Stuffed Bell Peppers and I'm Lovin' Harry's Eggs!

My Mother made this at home every summer and we all love this dish!

Brian came home Thursday night telling me one of his customers is selling eggs and has plenty of them to spare.  I get really happy when I hear of another local source of foodstuffs I use.  My previous source doesn't have them and this was a welcome development!

Harry Brown is less than 2 miles away and just the next road southeast from here.  The funniest thing is that my new orthopedic doctor was telling me all about a farmer who lived behind him who had eggs and a tremendous garden.  Come to find out it is Harry and my doctors house is just beyond his garden! 

So.....I bought 10 dozen fresh eggs and they are neatly stacked in my down stairs refrigerator.  Harry asked if I would like to see his garden and promptly had me board his golf cart and away we went up the hill!

Garden does not do it!1 He has several of the most beautiful gardens I have ever seen!  All situated beyond 40 happy hens laying beautiful brown eggs and two small lakes, bordered by a grove of pecan trees and a blueberry and blackberry patch.

Wow was all I could say and he proceeded to load me up with fresh (he kept jumping off and picking veggies to give me) zucchini, yellow squash, cucumbers, egg plants, and a half dozen of the biggest bell peppers I have ever seen.  When I tried to pay him for the  treasure trove of vegetables he refused to take a cent saying, "I take care of my egg customers!"

Thus Sunday dinner was set out before me, I would make stuffed bell peppers!

Ingredients for Stuffed Bell Peppers:

6 large bell peppers
2 pounds ground chuck
1 pound shell macaroni
2 T. olive oil
1 large red onion
4 cloves fresh garlic
1 t. kosher salt
1/2 t. ground black pepper
1 t. sugar
1 quart (4 C.) tomato juice  (I used my home canned juice.)
2 cans condensed tomato soup undiluted
1 pound cheese (I used Velveeta)

Preheat the oven to 325 if you plan to bake now.  Butter 2 large casserole dishes and set aside.  Bring a large kettle of salted water to a full boil.

Meanwhile core the peppers and slice them in half if they are large and remove the veins and seeds.  Prepare a large bowl with ice adding water to cover about 2".  Set the ice bath aside and plunge all of the peppers into the boiling water.  Leave them in the water and time 5 minutes from the time you put them in.  Remove after 5 minutes and plunge into the ice bath to shock them.  Drain and set aside.  I use a spider or tongs to remove the peppers and retain the water to cook the macaroni in.  Cook the pasta according to the package directions.  Drain and rinse in cold water to stop the cooking.  Set aside.

Dice the onion and garlic.  Add the oil to the bottom of a large pan and saute the onion and garlic a minute.  Add the ground chuck and cook until the meat is browned.  Add the salt and pepper, tomato soup,  tomato juice, and sugar.  Stir in the macaroni and taste and correct the seasoning. 

Spoon the meat mixture into the pepper halves evenly and top with cheese.  Bake in preheated oven 40-45 minutes or until bubbling around the edges and the cheese has melted.  Yield 10-12 servings.

We had the three of the "University of Southern Indiana" girls for dinner who loved this dish and had seconds!  Which pleased me greatly!