For those who want delicious stuffed peppers, this is not for you. I consider these stuffed peppers a failure.
There's something about stuffed peppers that call to me, and I decided to try making them with these long red peppers hanging around our house, waiting for its purpose. I thought I had read enough and seen enough people doing stuffed peppers to grasp the technique involved.
I sautéed some onions in oil and added whole cumin seeds and smoked paprika. I love the combination of cumin and paprika.
I knew I wanted something quick, so I figured I can stuff the peppers with some leftover rice. We also had leftover lamb chops from the Greek meal the other day and decided to use that as the meat condiment for the dish.
More paprika on top as needed.
After the "fried rice" was done, I started stuffing them into the long red peppers. It had dawned on me at that point, while I was clumsily trying to stuff them, that I had used the wrong kind or wrong-shaped peppers for this dish.
Or at least, standing bell peppers would have made my job a lot easier. I'm not that good with my hands.
After I got them passably stuffed, I put them in a skillet to bake in the oven.
That was where I made my major mistake. I thought of adding chicken stock to the skillet, but I did not want to add store-bought chicken stock. (I have objections to store-bought chicken stock.)So, I added water.
The stuffed peppers absorbed so much of the water that it was not as flavourful as I would have liked.
It tasted -- well -- WATERY.
In hindsight, I could have added something else beside water, beside chicken stock. Any suggestions? I'm thinking now that they could even have just roasted in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and they would have been fine.
[ts]
The "fried rice" portion of this dish smelled spectacular! And it tasted great.
I still think JS should've just put the store-bought chicken stock. I mean, in a pinch, what's the harm. C'mon, really. Or, thinking about it, I think the latter idea of just roasting them without any liquid would work.
Or, we could've just diced the peppers and added them into the "fried rice". ;)
[js]
Oh well, lessons learned. Stuffed peppers remain on my to-do list. Once again, here are my misbegotten failures.
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Stuffed recipes:
Mediterranean Stuffed Leg of Lamb
Stuffed Peppers (Lamb and Rice)
Stuffed Squid (braised in tomato sauce)
Faux=stuffed Basa Fillets with Olives, Tomatoes, Lemons and Oranges
Stuffed Giant Squid, Two Ways
Stuffed Savoy Cabbage with Pork
Cook & learn right? Our kitchens are sometimes a lab, open to experimentation and that's how great dishes come about.r
ReplyDeleteYou did the right thing -put down the store-bought stock! Maybe a little salt and a bit of acid (citrus juice?) would have done? At any rate ,the peppers look mighty tasty.
ReplyDeleteExperimenting with food may be frustrating at times but I think it's also fun:) you live and learn:)
ReplyDeleteOk, my two cents on how you can improve this dish.
1. First of, why don't you try cutting the tops of peppers and stuffing the cavity, then put the pepper lid on or slice a tomato and cover the cavity. Instead of slitting the belly, which is a good option for eggplants. But since peppers are more delicate in texture, slitting them may not quite work.
2. I would not add chicken stock to the dish. Especially if you have lamb in your stuffing. The two flavors will not go well together. Add about 2 tablespoons butter and drizzle with some tomato paste-water mixture. Chop a medium tomato and sprinkle over the peppers before they go in the oven. You can also prepare the same dish with olive oil. Just skip the meat, put a a lot of olive oil in your pan and cook the peppers on the stove until the peppers are soft. I love the olive oil version. In fact, I think I'll post the recipe on my blog sometime soon (hopefully). Stay tuned!
I think Farida's advice is spot on! But don't feel bad, the peppers look delicious and like Peter said, our kitchens are like labs, we all have meals that turn out less than we would have liked...but you have a great start here! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouragement, guys! And Farida, looking forward to your recipe soon.
ReplyDeleteI think how Peter dear. all sometimes failure. But I have tosay this look so nice!Buit I understand you.
ReplyDeleteThe Farida's ideas are so nice!
I cook about 20 years (uppps) Im not so older! I learned with Mom to cook, but I want to say ALWAYS Im learning and is amazing that I feel I know now with the Blogs really, LOL Gloria
they look pretty darn good for a 'failure' !!!
ReplyDeleteThose look good even if they did not turn out too well. I kind of like the idea of stuffing the peppers from the side. I made some lamb and zucchini stuffed peppers a while ago and I did not use any liquid in the baking dish.
ReplyDeleteit happens to everyone. it is very nice looking though. I would agree with farida. The last time I did it, I added a bit of diced tomato and zucchini in the stuffing to give it more body. Then I topped it with tomato. I also used plenty of lemon juice and served it with a vinegary salad. But, this and stuffed peppers are the kind of thing that can go very wrong in my mind if the salt, moisture and acid are off.
ReplyDeleteI won't know. It looks good.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the fillings can be fully cooked first before roasting/grilling the peppers. I'm not sure since I've not cooked stuffed peppers myself.
We are in the same province and it's the first time that I see your blog. Lot's of yummy recipes. I'll be back for more.
ReplyDeleteI think those roasted peppers look really sexy (if that's possible!). I'd add toasted pine nuts to the rice. Yum!
ReplyDeleteI'd still totally go for it even if you say it's no good.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I use instant dashi to sub for chicken broth. It probably won't work in this case, though.
this is soooo gorgeous!!i need to get my hands on the fresh peppers in the market to try this recipe :-)
ReplyDeleteI think we're going to try just roasting stuffed peppers without any liquid in the pan. I do that with stuffed tomatoes, but I guess that didn't translate. ;)
ReplyDelete