CHECKOUT By Laurin Stamm

From The Kitchen of The Cypress House, Sept. 20, 1978

The green pepper plants in our backyard “pot garden” are almost as prolific as the tomato plants. So with three or four fresh peppers a day coming in the kitchen, I look for ways to use them. Stuffed bell peppers are a favorite with ham, shrimp, ground beef or just leftovers. Another favorite recipe is one Dot Steen and I found several years ago in a Cecily Brownstone column. We worked with it, modified it slightly and came out with a main dish you can’t beat.

While green peppers are plentiful, why not give it a try.

Steak and Green Peppers 1 small round steak2 teaspoons cornstarch1 teaspoon ground ginger1 teaspoon sugar3 tablespoons soy sauce3 tablespoons sherry1/4 cup oil4 large green peppers, seeded and cut into strips3 or 4 green onions, sliced1/2 can beef consomme

Place the round steak in the freezer until partially frozen, about 45 minutes. Trim off any excess surface fat and slice the steak on an angle into very thin crosswise slices. (The freezing makes this easy.)

In a mixing bowl, stir together the cornstarch, ginger, soy sauce and sherry until smooth. Mix in the meat. Let the meat marinate 20 to 30 minutes.

In a wok or a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat. Saute the peppers and onions, and remove from the pan

Add the meat and cook and stir until the meat loses its red color. Add the consomme and let cook covered until tender. (This will depend on the kind of meat and the size of your strips; the more tender the cut the less cooking time.)

When the meat is tender, add the peppers and onions. Heat thoroughly and serve over hot rice. Add extra soy sauce if needed. Serves 5 or 6 people.

P.S. The Cypress House garden is still loaded with green peppers this summer 2008, but no longer in pots.

In early December of 1977, food editor Laurin Stamm began a weekly recipe column titled “From the Kitchen of The Cypress House.” The column ran continuously through November of 2000, featuring one or two recipes each week, and totaling more than 1,150 recipes over the 23 years.

Checkout, a current weekly column that features various food stories, events and recipes, today begins to look back at some of the most popular recipes from The Kitchen of the Cypress House, and perhaps a newly discovered one every now and then.