Banana Peppers are great!

Banana peppers live, in my mind anyway, somewhere between the sweet and hot variety. That’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned and that’s why I grow them every year. How many Scoville units are we talking? Oh, about 500 or so, making them just this side of warm.

Also, because of their unique shape, they are great for use on my outdoor grill. In the picture here, I grilled a pepper that has been stuffed with taco flavored hamburger. This was then placed next to a fresh salad and potato with most of the ingredients coming from the garden! Simple, yet delicious.

My only caution for newbie gardeners is that growing them from seed can take just about forever. (This is why I often will open up my wallet and let a few moths out in order to buy a few transplants at the local garden center). I’m always glad I did because this plant, which originated in South American rainforests, likes to take its sweet time and that’s a commodity that is in short supply for many northern gardeners.

Once a transplant is up and growing you will find they can be very productive. I find that just a few plants of each variety produce more than enough for my modest needs. Any extra peppers that I have are chopped up and then placed into a vacuum baggie, These are then placed into the deep freezer for use later in the fall in dishes like chili. (I’ve found this to be very cost effective for me as peppers over the wintertime can get fairly expensive).

Notebook Stuffed Banana Peppers

So, at the end of the growing season I found myself with quite a few Banana peppers, some time on my hands and the desire to do a little experimental cooking. Now, I’ve stuffed bell peppers in the past, but never anything like this. My thinking was ‘How hard can it be?’ Duh!

My plan was to use a standard stuffing mix and to perhaps try cooking them in the slow cooker rather than an oven. I like the way a crock pot works. Just load em in and let em go for about five to six hours on low.

The recipe was doodled together as is pictured at right. In case you can’t read the ingredients list, here it is;

1 lb ground beef

12 banana peppers, de-seeded and cut long ways

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 Tblsp. Parsley, dried or fresh

1 Tblsp. Basil, dried or fresh

1 Tsp. olive oil

¼ cup instant rice

1 dash dill seed, ground

1 small egg, beaten

2 Tblsp. Shredded cheddar cheese

De-seed the peppers and wash them in cold water, then put aside. Mixed the rest of the ingredients (use only half the cheese and tomato sauce) and then knead everything in a large bowl. (Just like you were making meatloaf). Next, stuff the pepper halves with the meat sauce and make a single layer of these in the bottom of a large crock pot. Carefully add a little tomato sauce to just cover each pepper, then add a sprinkling of cheese. Cover this with a sheet of aluminum foil.

Cover and cook on low for at least five hours.  When and if I ever get these made, I’ll post some pictures and comments.