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Stuffed Peppers
Cut a slice from the stem end of 6 sweet green peppers; remove all seeds and soak them in cold water two hours, changing the water twice. Then take half a pound each of cooked veal and ham minced very fine, and half a pint of cooked rice, 1 tablespoonful of butter, a little grated nutmeg, and salt and pepper to taste. Place the peppers upright in a greased bakingdish, add a little butter and water. Bake until browned, basting often. Garnish with parsley or nasturtiums.
A straightforward stuffed pepper, written for a cook who could be trusted to fill the shells without being told. The quantities work out neatly for six medium peppers.
- Half a pint of riceThat is one cup of already-cooked rice, not raw. About a third of a cup of long-grain rice, boiled, will get you there.
- The soakingTwo hours in cold water, changed twice, was probably meant to take the edge off older, thicker-walled peppers, though the recipe does not say why. Modern bell peppers are bred sweet and do not need it; a two-minute blanch in boiling water softens the shells enough for the short bake.
- Oven temperatureNo number is given, and the recipe does not use the word 'moderate' or state how much water; it says only 'a little butter and water.' A modern 350F browns the tops in about 35 to 45 minutes.
- Cooked veal and hamHalf a pound of each, minced fine, is a way of using up roast leftovers. Ground veal is now a specialty purchase; ground pork or turkey stands in without changing the character much, but keep the ham, which supplies nearly all the salt.
- SaltTaste the filling before seasoning. Between the cured ham and the butter there may be enough already.
- BastingThere is no fat cap here, so the butter and water in the dish are the only moisture. Spoon it over the tops every ten minutes or the exposed filling dries and crusts.
- NasturtiumsThe flowers and young leaves are edible and peppery, and they turn up as a garnish in books of this period. Use unsprayed blossoms only.
- YieldSix peppers, one apiece as a light main course with bread and a salad.
Stuffed peppers of this kind belong to the American turn-of-the-century habit of building a dish around cold cooked meat: half a pound of yesterday's veal, half a pound of ham off the bone, and rice to stretch both. Compilations like this one put sweet peppers to work as edible containers, alongside stuffed tomatoes, onions and cucumbers.