Sailing Recipe - Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed Peppers served at the cockpit table of Distant Shores II
Recently sailing friend Maggie came to visit us aboard Distant Shores II along with her husband, Douglas. Maggie is an excellent cook and she and I had a lot of fun cooking together in Distant Shores' galley for the weekend that they sailed with us.
Margaret preparing Stuffed Peppers on board Distant Shores II
Maggie uses her microwave a lot when cooking at home so she shared some microwave tricks and recipes with me (Paul and I just use the small 800 watt microwave we have on board for reheating and thawing) and I shared some pressure cooker recipes with her.
The 800 watt Bosch microwave oven on Distant Shores II
Maggie and Doug are planning to go cruising in a couple of years so Maggie wanted to get familiar with pressure cooking which she doesn't do now at home. She's feels a little nervous of the steam and high pressure just like I did before I came to love my pressure cooker which is so great on the boat!
Why do most cruising cooks love pressure cooking? Things cook very quickly in a pressure cooker compared to a conventional oven so less cooking fuel is used and the boat doesn't get so hot as a result since you're not running the oven or stovetop for long periods. Pressure cooking also keeps steam contained until you release the pressure which disperses rapidly and this prevents build up of humidity and condensation in the boat. The locking lid makes it very safe when underway especially when the seas are rough. But best of all, meals come out moist and tender in a pressure cooker!
The recipe I'm going to share with you today is Maggie's recipe for Stuffed Peppers. Using a conventional oven her Stuffed Peppers take about an hour to cook. When she does them in her large microwave at home they take about 35 minutes. Using the small microwave on the boat we would have had to run the generator for about 45 minutes, so I adapted her recipe for the pressure cooker which we tested and they cooked in 15 minutes!
Although the recipe and photos demonstrate what we did using the pressure cooker, I have included Maggie's instructions for how to prepare Stuffed Peppers in a regular oven AND a microwave too, so you have three recipes for Stuffed Peppers today.
By the way, you can also stuff eggplants, zucchinis, onions and tomatoes!
Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
6 medium bell peppers (we used 4 peppers)
1 1/2 lbs. ground beef (we used 1 lb ground beef and had some left over)
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of worchestershire sauce
A few dashes of Tabasco sauce (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt (we used 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1 cup cooked rice
1 10 3/4 oz can of condensed tomato soup + 1/2 cup water (we substituted about a 1/4 cup of tomato sauce per stuffed pepper).
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (we used about 1 cup of grated cheese for 4 peppers)
1/2 cup of water or broth for pressure cooker method
Pressure Cooker Method
Cut off tops of peppers; remove seeds and membrane. Chop up tops of peppers discarding stem.
Mix raw beef with chopped pepper tops, onion, garlic, worchestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce (if desired), salt, pepper and cooked rice.
Divide evenly and stuff into peppers.
Add 1/2 cup water to the pressure cooker. Arrange peppers upright snugly in the steamer basket of your pressure cooker.
Blend soup and water until smooth (or substitute tomato sauce) and spoon over peppers.
Top with grated cheese.
Close and lock the lid.
Turn the heat up to high and when the pressure cooker reaches pressure, lower the heat enough to keep it at pressure.
Cook at 15 minutes at high pressure.
Release pressure with valve if your cooker has this or, if not, immerse cooker in water to bring pressure down rapidly.
Open the pressure cooker being careful of the steam.
Using tongs, move the peppers to plates and serve.
Microwave Method
Cut off tops of peppers; remove seeds and membrane.
Chop up tops of peppers discarding stem.
Mix raw beef with chopped pepper tops, onion, garlic, worchestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce (if desired), salt, pepper and cooked rice.
Divide evenly into peppers.
Arrange peppers upright snugly in a 3 quart casserole, so one pepper fits into centre of dish.
Blend soup and water until smooth (or substitute tomato sauce) and spoon over peppers.
Cover.
Microwave at High (10) for 28 to 32 minutes. May require more time in small microwave.
Sprinkle with cheese, cover again and let stand 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Using tongs, move the peppers to plates and serve.
Conventional Oven Method
Cut off tops of peppers; remove seeds and membrane.
Chop up tops of peppers discarding stem and set aside.
Cook peppers in enough boiling water to cover them for 5 minutes. Drain.
Mix worchestershire sauce, chopped onion and chopped pepper tops into the raw beef.
In a medium frying pan, saute meat, onions and chopped pepper tops on the stovetop until onion and peppers are soft and meat is cooked through.
Drain off fat from meat and add cooked rice, garlic, salt and pepper.
Divide evenly and spoon into peppers.
Arrange peppers upright in an 8-inch square dish.
Blend soup and water until smooth (or substitute tomato sauce) and spoon over peppers.
Cover.
Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Uncover. Sprinkle with cheese; recover and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes until cheese melts.
Using tongs, move the peppers to plates and serve.
You might also enjoy these other sailing recipes.
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