Friday was a gorgeous Spring day. We had temps in the 60s, blue skies and warm breezes. I got a jump on spring cleaning and washed the windows in my apartment that face the street.
Then I woke up Sat morning, the wind was shrieking outside with a good 6 inches of snow on the ground and an outside temperature of –10F with the wind chill. Wow.
Yep, it’s springtime in Pittsburgh!
The important thing is, I knew it was coming so I planned accordingly. I went food shopping yesterday for some real comfort food, namely stuffed peppers and mashed potatoes. Let’s get started!
Wait, did I mention I’ve never made stuffed peppers? Well, there’s a first time for everything and thanks to Google & Betty Crocker…
1. Brown one pound 80% lean hamburger with 2 tablespoons chopped white onion
4. I drained the cooked beef, then cooked & added 1 cup Minute Rice, 1 cup of tomato sauce, 1 tsp. minced garlic, a couple dashes Worcestershire sauce, a couple dashes of pepper.
(Betty says to add 1 teaspoon of salt, but with my hypertension that’s not a good idea. That’s why I used Worcestershire sauce instead.) Stir up and heat through for 10 minutes.
6. Drizzle another 4 oz tomato sauce on top of the peppers and cover tight with foil. Place in oven for 10 minutes. Then remove the foil and put back into the oven for 15 more minutes.
7. Remove from oven, and top with a little shredded mozzarella cheese. (If your cheese doesn’t melt, put them back into the oven for 1-2 minutes like I did.)
8. One side of mashed potato, coming right up! The stuffed peppers came out great but I wish I had a little more sauce—and it just occurred to me I screwed this up.
Betty said to add 1 cup cooked rice to the beef mixture; I COOKED 1 cup of rice—which makes 2! So why did I still have the right amount of filling?
Well, it would explain why each of these peppers weigh over a pound— I had trouble finishing one serving!
Hi Doug, your stuffed peppers look incredible! For your frat time making them you did a fantastic job. We woke up to similar weather conditions. Sigh...back into boots and winter coats. But it isn’t going to be around for long.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed up a few times too and inadvertently doubled the rice portion of a recipe too. Did you freeze the other stuffed peppers?
Take care!❤️
Thanks Robin! I'm glad I'm not alone in regards to that rice, it didn't occur to me I messed up until I was actually writing this out. 🤔 I didn't freeze the other 3, I just figured I'd have leftovers the next couple days. Hope your week ahead is a much warmer one! 🙂♥️👍
DeleteLooks delicious, Doug! Yes, it's the little words that trip us up. Made black bean chili the other day and didn't notice the word 'after' cooking add sugar and spices. So I added everything at the start and overcooked many of the ingredients. Oh well, it was edible anyway. Minute rice? Havn't seen that since the 60s.
ReplyDeleteFlorence, I know how modest you are so I'm sure that chili was still delicious! As for Minute Rice, you can find that in the Baby Boomer Bachelor Man aisle at your local market ♥️😉
DeleteWe love stuffed peppers, Dug! DH makes great ones. I think he uses the basic recipe you used with ground beef and rice... but he adds a lot more seasoning (including chopped green peppers) and pecans! Also I can't eat tomato sauce so he uses a brown gravy. But yours look wonderful too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Rian! You know, I was working on this blog last night when you posted your chicken tetrazzini. I thought " I hope Rian doesn't think I'm being a copycat!". Anyway, I'm sorry you can't eat tomato sauce, and I have heard of chopped green peppers in the mix but pecans? I wonder if that's a southern thing.. ♥️🙂
Deletepecans could be a southern thing... we like pecans in everything! and no, I wouldn't think you're a copycat. You post more recipes than I do - and I simply had no other thoughts to post yesterday.
DeleteAlthough I don't like peppers, I would love that filling over pasta! There can't be too much rice for me. :) I experienced the same weather you did! However, NYC had no snow when I came through today. The Hudson River valley has at least 5 inches! And it's colder. Brrr.
ReplyDeleteThanks Margaret, yes the filling was good. That's wild NYC had no snow, they usually get it harder than us! I hope you have a good flight home. 🙂👍
DeleteLooking good Doug. I just love how you jump off into the deep end of cooking with out a splash. You have no fear.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a pepper girl but like Margaret said that would be good over pasta.
So glad to hear your taste and smell are returning so you can enjoy these culinary adventures. Must have been those jalapenos.
Patti, you're not only a sweet friend you are a smart one! I had actually put in the blog that I think it was the jalapenos that got my taste buds back, but removed it before I put this online. I've developed a real love for those bad boys! Thanks for your thoughtful comment here, you always have the nicest things to say. 🙂♥️
DeleteI'm impressed, you're very adventuresome in the kitchen! We, um, had leftovers last night.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tom! Well, I had leftovers today. 😉
DeleteThey look delicious. I've never made them myself and probably won't. What you call hamburger is what we Aussies call mince and the supermarket meat sections have beef mince, lamb mince, chicken mince, turkey mince. I'm surprised they haven't come up with fish mince! Anyway, I usually turn my mince into burgers and freeze them, uncooked so I get several meals from one pack. Maybe I will try the stuffed peppers one day.
ReplyDeleteRiver, thanks for your nice comment. I want to tell you something, I follow this Aussie on YouTube called Greg's kitchen. Every time he talked about minced lamb, or minced beef I always thought what is that? You just cleared that up! 😄. Anyway, I normally do the same as you. I buy my mince by the pound, bring it home and freeze it into burgers. Great minds think alike. ♥️👍
DeleteLooking up Pittsburg, not stalking, I just like to know where (my) people are.
ReplyDelete😄 I think there's a Pittsburg, Kansas but I'm in Pennsylvania!
DeleteThere are six Pittsburgs and only one Pittsburgh with the "H"
DeleteDoug I just love your cooking posts! You always explain your recipes in such a clear and even fun way. This sounds delicious, plus now you don't have to do much cooking for a couple of days. You can't go wrong with Betty! I use a cheat when I make stuffed peppers. I love Rice a Roni so I mix cooked ground beef with a prepared box of Rice a Roni and stuff the peppers. I bake and add cheese like you did. But you know yours sounds so good I'm going to have to try it!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get some warmer weather soon. We have similar crazy weather in March here. Last week we had two days of heavy snows with below freezing temps but hopefully it will melt this week. Have a great week Doug!
Bonnie, thanks so much! Listen, I think you're being modest about your weather... knowing where you live, winters here are practically balmy! Thanks so much for your very kind comment, but you just gave me an epiphany--I love Rice-A-Roni, that would have been so perfect! I didn't think I'd be making these again anytime soon but now I have to. 🙂♥️👍
DeleteOh my, you had me laughing! Invite me and David. We'll finish it for you. I like this recipe so much I'll try it myself. Thanks for this food blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gigi, you're the one who inspired me to write it. 🙂♥️
DeleteSeriously? -10 degrees??? Yikes! With wind chill? Holy smokes! Your ears would freeze and fall off if you ventured outside. Our son in Maryland mentioned a freak snowfall, but I’ll bet the boys will be happy. I just checked the temps in Chicago and Maryland and it looks like the weather has settled down. I sure hope spring comes quickly and warms up for you, Doug.
ReplyDeleteYou always make the most amazing dishes. You make it all look so scrumptious. I am really impressed!
Kay, we went from six inches to nothing. It was all gone in 48 hours! Thank you for the food compliment, I thought of you when I made this as I know you're still dealing with your loss of smell and taste.. I wish we could fix you! ♥️🙂
DeleteThank you, Doug. Actually, I can taste a bit. The doctor told me I can somewhat taste sweet, sour, spicy, salty. I just can’t taste the nuances of the special flavors. Chocolate tastes sweet, but it doesn’t necessarily taste like chocolate. So it’s not totally awful. However, Art is the tester for the family because I could easily add too much salt to dishes.
DeleteI’m so glad you didn’t get whacked by too much snow. Also great that you don’t have to shovel that stuff.
Kay, I was very glad to read this--first, I didn't know you were proactive about those muted senses and seeing a doctor, good for you. Secondly, you just described my own, perfectly. I can taste BIG flavors, but still can't taste subtle things like butter or the hazelnut coffee creamer I use. And Art being your salt tester is exactly why I'm afraid to cook with salt right now. But I'm definitely coming around to these things, I just hope you figure out how to restore yours fully. I've also learned this is a lot more common with older people too.
DeleteMy wife had a Russian colleague give her a recipe for stuffed peppers that we cook a few times a year. They get stuffed and just stewed in a deep pot on the stove until done.
ReplyDeleteMy wife has a Russian colleague who gave her a recipe for stuffed peppers we cook a few times a year. It involves stuffing them and then stewing them in a deep pot until done.
ReplyDeleteEd this sounds similar to how I heated up the 3 leftover peppers, put 'em in a crockpot for a couple hours. Made them even better!
Delete