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Shrimps in Peppers
One quart of shelled shrimps; one dozen green bell peppers; one teacup of bread crumbs (grated); two tablespoons of butter; one teaspoon of mixed mustard one-fourth of a teaspoon of pepper; one-eighth of a teaspoon of celery seed; a dash of grated nutmeg; one egg; and some salt if the shrimps are not salty. Cream the butter by beating and then also beat into it the seasonings and egg. Then add the crumbs, mixing the ingredients well, and finally stirring in the shrimp. Cut off the stem ends or tops of the peppers, and remove the seeds and veins, and, while mixing the stuffing just described, soak the peppers in cold water for one-half an hour; then drain them and fill with the prepared stuffing. Set them in a pan, open side up and bake in a hot oven for twenty minutes.
A straightforward stuffed-pepper dish from the era when shrimp came to most kitchens already boiled and salted. Two things need translating: the oven and the state of the shrimp.
- Hot ovenRead this as roughly 400-450F. Twenty minutes at that heat should set the egg-bound filling and brown the crumbs while leaving the peppers some bite.
- The shrimp are already cookedThe shrimp are likely already cooked -- shelled shrimp of this period were commonly sold already boiled in salted water, often by measure, which would explain why the salt is made conditional. If you start with raw shrimp, season the mixture properly and chop them small so twenty minutes is enough to cook them through without turning the outer ones rubbery.
- A quart of shrimpMeasured by volume, not weight: roughly 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb of shelled, cooked shrimp, which means upwards of 2 lb in the shell. Shrimp of the period were generally smaller than today's; larger ones should be cut into pieces.
- Teacup of crumbsA teacup is smaller than a modern measuring cup, about 3/4 cup. Grated crumbs means dry crumbs from a stale loaf, not soft fresh ones, so the filling holds together rather than going pasty.
- Mixed mustardPrepared mustard from the jar, not mustard powder. A plain yellow or mild English prepared mustard is the closest match.
- Soaking the peppersThe half hour in cold water was a common step in period recipes; its purpose is not stated here. With modern bell peppers it does little; a two- to three-minute blanch in boiling water does more to soften the walls in the short baking time.
- Pan and moistureSet the peppers upright and close together so they support each other. A few tablespoons of water in the pan keeps the bottoms from scorching over twenty minutes at high heat.
- YieldTwelve stuffed peppers, which serves six as a main course or twelve as a first course. The filling halves cleanly if a dozen peppers is more than you want.
Stuffed sweet peppers turn up repeatedly in American cookbooks from the 1890s onward. The combination of shrimp, breadcrumbs, mustard and nutmeg is often likened to the shrimp-stuffed mirlitons and peppers of Louisiana cooking. The Butterick Cook Book (1911) came from the Butterick Publishing Company, better known for dress patterns. Its recipes assume the reader can get shrimp, but also assume they arrive ready-boiled and salty, which is why the salt in this recipe is left to the cook's judgment.