I know - I know...sounds weird......
But, the wife wanted me to make stuffed bell peppers - and my old standard recipe is a S.W. Louisiana/S.E. Texas style......Just wanted to try something different.
And - as I have been on this tropical latino/caribbean kick....
So - I started with the peppers themselves. Regular bell peppers - but - I trimmed just the stem it self- so they can sit flat - then open up the pepper on the other end. I bit more labor instense to clean out the seeds this way but - sound reasoning has rarely slowed my curiousity in life ( suppose that is to blame for having broken about half the bones in my body ?
)
The Brits had a colonial interest in Central America during much of the last 2 centuries - maybye you remember that Belize used to be called British Honduras? They fell in love with the banana - and this may be one of the more interesting uses for it i have seen.
Malty - no hoppy flavor - no sweet, but has a hint of banana flavor......and keeps the cook hydrated
The rice I used is a natural long grain Lundberg, and the chicken broth, and veggie broth concentrate....
Then a little of the beer above, and Sofrito - whitch is a great soup/stew base of all kinds of roasted red peppers, garlic, oregano, cumin, onion, tomato,bay leaves etc...every region in the world that has a connection to Latin - has a form of softrito. (even Italy and France). All of the ingredients are cooked down and blended to the consistency of a thick pasta sauce, and then stored as a key additive whenever a soup, stew, or many kinds of sauces are to be made. I cheated of course -- and bought a commercial one - as you can imagine the time involved in making this old world classic ingredient alone!
Now - for the meat....
The wife brought home some ground (ugh
) turkey....O.k. - I know...it is healthier, etc...but it really is a "blank slate". I mean - you have to add whatever flavor you want - because it does not come with much of it's own
. Not really that bad - but...I just like ground pork, beef or even lamb vs ground turkey. And...that is minced garlic in the pan.
SO - BACON to the rescue!
Added the cooked, chopped bacon to the turkey in a fry pan - and browned the turkey. Then added both to the rice:
Now to support the sofrito.....I added some lemon zest - not a lot- but enough to add aroma and a little of the citrus zing. Then some fresh chopped cilantro. Cilantro is a love or hate thing with a lot of folks...I suppose you could add parsely. ( Note - you would starve to death in parts of C. America if you will not eat cilantro. It is used in everything there
Now - I needed a sauce for the top of the stuffed peppers - like what you might put on a meat loaf.....
Simple 50/50 mix of A-1 and ketchup....Give it a nice punch but the ketchup lends some sweetness....
And...
Ready for dinner.....
