Stuffed Monster Heads

Originally published in frighteningly good newspapers on October 25, 2007

I really love Halloween and not in a sacrifice a goat and worship-the-Dark-Lord-sort of way. My connection with Halloween, of course, begins with childhood. I have very vivid memories of our home in October - decorated with spiders, pumpkins, and skeletons. Halloween’s magical incantation lasted for me until I was about 10 or 11.

In late high school and early college I regain interest for another reason. When girls go with guys to a haunted house or watch a scary movie the guy has two things in mind: (a) darkness and (b) what he hopes is a stereotypical female response to fear - need for hugging, hand holding, and other types of comforting that requires physical contact.

I tried this on a number of occasions. It only worked once - October 31, 1986 - my date and I walked in the front door of a haunted house as brand new “friends” and we exited the back door holding hands. We got married 26 months later and I’ve not been to another haunted house since then.

After that I didn’t pay much attention to Halloween until we had kids. We now spend weeks thinking about the perfect costume, we decorate our house, and the anticipation of Halloween night is nearly as intense as that of Christmas morning. Once again, I really love Halloween. I’ve got about ten more years for this phase of my Halloween life. I’m sure there will then be a lull and then it will become interesting to me again for another reason - maybe grandkids.

We try to find lots of opportunities for Halloween-related fun in October kid-friendly spooky movies nights and some creative fun at meal time leading up to the big night. We have Halloween cookie cutters and use these for much more than cookies. A PB&J in the shape of a bat is a fun Saturday afternoon lunch. This year for dinner one night I made Stuffed Monster Heads which are really just stuffed peppers but with some creative use of olives for eyes and some other tricks, these turned out to be a big hit with our boys. Here is the recipe.

Stuffed Monster Heads

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 16-ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup instant brown rice
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 6 medium green peppers
• 1 medium red pepper
• 12 pimento-stuffed green olives
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Filling
The filling for these peppers can be made a day ahead. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the hamburger and onion. Drain off any fat and then stir into the meat and onions the tomatoes, water, rice, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, and salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for about 15 minutes.

Peppers
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and on the stove top, bring a stock pot of water to a boil. Wash all peppers and then cut the tops off of each of the green peppers and remove the seeds and white membranes. Take the red pepper and use it to cut small shapes for what will be the mouths of the monsters. You can make two fangs for each mouth, a silly tongue or some other shape that comes to mind. You will need enough for six monster mouths. These should be on the long side because you will need to tuck them into a slot. You can also reserve the pepper stems and some of the tops you cut off to use for ears.

Place the six green peppers and the red parts in the boiling water and boil for three minutes. Remove, drain, and stuff with meat filling. On each pepper, use a paring knife to cut wholes for eyes. Holes should be slightly smaller than the green olives, poke holes for a nose and make a slit for a mouth. Push an olive into each eye hole so that the red pimento is facing out. Top each pepper with shredded cheese and put on a baking pan to bake for 30 minutes. Also put all the mouth parts and ear parts on the baking sheet to bake. Remove from the oven and put mouth and ear parts in place. Serve with mashed potatoes and a green vegetable.

Comments

[nora]

I love the Haunted House story!