The Secret Ingredient for the Best Stuffed Bell Peppers

This was a topic/recipe posted on chow's website recently. My thought is that right off the bat, the secret ingredient is to start with a better tasting pepper.
 
http://www.scrumptiousche...t-Stuffed-Bell-Peppers
 
I think of stuffed peppers as being soul food or country cooking. What are some crucial ingredients you put into your stuffed peppers?
 
What kind of pepper do you use?

Chef, you might enjoy this thread from another board.
 
Brad

Interesting Brad. When I think of stuffed peppers I think of the way my mom made them, cut off the top, core out the seeds and veins and stuff with loose, cooked ground beef lightly seasoned. She then placed them tightly arraigned in a big pot and filled the pot with tomato sauce to just cover the top. They were then simmered for a few hours until the peppers softened. As far as seasoning, anything my mom made contained a vast amount of garlic! I still make this for me and my vegetarian partner but with the Morningstar Farms crumbles. With the sauce, seasoning and the peppers, you really can't tell it's not real meat.

Green peppers, ground beef, finely chopped onions, Beef Rice a Roni, tomato sauce, fresh garlic finely minced, Salt, Pepper all mixed together, put in slow cooker on low all day.

My mom used cubanelle peppers, stuffed with mixture of soft bread crumbs, eggs, a bit of ground meat,  finely chopped mortadella or prosciutto, a bit of garlic and onion, a wee bit of parsley, and bit of finely peeled and seeded tomato.  Drizzled with olive oil and baked it. I like the cubanelle peppers because they melt into the filling.
 
I am so hungry now!!

Thanks Brad, that is a seriously delicious looking recipe. Substitute Poblano for Bell and I could eat a half dozen of those.
 
Downthread: Love the mortadella/cubanelle idea. I've used chile Chilaca before too and it's a really good chile for stuffing.
 
We just go out of Hatch season out here in Austin and I've got 15lbs roasted and in the freezer so I'm looking good for stuffed chiles all winter long.

 I use red bell peppers for the sweetness. The filling is Ground beef, Uncle Ben's rice, celery, onions, carrots, mozzarella, parmasean, fresh ground pepper, sea salt, parsely, and a little tomato sauce.  Cover them tightly with foil. I then put them into the oven at 350 degrees for 1 hour with a little water in the pan. Outstanding!!
 
  David O.

I make them pretty much the standard way - but I use Bloody Mary mix instead of tomato sauce for a little different twist on an old standard.

I use italian long hot peppers or hot cherry peppers stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, italian sausage. oregano, fresh parsley, minced onion and  garlic,torn bread milk soaked and grated parmesan, topped with mozzerella in tomato sauce.

I never make them because I'm the only one who likes them, but I still remember the ones my mother made, and I loved them. She used finely ground leftoverbeef and pork roast canned tomatoes squished up very small, onion, and leftover mashed potatoes to bind it up. Parsley, too, I think. She put longhorn cheese on the top and baked them.  This was the highest and best use for leftovers I had ever seen. Oh, and first she steamed the green bell pepper halves until they were just tender. I would have eaten those things every day.

Campbells condensed tomato soup, rice, diced tomatos-drained, and velveeta cheese.

scrumptiouschef


I think of stuffed peppers as being soul food or country cooking.

That's funny. I think of stuffed peppers being Jewish (gefilte peppers in Yinglish) and Eastern European cooking (toltott paprika).

shortchef


I never make them because I'm the only one who likes them, but I still remember the ones my mother made, and I loved them. She used finely ground leftoverbeef and pork roast canned tomatoes squished up very small, onion, and leftover mashed potatoes to bind it up. Parsley, too, I think. She put longhorn cheese on the top and baked them.  This was the highest and best use for leftovers I had ever seen. Oh, and first she steamed the green bell pepper halves until they were just tender. I would have eaten those things every day.

--oh yes..how did i forget..mashed potatoes..that is my favourite filling..yours is pretty good..sounds lke something i would really like.

Venison

Ha, I always thought stuffed bell peppers was a Creole dish, I guess they can still be, when made with shrimp or crabmeat.
My neighbor makes some good ones, he uses small chunks of ham with his ground meat, Rotel, and a 5-cheese topping.   I grew up eating them either with beef, or shrimp, and stuffed with rice, stewed tomatoes and a cheddar topping, but prefer seasoned bread crumbs over the rice.

Not ground beef meat, sausage meat.

Fab, you might be right. It would depend on the sausage though.
 
My recipe... A combo of 2 parts ground chuck, and one pound Jimmy Dean sausage, and two packs Uncle Ben"s wild rice, and one can of Rotell Tomatoes.
Joe

Ate some fantastic stuffed poblano a couple nights ago at a friends house and he mentioned that he seasoned the pork/rice dressing with fish sauce! Love the stuff and will definitely try this secret weapon.

Banana peppers....with a stuffing base that is smaller than a traditional crouton...larger than breadcrumbs. Marinated artichokes & pepperoni usually with other antipastish ingredients depending on the mood or season. Vodka sauce.

Hatch Peppers are in the markets in Austin right now. .33 a lb! time to start stuffing chiles y'all.

I paid $1.59 lb for some last week.

scrumptiouschef


This was a topic/recipe posted on chow's website recently. My thought is that right off the bat, the secret ingredient is to start with a better tasting pepper.

http://www.scrumptiousche...t-Stuffed-Bell-Peppers

I think of stuffed peppers as being soul food or country cooking. What are some crucial ingredients you put into your stuffed peppers?

What kind of pepper do you use?

I don't have any special ingredients, but if I could get the sauce to taste like the sauce in Stouffer's frozen stuffed peppers, I'd be a happy man!

got a couple pounds of gator meat from LA thawing out in the fridge, should get a pan of Hatch Chile/gator enchiladas out of it as well as a handful of gator stuffed Hatch

I use a combination of ground chuck, pork, and shrimp.  I make a large batch at a time, and wrap individually in Saran wrap, freeze in a Zip loc bag.  My dad's old school, expects rice in them, which I'm not too crazy about, so just put enough that you can see they have some. 
 
I prefer my peppers on the firm side, just about any kind of filling will work, but really don't like the peppers too soft.
 

BelleReve


Ha, I always thought stuffed bell peppers was a Creole dish, I guess they can still be, when made with shrimp or crabmeat.
My neighbor makes some good ones, he uses small chunks of ham with his ground meat, Rotel, and a 5-cheese topping.   I grew up eating them either with beef, or shrimp, and stuffed with rice, stewed tomatoes and a cheddar topping, but prefer seasoned bread crumbs over the rice.

 
My mom was Hungarian second gen and my mom made stuffed peppers with ground beef. Loose recipe posted up thread. Seems this is a cross cultural dish!!! Not too far off from chile relanos.

I do pretty much the same thing.  I use a spicy Italian sausage.  I stuffed some Hatch New Mexico chiles yesterday.  They were awesome.  Cooked them on the grill.

I use italian long hot peppers or hot cherry peppers stuffed with a mixture of ground beef, italian sausage. oregano, fresh parsley, minced onion and  garlic,torn bread milk soaked and grated parmesan, topped with mozzerella in tomato sauce.

I bought some Chilaca chiles over the weekend, charred the hides off of them, stuffed them with ground beef chili then covered them with a blanket of queso Salvadorena. Came out good but not Hatch level good by any means.

Lea & Perrins "W" Sauce.

I've never made them but if I wanted to I would: marinate shrimp overnight (salt, pepper, garlic and parsley- medium chunks), get the finest smoked sausage you can get (medium dice), smoke a pork chop or two (medium dice), gotta have chicken livers, diced tomatoes, onion, fresh garlic, celery, parsley and make a stuffing or use stove top.
 
cut peppers in half, broil just until they start to blister
cool, stuff and bake covered 20 - 30 mins 
once peppers are tender and stuffing is hot, broil to crisp stuffing
brown a thick slice of provolone and top with bacon and green onions.
 
would probably have a nice brown sauce or some sour cream/cream cheese spread on french bread for a crunchy side.
 
I've been a black olive junkie lately, would probably toss some of them in and eat it with...
 
you guessed it - Ranch Dressing!
 

That sounds ridiculously yummy, 318!
 

I use the same meat mixture we use to make meatballs. The sauce that goes over is the sauce that goes on everything.

I make stuffed peppers using green bell peppers, cooked rice, lean ground beer, salt, pepper, garlic, parsely, a bit of dill, and for the tomato sauce, I add a pinch of sugar, salt, pepper, and a dash of cinnamon.  Kind of a Greek thing going on with that...
 
For jalapenos on the grill, I use hot sausage, a mix of cheese, stuff them up, wrap with a piece of bacon, and grill.  I glaze them at the end with a homemade sauce of beer and applesauce.  The sweet-hot-smokey-creamy combination is great.

I use Italian sausage and ground beef or pork, as well as Bloody Mary mix

kevincad

scrumptiouschef


This was a topic/recipe posted on chow's website recently. My thought is that right off the bat, the secret ingredient is to start with a better tasting pepper.

http://www.scrumptiousche...t-Stuffed-Bell-Peppers

I think of stuffed peppers as being soul food or country cooking. What are some crucial ingredients you put into your stuffed peppers?

What kind of pepper do you use?

I don't have any special ingredients, but if I could get the sauce to taste like the sauce in Stouffer's frozen stuffed peppers, I'd be a happy man!

 
Went off the radar and stuffed some mammoth jalapenos with a couple links of disassembled, homemade boudin a couple nights ago. The japs were the biggest I'd ever seen but had almost zero heat. For awhile they were marketing them as "senoritas" but they've since taken the sign down.

I think worcestershire is the secret. I just made stuffed peppers yesterday.  I love the orange bells, they are so thick and sweet!!! Get some ground turkey, mix with minced onion, garlic, and the cut off tops of the orange bells.  Add some worcestershire, ketchup, 1 tsp mustard, s&p, 1 egg and bread crumbs ( don't like it stuffed with rice anymore).  Stuff the bells, prop them up  in a greased pan, about 6 together, top with more ketchup.  Oven 350 1 hour uncovered.  Makes it own juice, serve with some french fries. 

I just love (and everyone else that has tried them) the Southwestern Stuffed Peppers.  I cook hamburger (1 lbs) with onions and make a taco seasoning and mix it with one cup of rice and egg.  Put one can of diced tomatoes in a pan.  Cut peppers lengthwise (I used red, orange, yellow).  Put halves on top of tomato mixture and stuff with the filling.  Top each pepper liberally with salsa and bake in oven 350/375 deg for 40 minutes.  Remove from oven and top with shredded cheddar cheese.  Broil or put back in oven till cheese is melted.  Serve with sour cream, salsa or avocado.  They also freeze excellent.   So very yummy!   

scored some unknown chiles today from a garden at a local coffeehouse, they look like a cross between cayenne and jalapenos. bout to stuff em with confit pork belly and pinto bean paste. will update as warranted.

I have always used a "devilled" crab mixture stuffed into the peppers and then baked. Yummy

Planted a bunch of Big Jim chile varietals in my front yard last week. Should have a nice batch of homegrowns in about 3 months. Anybody stuffing Big Jim's?

Hot Italian sausage, green onions added to the ground chuck, as well as Crimini mushrooms. Living close to Kennett Square, PA, as I do, I have great access to high quality mushrooms

Have tried the crab variant, but have other uses for crab which do more to maximize the flavor. And, as with mushrooms, am in a great location to get good crabmeat. Spend a good deal of time on the Chesapeake

As is mentioned here http://www.scrumptiousche...t-Stuffed-Bell-Peppers the real secret ingredient to better stuffed peppers is to replace the lowly bell with a superior chile.
 
Nowadays jalapenos out here in Austin are almost as big as poblanos but have zero heat, I reckon it's been bred out of them for some reason.
 
They still make a very fine stuffing pepper but I sprinkle cayenne all over my rice mix before I finish the procedure.

I make them sweet and vegetarian. Rice, apples, cranberries and plenty of seasoning!

JanetPelle


I make them sweet and vegetarian. Rice, apples, cranberries and plenty of seasoning!

Sounds good!  A nice contrast.  For seasonings.......Cinnamon? Allspice? Sugar?