Stuffed Bell Peppers

This year we have bell peppers growing in the garden, along with Ancho Chilies, Red Chilies, and Jalapenos.  We have red, yellow, and green bell peppers.  I recently fixed a batch of stuffed green bell peppers and was asked for the recipe.  So I guess this blog is turning into a recipe and food blog.  So much for religion and politics for the moment.  I'm too disgusted with politics and religion takes too long to express adequately, so maybe food is the best subject for this medium at the moment.

The basic ingredients for this recipe are:

• 6 large, ripe bell peppers (7 total, see below) with symmetrical  bottoms so they will stand up in a pan - color of your choosing 
• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1.5 cups of rice
• 3 cups of water
• unsalted butter or margarine as you prefer
• enough extra virgin olive oil to lightly coat your skillet bottom
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, diced
• 1 bell pepper, diced
• 1 eight oz can of tomato sauce
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1 can of mild Rotel tomatoes with chili
• salt and pepper to taste
• 6 large slices of mozzarella cheese to top the peppers  

To get your peppers to the desired ripeness (is that a word in English?) pick or buy them a few days prior to using them and let them sit before stuffing them.  When their skin is just starting to pucker they are ready.  Cut the tops off of your peppers and remove the seeds and white innards.  Retain the pepper tops and trim the excess from the bottoms.  Set them aside.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Boil 3 cups of water in a sauce pan, add butter or margarine and salt to taste.  Add your rice and simmer while you Saute your onion an garlic in the olive oil.  Add a little black pepper.  Once the onion is translucent, add the diced bell pepper and saute a few minutes, until wilted.  Add your ground beef and brown with the vegetables.  Drain any excess fat from the beef.  Add the Rotels, tomato sauce and the tomato paste.  Mix the ingredients together and simmer until the rice is done.  Once the rice is done, add rice to the mix until the mixture is pleasantly mixed to your desired consistency.  I know, that is a cop out.  Here is the key: don't over-do the rice.  You want a mixture of about 50% rice or slightly less.  You will probably have some rice left over.  Don't panic.  There is nothing "Hard and Fast" about this recipe.  Modify it for your taste and your family's.  Use the extra rice in your boudin sausage or feed it to the chickens.

Place your peppers in a baking pan and fill them with the meat and rice mixture.  Pack them full, don't be e'skeered.  Reserve the pepper tops aside.  Place your stuffed peppers into the oven and bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  At 45 minutes, remove the pan, place a slice of mozzarella on each so that it will melt over the top and down the sides.  Place the pepper tops on top of the cheese and put the peppers back in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.  Remove the peppers and serve on a plate with a glass of sangria by candlelight while listening to Nora Jones' "Shoot the Moon."