8 medium even-shaped sweet peppers - green, yellow or orange

FILLING:

1 lb. 95% lean ground beef, ground bison or venison
1 lb. sweet sausage roll (uncooked)
1 1/2 cups cooked white rice (I buy mine the night before from a Chinese food take-out)
1/2 cup shredded yellow cheese
1 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
1 jumbo egg
1/2 cup dairy sour cream
1/2 cup chopped parsley
3 tbsp. A1 steak sauce
4 tbsp. olive oil (7 tbsp. if blanching peppers)
1 tsp. red wine vinegar
about 1 cup tomato sauce, Marinara or spaghetti sauce
ground black pepper, Mrs Dash, and Mesquite rub to suit

Wash peppers and remove any stickers. Cut off tops at stem ends. Remove seeds and membrane.

Reserve tops, popping the stem out so as to make a donut shape.

If you prefer softer peppers, blanch by boiling for 5 minutes in large pot with 3 tablespoons oil, stirring often. Always blanch poblanos. Remove with tongs, place upside down in your intended roasting pan and refrigerate to cool. May be done several hours before or the night before.

Note: If they don't fit you need to get a bigger pan now!

Using a fork, thoroughly mix the rice with the cheese. Cover and set aside.

Mix onion and tomato. Add red wine and 1 tablespoon olive oil, mix thoroughly. Heat on medium-high stirring frequently with whisk or rubber spatula to keep mixture from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Your goal is to boil out the water. After about 15 minutes, no water should dribble out as you push the mixture to one side of the pot and tilt. Remove from heat into a 2 cup Pyrex. Add tomato sauce to make 2 cups. Stir well to blend.

At this point you can cover everything with plastic wrap, refrigerate, and come back later or tomorrow.

COOKING:

Preheat over to 400°F.

Hand mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

Using a slotted spoon, fill the bell peppers. Add a dab at a time so you go around at least twice to most evenly fill the peppers. If using poblanos, note they are pointy at the bottom and will not stay up by themselves, put them in the middle of a triangle formed by three stuffed bell peppers. Mixture may be above the peppers, that's OK.

Add the tops reserved in the beginning. If the stuffing is over the top of the peppers that is OK, just rest the tops loosely like a hat. Stick a meat thermometer into the deepest part of your largest pepper.

Add 1 cup water to bottom of your roasting pan.

Start checking thermometer at about 40 minutes and every 5 minutes afterward. Peppers are cooked at 170°F.

Allow 5 minutes to cool then serve and enjoy! Best served with a steak knife.

Wrap leftovers in plastic wrap, re-heat in the microwave.

Submitted by: Larry Miller