By Spring is coming, technically. The calendar says so. Montana says: not yet, but maybe. The snow is retreating from the lower pastures, leaving the ground soft and wet and smelling like the particular combination of mud and new grass that is the first real smell of spring in this part of the world. I have been waiting for that smell since November.
The early calves have started arriving. Two on Monday, one on Tuesday, then a quiet day, then three more by the end of the week. I've been checking the heifers every four hours because the first-calf heifers are the ones that can get into trouble. So far so good — all the calves up and nursing within an hour, all the moms doing their job. The ranch in calving season is a maternity ward staffed by one person with four-hour rounds, but it's work I know and work I can do and it settles me the way ranch work settles me, which is the main thing right now.
I posted another blog piece this week. Elk stew — the recipe I'd been meaning to write up since October. How to use the tougher cuts, why the slow braise is the only way to handle wild game leg meat, what the juniper does, how long is long enough. I got a comment for the first time — someone from Colorado who said they'd been hunting elk for ten years and had never thought about juniper berries. They said they'd try it. I read the comment four times. That's not nothing. Someone I've never met is going to cook something because I wrote it down.
Mom made her stuffed bell peppers Wednesday. Ground beef from the freezer, rice, tomato sauce, cheddar on top. I've had this meal a hundred times. It tastes like a Wednesday in spring, which is exactly what it should taste like.
Between the four-hour heifer checks and reading that elk stew comment for the fourth time, Wednesday night needed to be simple. Mom’s stuffed peppers are never fancy — ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, cheddar — but they’re the kind of meal that holds a day together without asking anything of you. Here’s how she makes them, the way I’ve had them a hundred times and will have them a hundred more.
Mom’s Stuffed Bell Peppers
Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes | Servings: 6
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers (green, red, or a mix)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 cup long-grain white rice, cooked
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Prep the peppers. Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and remove the seeds and membranes. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the peppers for 3 minutes. Remove and set upside down on a paper towel to drain.
- Cook the filling. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the diced onion, breaking it into small pieces, about 6–8 minutes. Drain any excess fat. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.
- Combine. Remove the skillet from heat. Stir in the cooked rice, diced tomatoes, half the tomato sauce, 1 cup of the cheddar, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mix until everything is evenly combined.
- Stuff the peppers. Place the blanched peppers upright in a 9x13 baking dish. Spoon the filling into each pepper, pressing down gently to pack it in. Pour the remaining tomato sauce over the tops of the peppers.
- Bake. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top each pepper with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar, and bake uncovered for 10–15 minutes more, until the cheese is melted and bubbling.
- Serve. Let the peppers rest for 5 minutes before serving. They’re good on their own, or with a piece of crusty bread to soak up the sauce in the bottom of the dish.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 380 | Protein: 24g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 30g | Fiber: 4g | Sodium: 820mg