often, breaking the meat into small pieces. Season to
taste with salt and pepper.

Get a baking pan large enough for the six pepper halves.  Pour half the jar
of sauce through a strainer, letting the thin sauce land in the baking pan.
Take the chunks of tomatoes out of the strainer and add to the skillet. Stir
well.  Stir in the rice and the herbs, and mix well. Remove from heat.

Stir in half a cup of the shredded cheese.  Taste and adjust seasonings if
necessary. Then mix in the egg until well blended.

Add more sauce to the pan if desired. Refrigerate leftover sauce for future
use.

Spoon the stuffing mixture into the pepper halves, mounding slightly.
Arrange the pepper halves in the baking dish with the sauce. Add half a cup
of water to the bottom of the pan.  Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45
minutes at 400 degrees, until the peppers begin to soften.

Remove the foil, top each pepper with the remaining half a cup of cheese,
and let bake for 15 minutes more, until the cheese melts and is bubbly.

Serves 6.

I served this with a nice romaine, pear, orange, onion and toasted walnut
salad, as a first course, which I have made before to rave reviews with a
simple thin vinaigrette of walnut oil, white wine vinegar and orange juice
which I made with my hand blender. That was seasoned with just salt and lots
of cracked black pepper.  I layered the romaine on a platter, arranged the
fruit and onions on top of the bed of lettuce, and topped with the walnuts.
The dressing was served on the side.  My guests had never eaten a salad like
that and they enjoyed it a lot!
----

Stuffed Peppers in Crock Pot
Serves 4

1.35 lbs of 80% lean ground beef (that's what my package said)
1.5 cups of cooked white rice (3/4 cup rice, 1 cup water, cooked until
fluffy)
handful of grated parmesan cheese (to taste)
seasoned salt and black pepper (to taste)
2 big pinches of Italian herb seasoning blend
Garlic powder or dried minced garlic (I used the dried minced.... maybe half
a teaspoonful)
Onion flakes (about a tablespoonful)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (I used Del Monte from the can...use your favorite)

4 medium sized green peppers (about 4 inches tall, 3 inches wide, or more
smaller ones)

Combine the meat, seasonings, cooked rice, parmesan cheese and the 1/2 cup
of sauce. Mixture should be soft and moist, but hold together when shaped
into meatballs. Add more sauce by the spoonful if it seems dry, but try not
to make it too soft.

Cut the top off the peppers and remove the core from each pepper. Score the
bottom of each pepper by piercing with a knife in an x pattern. Reserve the
slices from the top of each pepper.

Stuff each pepper with the meat mixture. Fill to the top, but not
over-flowing.

If making ahead, stand the filled peppers up in a casserole dish, cover and
refrigerate. Also refrigerate the rest of the can or jar of tomato sauce
(about a 28 ounce can or jar).

When ready to cook, arrange the slices off the top of the peppers in the
bottom of the crock pot. Stand the stuffed peppers up on each slice,
resting them against the sides of the crock pot. Pour the sauce over the
top of the peppers. Rinse the can with about a quarter cup of water and
add that to the bottom of the pot. A bay leaf in the bottom wouldn't hurt,
either.

Cook on low heat for 5-5.5 hours, until the peppers are soft and the meat
cooked through.

This works really well in the crock pot.

Quoted message said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of
peppers! (Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas
are rice, ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a
tried and true to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!

kili

Like JJ's recipe suggestion, these wonderful peppers resemble
mini-meatloaves, but they DO include some rice. But unlike most other
stuffed pepper recipes, the rice is mixed uncooked into the meat mixture.
This makes for a much denser stuffed pepper at the table.

My late father, Ed O'Neill, made this recipe, with very slight variations
for many years, and it was always a great favorite with family and friends.
The sauce looks quite bland on paper. But it picks up much flavor from the
cooking peppers. He often would cut the pepper shells in half, from top to
bottom, mounding the filling up and over the edge of the pepper's
half-shell. We grew to prefer them stuffed into half peppers, rather than
into whole ones, as it exposed more of the meat and rice mixture to the
oven's heat, producing a lovely crusty surface and an improved 'bite'
factor. He would also often double the recipe, as they freeze very well for
quick meals, microwaved from the freezer.

* * * * *

Best Stuffed Green Peppers

6 green peppers

1 ½ to 2 pounds ground meat

½ cup grated onions

1 cup raw rice

½ cup finely chopped celery

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh-ground pepper

½ cup bread crumbs

1 cup tomato juice and milk to make quite moist

Sauce:

4 cups tomato soup

1 cup tomato juice

1 can tomato sauce

Remove tops, membranes and seeds from peppers. Mix all ingredients for
stuffing and fill peppers. If any mixture remains, form into 2 inch balls
and place all in baking dish or small roaster pan. Cover with sauce. Spoon
sauce over peppers during baking period. Bake 1 ½ hours at 325 degrees.

Serves 6 - 8.

By Arlene Steelman, as printed in The Ideals Family Cookbook, (1972)

Paul O'Neill said:

Quoted message said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of
peppers! (Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and
ideas are rice, ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone
got a tried and true to-die-for recipe? Thank you in
advance, if you do! kili

Best Stuffed Green Peppers

6 green peppers

1 ½ to 2 pounds ground meat

½ cup grated onions

1 cup raw rice

½ cup finely chopped celery

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh-ground pepper

½ cup bread crumbs

1 cup tomato juice and milk to make quite moist

Sauce:

4 cups tomato soup

1 cup tomato juice

1 can tomato sauce

Remove tops, membranes and seeds from peppers. Mix all ingredients
for stuffing and fill peppers. If any mixture remains, form into 2
inch balls and place all in baking dish or small roaster pan. Cover
with sauce. Spoon sauce over peppers during baking period. Bake 1 ½
hours at 325 degrees.

Serves 6 - 8.

By Arlene Steelman, as printed in The Ideals Family Cookbook, (1972)

Recipe saved.

Thanks, Paul. I'm keeping this one. Wish I would have seen your post prior
to me whipping together a blended rendition of everyone else's ideas. They
came out okay, although not great. They were missing something. I'll bet
it was the tomato juice. Thanks again.

kili

Kilikini said:

Paul O'Neill said:

Quoted message said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots

of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

peppers! (Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and
ideas are rice, ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc.

Anyone

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

got a tried and true to-die-for recipe? Thank you in
advance, if you do! kili

Best Stuffed Green Peppers

6 green peppers

1 ½ to 2 pounds ground meat

½ cup grated onions

1 cup raw rice

½ cup finely chopped celery

3 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon fresh-ground pepper

½ cup bread crumbs

1 cup tomato juice and milk to make quite moist

Sauce:

4 cups tomato soup

1 cup tomato juice

1 can tomato sauce

Remove tops, membranes and seeds from peppers. Mix all ingredients
for stuffing and fill peppers. If any mixture remains, form into 2
inch balls and place all in baking dish or small roaster pan.

Cover

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

with sauce. Spoon sauce over peppers during baking period. Bake 1

½

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

hours at 325 degrees.

Serves 6 - 8.

By Arlene Steelman, as printed in The Ideals Family Cookbook,

(1972)

Quoted message said:

Recipe saved.

Thanks, Paul. I'm keeping this one. Wish I would have seen your

post prior

Quoted message said:

to me whipping together a blended rendition of everyone else's ideas.

Quoted message said:

kili

Hmmm, the few times I tried a recipe that says to form raw rice with
raw ground meat the rice towards the middle didn't hardly cook at
all.... I hope your dental insurance premiums are up to date. That's
about the suckiest stuffed pepper recipe I've ever seen.... maybe in
your pressure cukoo....

Sheryl Rosen said:

Kilikini at [email hidden] wrote on 3/6/05 3:34 PM:

Quoted message said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of

peppers!

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

(Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas are

rice,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a tried

and true

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!

kili

I have two. These recipes were written down after I made them, based

on

Quoted message said:

what I actually did. So they are definitely tried and true.

One uses raw meat in the crock pot, the other, pre-cooked in the

oven.

Quoted message said:

They are essentially quite similar, ingredient-wise.

Where I've listed brands of tomato sauce, of course, that's what I

use

Quoted message said:

because I like the flavor. Use the brand you like best, or use

home-made.

Quoted message said:

Whatever works best for you. The idea is to use a well-seasoned

tomato

Quoted message said:

sauce in either case. In the pre-cooked filling recipe, if you use a

smooth

Quoted message said:

sauce, I would add a can of diced tomatoes, drained of all juice,

which can

Quoted message said:

be added to the sauce mixture. The tomato pieces in the filling

really are

Quoted message said:

essential, for look and taste.

Here ya go:

Baked Stuffed Peppers

3 large bell peppers
2 cups cooked white rice (I made extra yesterday knowing I was making

this

Quoted message said:

today)
3/4 pound ground beef (no reason not to use turkey)
1 medium onion
1 jar Bertolli Olive Oil and Garlic spaghetti sauce (or other chunky

tomato

Quoted message said:

sauce)
1 cup shredded "Italian 6 Cheese Blend" (mozzerella, provolone,

romano,

Quoted message said:

parmesan, asiago, etc)
2 cloves garlic, minced
basil, oregano
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 egg, well beaten

Wash and halve the peppers lengthwise, removing the core and all

membranes.

Quoted message said:

Set aside.

Mince the onion and garlic. In a large skillet, heat the oil, reduce

to

Quoted message said:

medium heat and saute the onion until soft and fragrant. Add the

garlic and

Quoted message said:

ground beef, and stir often, breaking the meat into small pieces.

Season to

Quoted message said:

taste with salt and pepper.

Get a baking pan large enough for the six pepper halves. Pour half

the jar

Quoted message said:

of sauce through a strainer, letting the thin sauce land in the

baking pan.

Quoted message said:

Take the chunks of tomatoes out of the strainer and add to the

skillet. Stir

Quoted message said:

well. Stir in the rice and the herbs, and mix well. Remove from

heat.

Quoted message said:

Stir in half a cup of the shredded cheese. Taste and adjust

seasonings if

Quoted message said:

necessary. Then mix in the egg until well blended.

Add more sauce to the pan if desired. Refrigerate leftover sauce for

future

Quoted message said:

use.

Spoon the stuffing mixture into the pepper halves, mounding slightly.
Arrange the pepper halves in the baking dish with the sauce. Add half

a cup

Quoted message said:

of water to the bottom of the pan. Cover tightly with foil and bake

for 45

Quoted message said:

minutes at 400 degrees, until the peppers begin to soften.

Remove the foil, top each pepper with the remaining half a cup of

cheese,

Quoted message said:

and let bake for 15 minutes more, until the cheese melts and is

bubbly.

Quoted message said:

Serves 6.

I served this with a nice romaine, pear, orange, onion and toasted

walnut

Quoted message said:

salad, as a first course, which I have made before to rave reviews

with a

Quoted message said:

simple thin vinaigrette of walnut oil, white wine vinegar and orange

juice

Quoted message said:

which I made with my hand blender. That was seasoned with just salt

and lots

Quoted message said:

of cracked black pepper. I layered the romaine on a platter,

arranged the

Quoted message said:

fruit and onions on top of the bed of lettuce, and topped with the

walnuts.

Quoted message said:

The dressing was served on the side. My guests had never eaten a

salad like

Quoted message said:

that and they enjoyed it a lot!
----

Stuffed Peppers in Crock Pot
Serves 4

1.35 lbs of 80% lean ground beef (that's what my package said)
1.5 cups of cooked white rice (3/4 cup rice, 1 cup water, cooked

until

Quoted message said:

fluffy)
handful of grated parmesan cheese (to taste)
seasoned salt and black pepper (to taste)
2 big pinches of Italian herb seasoning blend
Garlic powder or dried minced garlic (I used the dried minced....

maybe half

Quoted message said:

a teaspoonful)
Onion flakes (about a tablespoonful)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (I used Del Monte from the can...use your

favorite)

Quoted message said:

4 medium sized green peppers (about 4 inches tall, 3 inches wide, or

more

Quoted message said:

smaller ones)

Combine the meat, seasonings, cooked rice, parmesan cheese and the

1/2 cup

Quoted message said:

of sauce. Mixture should be soft and moist, but hold together when

shaped

Quoted message said:

into meatballs. Add more sauce by the spoonful if it seems dry, but

try not

Quoted message said:

to make it too soft.

Cut the top off the peppers and remove the core from each pepper.

Score the

Quoted message said:

bottom of each pepper by piercing with a knife in an x pattern.

Reserve the

Quoted message said:

slices from the top of each pepper.

Stuff each pepper with the meat mixture. Fill to the top, but not
over-flowing.

If making ahead, stand the filled peppers up in a casserole dish,

cover and

Quoted message said:

refrigerate. Also refrigerate the rest of the can or jar of tomato

sauce

Quoted message said:

(about a 28 ounce can or jar).

When ready to cook, arrange the slices off the top of the peppers in

the

Quoted message said:

bottom of the crock pot. Stand the stuffed peppers up on each slice,
resting them against the sides of the crock pot. Pour the sauce over

the

Quoted message said:

top of the peppers. Rinse the can with about a quarter cup of water

and

Quoted message said:

add that to the bottom of the pot. A bay leaf in the bottom wouldn't

hurt,

Quoted message said:

either.

Cook on low heat for 5-5.5 hours, until the peppers are soft and the

meat

Quoted message said:

cooked through.

This works really well in the crock pot.

Both look excellent, Sheryl.

Sheldon

In Sheldon said:

Hmmm, the few times I tried a recipe that says to form raw rice with
raw ground meat the rice towards the middle didn't hardly cook at
all.... I hope your dental insurance premiums are up to date. That's
about the suckiest stuffed pepper recipe I've ever seen.... maybe in
your pressure cukoo....

That's what I used to think too. When I use raw rice I can't get it to
cook through but my ex always made them that way and it worked wonderful.
I simply don't get it but some people do...

--
Cheers

Dennis

Remove 'Elle-Kabong' to reply

Ruddell said:

In <[email hidden]> Sheldon

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Hmmm, the few times I tried a recipe that says to form raw rice

with

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

raw ground meat the rice towards the middle didn't hardly cook at
all.... I hope your dental insurance premiums are up to date.

That's

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

about the suckiest stuffed pepper recipe I've ever seen.... maybe

in

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

your pressure cukoo....

That's what I used to think too. When I use raw rice I can't get it

to

Quoted message said:

cook through but my ex always made them that way and it worked

wonderful.

Quoted message said:

I simply don't get it but some people do...

Using raw rice probably wasn't the only thing she lied about, is likely
a big part of why she's your ex.... for all you know her stuffed
peppers came from the frozen foods case, like her k'nish. hehe

Ruddell said:

Quoted message said:

Hmmm, the few times I tried a recipe that says to form raw rice with
raw ground meat the rice towards the middle didn't hardly cook at
all.... I hope your dental insurance premiums are up to date. That's
about the suckiest stuffed pepper recipe I've ever seen.... maybe in
your pressure cukoo....

That's what I used to think too. When I use raw rice I can't get it to
cook through but my ex always made them that way and it worked wonderful.

I simply don't get it but some people do...

Do you use regular rice, parboiled or instant? I have only seen instant
rice work in stuffed peppers without being crunchy. Parboiled might work,
though I have never tried it (uncooked) in stuffed peppers.

x-- 100 Proof News - http://www.100ProofNews.com
x-- 3,500+ Binary NewsGroups, and over 90,000 other groups
x-- Access to over 1 Terabyte per Day - $8.95/Month
x-- UNLIMITED DOWNLOAD

"Sheldon" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Using raw rice probably wasn't the only thing she lied about, is likely
a big part of why she's your ex.... for all you know her stuffed
peppers came from the frozen foods case, like her k'nish. hehe

Heh, heh! My wife used minute rice when she made stuffed peppers ----- one
of the few dishes she cooked when necessary. Sure, I know, but I loved her.
I have since tried raw rice but never got it tender. I have tried cooked
rice, but the texture wasn't right. I have had success cooking the pepper
suffing, including rice, until completely done before stuffing cooking and
that worked, but again the texture suffered.

Whenever I see someone at the supermarket reaching for the minute rice I
want to slap their hand.

Charlie

"Kilikini" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of
peppers! (Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas
are rice, ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a
tried and true to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!

kili

Nope but here is a hint that works for me. In that the stuffing is usually
cooked I find it very helpful to blanch and shock the cut peppers before
stuffing. I also remove as much of the veins as from inside the peppers as
possible. The blanching gives the peppers a nice tender texture.

The stuffing for me, Cooked rice, ground beef or lamb or both, sautéed
onion & garlic and some parmesan cheese all moistened with a pasta sauce or
tomato sauce.

Dimitri

Kilikini said:

My hubby wants stuffed peppers. Okay. We got the peppers, lots of

peppers!

Quoted message said:

(Swap meet) What do you put in them? I did a google and ideas are

rice,

Quoted message said:

ground beef, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, etc. Anyone got a tried

and true

Quoted message said:

to-die-for recipe? Thank you in advance, if you do!

kili

In addition to the previously listed recipies I'd like to offer the
following one. For the stuffing I'll just give the proportions and you
can modify based on how many papers you need.

1 part fetta cheese
1 part Edam or other similar cheese
1 part bacon
1/5 part onion - chopped

1. Choose relatively round green peppers of medium size. Gently cut out
the top of the pepper and save it. The way to do that is to cut arround
the stem with a small knife. When you pull out the core, cut out the
seeds part and save the top - this will be the lid for the stuffed
pepper.

2. Cut the cheeses and the bacon into cubes of about 1/2 inch to an
inch. Mix the three together with the onion in a bowl.

3. Stuff the peppers with the mixture. Use your hands and press the
stuffing well to fill in as much as you can. Keep in mind that the
stuffing will melt and loose volume so stuff them well. Cover with the
"cap" - the top.

4. On your barbecue use a relatively low temperature. Place the peppers
on the grill sideways and barbecue on each side for about 4-5 minutes
or untill the outside looks roasted. The tricky part is that the
stuffing melts and will flow out if you are not careful. Handle them
gently when turning. Last put them upright and grill the bottom - this
is why it's nice to have rounder ones.

5. Once you remove them from the grill - clean out the burned roasted
skin as much as you can. You can't remove it all and turning the
peppers too much will cause them to spill their guts so just remove as
much as you can.

I serve them on thick slices of nice rustic bread or by themselves.

The melted cheeses and the smoky flavor of the bacon combine well with
the roasted pepper. This makes for a novel addition to your back-yard
barbecue (or not).

One time on Usenet, "Fifo" <[email hidden]> said:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

The melted cheeses and the smoky flavor of the bacon combine well with
the roasted pepper. This makes for a novel addition to your back-yard
barbecue (or not).

What in interesting idea -- saved to my "must try" file, thanks... :-)

--
J.J. in WA ~ mom, vid gamer, novice cook ~
"You still haven't explained why the pool is
filled with elf blood." - Frylock, ATHF