By Andy Bedwell
Enjoy these vegetable recipes fresh from the garden.
Stuffed Bell Pepper
1 onion, chopped
Large bell peppers (as many as you want to cook)
Block of extra sharp
cheddar cheese
Cracker crumbs
Mayonnaise
Cut large bell peppers in half, remove seeds and rinse. Boil until tender. Drain and cool. In a large bowl, grate extra sharp cheese, and add as much cracker crumbs as you have grated cheese. Mix cheese and cracker crumbs together. Add finely chopped bell pepper and onions. Then add enough mayonnaise to hold all of this together. Stuff peppers with mixture and bake at 350 degrees until brown on top and bubbly around the edges. I also add chopped red pepper for the color and have sometimes added a little pimento out of a jar.
Andy’s Note: As many cookbooks that I have had in my 79 years, which has been thousands, I have never seen this recipe. My mother created this recipe many years ago and it is absolutely delicious. I challenge all of you good cooks to try this recipe. Mother and I would freeze as many as we could in aluminum pie pans.
Ripe Tomato Relish
20 red ripe tomatoes
7 hot peppers
4 large onions
2 1/2 tablespoons salt
3 cups vinegar
2 cups sugar
Finely chop vegetables and mix together before cooking for three hours or until thick. You must simmer on low heat or it will scorch on the bottom. After this relish sits on my counter for 24 hours in pint jars, I place them in my freezer.
Andy’s Note: Every time that I make this, I think of my uncle, Henry McCleskey. He loved this relish better than anything. He said that he would just eat a little at the time so that it would last longer.
Happy cooking!
Southern Cooking with Andy Bedwell” can be purchased at Alabama Gift Company in downtown Gadsden and The Messenger on Rainbow Drive.
