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Mexican Stuffed Peppers

A dish of roasted sweet green peppers filled with a veal and vegetable mixture, simmered with tomatoes, okra, celery, onions, parsley, paprika, and cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the peppers

  1. Wipe the peppers thoroughly.

  2. Place the peppers on a baking sheet in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

  3. Roast the peppers for about 15 minutes.

  4. Turn the peppers until the skins blister.

  5. Remove the peppers from the oven.

  6. Skin the peppers quickly.

  7. Cut the peppers down one side.

  8. Remove the seeds.

  9. Rinse the peppers in cold water.

  10. Dry the peppers inside and out with a soft cloth.

  11. Refrigerate the peppers overnight.

Cook the veal and filling

  1. Boil the veal steak in 1 quart of water until tender, ensuring the liquid does not reduce by more than a pint.

  2. Let the meat sit in the liquid overnight.

  3. Remove the meat from the liquid.

  4. Chop the meat very finely.

  5. Combine the liquid and chopped veal in a large skillet.

  6. Peel the tomatoes.

  7. Remove the seeds from the tomatoes.

  8. Set the tomatoes aside.

  9. Chop the remaining peppers, celery, okra, onions or chives, and parsley.

  10. Add the tomatoes to the chopped vegetables.

  11. Chop the mixture finely.

  12. Add the mixture to the meat.

  13. Add the stock liquid to the skillet.

  14. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring carefully.

  15. Add butter, paprika, salt, and black pepper.

  16. Continue boiling while stirring until thickened.

  17. Stir in flour and cream until very thick.

Chill the mixture

  1. Transfer the mixture to a bowl.

  2. Refrigerate until the next morning, achieving a consistency similar to chicken croquette mixture.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  2. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Okra + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together206 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Tomato + okratop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together327 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Okra + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together715 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Veal steak
Provides the main meaty body of the filling, becoming tender when boiled and finely chopped.
Flour
Thickens the filling so it becomes very thick and holds its shape.
Cream
Adds richness and moisture, softening the thickened filling.
Tomatoes
Contribute moisture and acidity to the filling.
Okra
Adds body and helps thicken the filling as it cooks.

The step that matters

Stir in flour and cream until very thick. Flour must be fully incorporated while stirring so it thickens evenly without lumps; stirring keeps the starch dispersed and prevents scorching on the skillet base.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, veal, tomato, celery, okra, parsley, flour):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, veal, tomato, celery, okra, parsley, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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