Cajun Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients

• ½ lb ground beef
• ½ lb ground pork
• 3 C cooked rice (1 C raw)
• 4 bell peppers
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes
• 1½ C spicy Bloody Mary mix
• 1½ tsp salt
• ¾ tsp black pepper
• Cajun seasoning and Tabasco to taste
• 2 tbs of bacon fat or vegetable oil

Directions

1. Prepare the bell peppers by cutting the tops and removing the stem and seeds. Using a spoon, carefully scrape out the rest of the seeds and membranes and set aside.
2. Cook the rice in a rice cooker and reserve for later use.
3. Brown the meats in 2 tbs of bacon fat in a large pan, adding Cajun seasoning to taste. Any other oil will do if you don't have bacon fat.
4. When they have browned, remove the meat to a bowl and add the vegetables.
5. When the vegetables have sweated down and picked up some color from the bottom of the pan, add the Rotel tomatoes and the salt and pepper cook for a couple of minutes.
6. Add the meat back to the pan and cook with the vegetables until almost all of the liquid has evaporated.
7. Remove from the heat and add the cooked rice, combining well.
8. Stuff the meat and rice mixture into the reserved bell peppers and place them in an ungreased gratin dish to which you have added 1½ C of the spicy Bloody Mary mixture.
9. Put the gratin dish on a cookie sheet and bake @350° for 30 minutes. Baste the peppers with the Bloody Mary mixture and put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes.
10. Remove to a warm serving platter and drizzle the sauce from the gratin dish on top