Saved by the Bell Pepper

Stuffed green peppers and I have a long and storied past. Well, not really. My Dad used to make them when I was growing up and I thought they were the most disgusting thing ever. He grew his own peppers and made them in a crock pot. Then, fast forward 30 some odd years later and while I was "Cooking With Alice" I met them again (See Drysdale's Home Run Peppers). I approached it like most of those recipes, with trepidation. But as luck would have it, they weren't half bad - I guess I just never tried them 10 times to know whether I really liked them or not. Anyway, the flaw with Alice was that she didn't have me boil the peppers first - turns out that is the key. So, turning to my more trusted "Alice" aka Betty Crocker, I have perfected the recipe and now enjoy stuffed peppers, especially when they are in season. Kind of makes me miss my Dad's garden, I didn't know a good thing when I had it.

Saved by the Bell, a really bad mid to late 1980s comedy that I am proud to say that I never watched. Set in an all-American high school antics, Hammer pants, shoulder pads and bright primary colors starred along with a teen cast that included Mark-Paul Gosselaar (who grew up to take over for hunky Rick Schroder (fka, Ricky Schroder of Silver Spoons fame) as resident Officer Hottie on NYPD Blue. Tiffany-Amber Theissen, who went on to ruin what was left of Beverly Hills 90210, and Mario Lopez, who has a stellar Dancing With Whomever career. All in all, far too many hyphens and consonants  for me to handle. Oh, and there was that geeky kid, but not Urkel, no cleverly named Screech, who was so typecast his only other role was on one of those fat B-list celebrity shows that he got kicked off of for refusing to lose weight. The only thing worse than this show, was it's spin off: Saved by the Bell The College Years - and I'll save us all by not going there.

The Recipe:

6 large green peppers (homegrown if you have them)
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp salt
1 cup cooked rice
15 ounces tomato sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Cut the top off of each pepper. Remove seeds and membranes, rinse. Cook peppers in enough boiling water to cover for 5 minutes. Drain. Brown ground beef in a 10-inch skillet; drain. Add 1 cup tomato sauce, salt, rice and heat through. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In order to stuff yourself, stuff each pepper with beef mixture; stand upright in an ungreased 8x8x2 baking dish. Pour remaining sauce over the peppers. Cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes. Uncover, add cheese if desired, and cook 15 minutes longer. Serves 6.