It’s always fun to find a “new” way of serving a classic in a hundred-year-old cookbook. I recently was browsing through an old cookbook and found a recipe for Green Peppers Stuffed with Fish. Of course, I had to give it a try.
The Green Peppers Stuffed with Fish were delightful. The tender and flavorful peppers balanced nicely with the mild, delicate taste of the fish. (I used flounder.)
Here’s the original recipe:
And, here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Green Peppers Stuffed with Fish
3-4 medium peppers (The number of peppers needed will vary depending upon size. Green peppers must have been very small a hundred years ago. The amount of stuffing would not come even close to stuffing 8 modern “good-sized” peppers.)
2 cups cooked halibut or other white fish, flaked (I bought 1 pound of frozen flounder, baked it, and then flaked it. It made approximately 2 cups.)
1 1/2 tablespoons butter + approximately 1 teaspoon butter for bread crumb topping
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut thin slice from stem end of each pepper. Remove all seeds and membranes. Wash inside and out. Put peppers in a large sauce pan; cover with water. Bring to a boil. Cook peppers for 5 minutes; drain.
In meantime, melt 1 1/2 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Stir flour, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce into melted butter. Slowly pour in milk and bring to a boil over medium heat while stirring constantly. Place a small amount (approximately 1 – 2 tablespoons) of the hot white sauce mixture into dish with beaten egg, stir quickly. Then add egg mixture to the remaining white sauce, and cook for two minutes using medium heat. Stir in the flaked fish and continue cooking until the mixture is hot.
Lightly stuff each pepper with the fish mixture. Stand peppers upright in ungreased baking dish. Top the fish mixture with bread crumbs and small dabs of butter. Cook until the bread crumbs are lightly browned and the stuffing is very hot (20-30 minutes).
A Hundred Years Ago 
What a great combination.
It’s a very nice combination.
That sounds delicious. I never would have thought to mix fish with peppers like this!
Until I saw the old recipe, I also had never thought of it. 🙂
Never in my life would I have thought to stuff peppers with fish. Now I’m thinking: what about shrimp — especially shrimp done up with onion and celery? With the bell pepper to complete the “Cajun trinity,” and some Cajun spices, it would be a fabulous dish.
mmm. . . Cajun Trinity sounds awesome. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that you decide to make it and report back how it turned out. 🙂
It sounds good to me, too. As soon as I can put my hands on some fresh shrimp, I’ll make it. Right now shrimp are a little hard to come by because of all the fresh water in the bays. Wherever they’ve gone, they aren’t here. But they’ll be back, probably sooner rather than later.
Yum I love fish and this is a great idea
If you like fish, I think that you’d like this recipe.
I saved it and going to try it. I have only had stuffed peppers once and loved them
What a delicious recipe……..loved it 🙂
It’s nice to hear that you enjoyed this post.
Would never have thought up this combo – yum
One thing that I enjoy about old recipes is that sometimes they combine ingredients (or use processes) that work well, but that are different from what is found in modern cookbooks.
Another one forwarded …
It’s always wonderful to hear when I post a recipe that you think sounds good enough to forward.
And they used Worcestershire sauce … hundred years ago …. that was of interest,so I googled it . In 1835 Lea & Perrins started making Worcestershire sauce. 🙂 This recipe sounds delicious! And one I’ve never made or even close too it. 👏😀
Wow, it’s amazing how long ago they starting making Worcestershire sauce. I never should have guessed that it’s been around for the better part of two centuries.
I love stuffed peppers and would never have thought to use fish! I am totally going to give this a try! 🙂
I think that you’ll like it.
Oh my. I like stuffed peppers but stuffed peppers with fish are something I’m not too sure about. I suspect I’d have a hard time getting the family to try it too. . .
This probably isn’t the recipe for you. 🙂
What a curious combo. I’m glad it turned out tasty.
I think that I may have previously had slices of sauted peppers served on top of a piece of fish, but if I hadn’t seen this recipe I never would have thought of stuffing a green pepper with fish.
I love stuffed peppers but I’ve never tried stuffing them with fish. Can I use some other kind of fish, like mackerel?
The old recipe called for “halibut or other white fish.” I don’t think that mackerel is considered a white fish, but it still might be good.
Oh, that’s an interesting combination, sounds pretty good, too!
The green pepper and fish work well together.
Sounds good and it has to be healthy, too! I’m thinking about trying it with tilapia. I remember my grandmother growing green peppers and they were about half the size of what we buy in the grocery stores now.
I think that tilapia would work well in this recipe. I also have vague memories of green peppers being much smaller years ago. These days it seems like even the green peppers sold at farmers’ markets are huge.
That is an interesting combo. I make stuffed bell peppers with chicken, corn, black beans, cheese, and sometimes tomatoes and cilantro. I would never have thought to use fish!
Mmm. . . the ingredients you use when stuffing peppers sound wonderful.
I love this!