My daughter's favorite meal that I make is stuffed bell peppers and since I've had positive reviews for my recipe that I've made for friends and family, and have been asked what my secret is, I made it tonight and measured everything so I can tell people how I make them. I often just throw in the ingredients and sometimes they vary, but this is my favorite variation below, complete with pictures. I know, I should be packing for our move to Taiwan, but since the 20-foot shipping container will not actually get to us in Taiwan until after two months, I thought I would get some last-minute cooking in. Besides, it's not the "real" last minute yet, so why start packing now? So, let's cook! Start off with about six large green bell peppers. Don't bother rinsing them off because they're going into a pan of hot boiling water soon.Next, slice the tops off, then save them. You'll chop up what you cut off to put into the meat mixture.
You'll first want to discard the seeds, stems, and membrane parts in the center.
You can wash off the little green rings from the top, since they will not go into the boiling water. You'll want to chop them to add to your meat mixture.
Boil the bell peppers in a pot of water until they're tender, for about ten minutes. Make sure it's hot, boiling water before you put them in it. Carefully remove the cooked peppers from the boiling water with tongs afterwards, and put them into a rectangle baking pan with sides.
I thought I would show you what kind of meat I buy. This is ground turkey and it comes in about 1.2 pound packages. I use about 2 pounds of it, which would equal all of one package, then two-thirds of the other one. I dice an onion also to add. This photo shows two different kinds of onion, but that's just because I had a half of a red onion that I wanted to use up. Then I cut one more half of this white one. Both onions taste the same when you cook them though, so what ever kind you have is fine.
Cook the ground turkey and diced bell peppers and onions in a family sized skillet. I chop it up as I brown it. There will not be any fat to drain from this type of meat. Here's what seasoning I add after the turkey is done: 1 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 teaspoons curry, 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. In addition, add 1/2 cup of uncooked long grain rice, 1 can diced tomatoes (I usually like the petite diced, but grabbed the wrong ones. These are also flavored with some herbs, garlic and basil or something like that. Any can of diced tomatoes will do the trick.) I also add one cup of water. Stir everything together and cook over medium high heat until it comes to a boil, then put a lid on it and turn the heat to low and let the rice cook until it's tender, about 25 minutes.
After the rice is done, turn off the heat, then add 4 to 8 ounces of freshly grated cheese. I've used all kinds of cheeses, and prefer the imported Dutch cheeses, but a close favorite is Jalapeño jack, which is what I used here.
Comments
Thanks for the curry version, I will try it soon!
Shelia