Stuffed Pepers

Thanks to Joel Pomerantz for sending me his excellent recipe for stuffed peppers. I will be trying it but I am using a similar version that has the flavor of my mother's kitchen and her 58 year old, often used, well worn, dog-eared copy of Jewish Cookery, published by Crown Publishers. Crown also published my father's first novel, Jadie Greenway.

Stuffed peppers are called Ardei Implut in Rumania and other Balkan countries.

Six 5-inch sweet green or red peppers
Boiling water for blanching
1 pound ground beef
1/4 cup uncooked rice or 1/2 cup cooked rice or bread crumbs
1 onion, grated
1 carrot, grated
1/2 tsp. salt
dash of pepper
2 eggs
water to cover

Sauce
1 cup pomato puree
1/2 cup water
3 T. vinegar or lemon juice
3 T. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. paprika
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

Cut away stem ends of peppers. Remove seeds. Blanch and invert to drain while preparing the meat mixture for filling. Combine all ingredients except water. Mix thoroughly. Stuff pepper compactly and even with the top. Stand upright in a casserole and cover with water. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. Remove cover and increase to 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Cook sauce on top of stove, stirring continuously till thick, approximately 10 minutes over moderate heat. Add to the peppers in casserole, turn off heat. The heat of the oven is sufficient to lightly brown the tops of pepper stuffing and cook sauce with liquid in casserole.

Serves 6