Stuffed Peppers

As much as I love cooking, I'm always pleasantly surprised when my mother calls to tell me that she's made too much of something and, if I could possibly come over, she'd pack it for me... You know how mothers are... But, I'm not complaining, and, let's face it - there are some things no one can cook as well as your mother! So, I was very pleased when I received one such phone call from my mom yesterday, telling me she made her excellent stuffed peppers. Here's the picture and the recipe. They may not look all that attractive, but they're delicious, and it's one of those hearty, comforting dishes that has "homemade" spelled all over it.



Ingredients

12 peppers
800 g (1.8 lb) ground beef (or pork)
1 cup rice
1 egg
4 medium-sized onions
2-3 tomatoes
1 tsp flour
1 tsp vegetable seasoning mix
3 tsp paprika powder
salt, pepper
oil

Remove the tops and seeds from the peppers (previously washed, of course). Chop the onions finely and cook them in a hot oiled pot for a few minutes. When they become translucent, add the ground meat, season to taste with salt and pepper, add a tsp of paprika powder, and cook for about 15 minutes (or until the meat is no longer red). Boil the rice in a separate pot, and drain it (it doesn't have to be cooked all the way through, as it will get plenty cooking time later). Mix the rice in with the meat, leave it to cool slightly (a few minutes), and then stir in one whole egg (you need to stir rather quickly because you don't want the egg to start cooking from the heat of the meat and rice). Stuff the peppers with the filling, place them upright in a pot (two important things when choosing the pot:
1) it mustn't have any plastic parts - like handles - because you're going to bake the peppers in the oven, and 2) the size has to be right, so that you can fit the peppers in tightly, because if there's any room left, they will fall down, and the stuffing will fall out).
Top every pepper with a slice of tomato. Add some water (you want the peppers to always be half-covered with liquid), and leave on the stove to simmer for about an hour, adding more water occasionally (when it starts to evaporate).
After an hour, dissolve 1 tsp of flour, 2 tsp paprika powder, and a tsp of any vegetable seasoning mix (or 1/2 tsp of salt) in a glass of water, and add it to the peppers (don't pour it over them though, you don't want to get the water into the stuffing). Put the pot into a preheated oven (180-200 C/350-390 F) and bake it for the next 30 min - 1 hour (or until the top of the peppers turns golden brown). Serve with tomato salad or sour cream.