While growing up, stuffed green peppers was one of my favorite dishes, but when I asked my mother for her recipe, she said, "I just make them." As a novice cook, not having the confidence to "just make them," I tried a number of recipes. Then came the years when the children didn't especially care for them (remember Calvin's "monkey brains"?), and now it's been years since I made them. Referring to my oldest cookbooks, here are some suggestions.
4 medium green peppers
½ lb ground beef
½ c chopped onion
1 can condensed tomato soup
2 c cooked rice
1 t Worcester
½ t salt
Dash pepper
Remove tops and seeds from peppers; cook in boiling salted water about 5 minutes; drain. Brown onion and beef; stir in ½ can soup and remaining ingredients. Spoon meat mixture into peppers; place in a 6-cup casserole. Bake in a 375 oven for 30 min. Heat remaining soup and served over peppers. 4 servings.
I happen to like a slice of cheese (cheddar, American or Velveeta) melted over the top as well.
Checking other recipes, I find they are much the same, with the exception that tomato sauce is used instead of tomato soup and amounts of this and that vary, of course. It seems to me that 2 cups of rice to half a pound of ground beef is rather a lot of rice, but you can vary that according to what you have on hand or what you like.
I don't remember that my mother parboiled the green peppers. I rather like that crunchier texture. Also – if you did want to tenderize the peppers first, you could do so in the microwave and save yourself some work.
I just performed a blog search using the word MEATLOAF, and our postings from last year came up. My meatloaf recipe is there as well as some other great suggestions. If you have further questions, let me know. KW
I have never done so because I don't like peppers but these can be made in the crockpot.
ReplyDeleteYes, I checked one of my slow cooker recipe books. Skip the parboil step and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. The basic recipe remains much the same. (One calls for 2 cups of cooked rice to one pound ground beef; the other one cup of cooked rice to two pounds of ground beef.) Sprinkle cheese on top during the last 30 minutes of cooking. But -- I prefer the oven method because I like to brown the ground beef. KW
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kathy. This was one of my favorites growing up, and I've tried various recipes and my own experimentation, and never felt it was quite right. Don't think I ever tried it with tomato soup. This is a great winter recipe and I will give it a try one night next week when Barbara is working late.
ReplyDeleteHad a good phone visit with Clint this evening. He said he had seen the recipe for stuffed green peppers on our blog, and I was surprised when he told me he had made some a couple of weeks ago. He said he parboiled the green peppers, which he halved. He used tomato soup and put cheese over the top of the casserole.
ReplyDeleteClint is working in American Falls so is away from home Monday through Thursday. He has undertaken to paint the entire interior of his house these winter weekends. Sounds like it's a challenge but that he's pleased with the results. KW