The Hungry Canary

Adapted from Ideals Family Cookbook · Arlene Steelman

Stuffed Green Peppers

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Ingredients

  • 6 green bell peppers
  • Stuffing: 1½–2 lb ground meat
  • ½ cup grated fennel bulb (original: grated onions)
  • 1 cup uncooked regular rice
  • ½ cup finely chopped celery
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp freshly ground black pepper (original amount; quite strong, adjust to taste)
  • ½ cup sorghum-based breadcrumbs (original: bread crumbs)
  • 1 cup tomato juice, plus milk as needed to make stuffing quite moist (original does not specify milk amount)
  • Sauce: 4 cups tomato soup
  • 1 cup tomato juice
  • 1 can tomato sauce (size not specified)

Directions

  1. Heat oven to 325°F. Cut tops off the green peppers and remove membranes and seeds.
  2. Mix the ground meat, grated fennel, rice, celery, eggs, salt, pepper, sorghum breadcrumbs, tomato juice and enough milk to make the mixture moist.
  3. Fill the peppers with the stuffing. If any filling remains, shape into 2-inch meatballs and place beside the peppers in a large baking dish or small roaster.
  4. Mix the tomato soup, tomato juice and tomato sauce, then pour over the stuffed peppers and meatballs.
  5. Cover and bake at 325°F for approximately 2½ hours, occasionally spooning sauce over the peppers. Check that rice is tender and the centers of the stuffing reach a safe temperature of 160°F for ground beef/pork or 165°F for ground poultry.
  6. Serves 6–8.

Cookbook source

“Stuffed Green Peppers,” contributed by Arlene Steelman to the Ideals Family Cookbook. The original has six green peppers, one-and-a-half to two pounds ground meat, half a cup grated onions, one cup raw rice, half cup celery, three eggs, one teaspoon salt, one tablespoon freshly ground pepper, half cup bread crumbs, one cup tomato juice plus milk for moisture; sauce is four cups tomato soup, one cup tomato juice and one unspecified can of tomato sauce. Fill peppers, form extra stuffing into two-inch balls, cover with sauce and bake for two-and-a-half hours at 325°F. Serves six to eight.

Hungry Canary substitutions

Onion: Use half a cup grated fennel bulb instead of the grated onions. Breadcrumbs: Use half a cup sorghum-based bread crumbs once that recipe is developed. Tomato soup: Check for wheat-based thickeners when selecting a ready-made soup. The peppers and tomato ingredients are retained as in the original; a fully nightshade-free variation would need separate development.

Measurement note

The printed recipe specifies 1 tablespoon fresh-ground pepper, unusually large for this quantity; that amount is preserved and flagged, not silently corrected. The milk quantity and canned tomato sauce size are not given. Keep the original rice raw when mixing; the long, covered bake is designed to cook it in the moist filling.