Stuffed Green Bell Pepper

I grew up on these things.  My Mom and Dad always used the old Better Homes and Gardens red and white checkered cookbook recipe.  Mom used to prepare them the night before and cover them with saran wrap then refridgerate.  The only thing they needed were to be baked and served. Mom and Dad both worked so whoever got home first baked them.  Usually Mom got there first, but one night Dad beat her home.  He heated the oven and threw in  the stuffed peppers.   The only problem was that he forgot to take off the saran wrap.  Luckily saran wrap shrivels before melting, so we were able to get most of it off.  Also luckily, melted saran wrap didn’t kill us when we ate it.

Dad worked for Remington Arms/ Dupont at the Lake City Army Ammunition Plant.  For Christmas 1979, Lake City made up a cookbook of “Favorite Lake City Recipes.”  450 pages of about 1500 recipes.  On page 146, a primer inspector named Jackie Cort of Bldg 35 listed her Stuffed Pepper recipe.  In it, she added the horseradish.  It adds a nice little zing.  Skip it if it scares you.  I like it!

Stuffed Bell Peppers 

6 bell peppers

1 tsp Salt (keep the salt shaker on standby)

1 tsp black pepper

1 ½- 2 lbs hamburger

1 chopped onion

2 14.5 oz cans tomatoes

1 cup water

1 cup rice

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

8 oz shredded American or cheddar cheese

1 tblspn horseradish

Cut of tops of peppers and spoon out seeds and membrane.

Boil in salted water 5 minutes (skip this part if you like your peppers very crisp)

Take out of water.  Sprinkle inside with salt (shake it like a salt shaker) and set aside on plate.

Scramble the hamburger  and onion and drain.(Refer to that post. If not, just brown it.)

Put back in skillet and add salt, pepper, tomatoes, water, rice, Worcestershire sauce, and horseradish.

Bring to boil and let simmer about 5 minutes (until rice is tender).  If there's still excess water, let it simmer longer to boil off that liquid.  You want the meal mosit and tender but not soggy. 
Stir in the shredded cheddar.

Place peppers in a large baking dish (I use a 9x13)

Fill peppers with meat mixture, then spoon the rest of the meat mixture around the peppers.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese, bread, and butter.

Now that’s some good stuff, or should I say stuffing?

Enjoy!

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