About two years ago I made vegetarian Potato String Crusted Chipotle Rice Jalapeños. They sort became famous…….. Here is a similar meal kind of variation of the appetizer I made before. I get inspired sometimes by what I have at home. We just ground up a big batch of beef because I don’t eat grocery store ground beef.  I portion the beef into burgers and make other things with the rest. I had a bunch of Anaheim Peppers (mild – medium heat pepper) and Potatoes so here is Potato String Crusted Spicy Mexi- Style Beef Stuffed Anaheim Peppers. I note the amount of peppers and potatoes you need for this recipe will differ because I doubt the peppers and potatoes are the same exact size. I got 17 stuffed peppers from this recipe and some were bigger than others. You might want to use a bigger ones for dinner and the smaller ones for lunch. I KNOW the pepper and filling will freeze well but I’m not sure about the potato strings.  I wouldn’t recommend doing this recipe unless you have some sort of machine where you can make potato strings or you will go crazy trying to make them. You also need to know that you will have LOTS of extra potato strings because many of the strings will be too short to wrap around the peppers so you have to put them in a bowl of cold water and do something else with them. I didn’t write down exactly what I did but I saved the extra strings (drained them), added a ziplock bag of shredded cheese (pepper jack, sharp & extra sharp cheddar) 1/4 diced onion and three leftover Anaheim peppers chopped up and one egg to hold it together. I pressed the mixture into a sheet pan sprayed with non stick spray and it went into a 400 degree F oven for a half hour. It got nice and very brown. I put it in the refrigerator and the next day I cut the potato mixture in 8ths and brown side down and again in a 400 degree f oven for a half hour. Salt and pepper the tops. They came out just like they were fried. My husband was really excited to eat them. He said they are like McDonald’s hash browns if McDonald’s was good……..Oh and by the way the Potato String Crusted Spicy Mexi-Style Stuffed Anaheim Peppers are pretty awesome. That’s a fact…They are full of flavors and the filling is moist but not mushy and perfect! You can even make them without the potato string to save you a lot of work…(I won’t tell).

Ingredients for up to 17 servings

2 lbs ground beef (mine was a blend of brisket, chuck and rib about equal portions)

4 large eggs – slightly beaten

3/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons course sea salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

1/4 sweet onion – chopped fine

1 Tablespoon cumin

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne

3/4 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup masa flour -essential for that just right taste

1 cup cooked white rice

1 cup cooked corn kernels

2 chipotle peppers in adobo – chop fine and add some adobo sauce (like a teaspoon)

3/4 cup scallions – chopped

1 carrot – peeled and shredded

1 teaspoon ground annatto (also called achiote molido)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro – chopped

17 Anaheim Chile Peppers (you might need less or more depending on size)- lightly roasted – about 1/2 roasted

5 large baking potatoes (you might need less or more depending on size)

Non Stick Spray – canola or vegetable – or you can use a neutral oil

fresh ground sea salt to taste for finish

fresh ground black pepper to taste for finish

Directions

If you didn’t already start roasting your peppers do that now. You want them only about half roasted because they will finish cooking latter when you bake them. I put them in a big zip lock bag after I roasted them. Put them to the side.

In a big mixing bowl combine the eggs, waster, salt, pepper, onion, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, panko, masa, rice, corn, chipotle peppers and sauce, scallions, carrot, ground annatto. Mix well. Now add beef and mix well. Add cilantro and mix again.

Set your oven to 350 degrees F.

Make a split in a pepper. Remove the cluster of seeds by the stem. Next with a teaspoon fill up the pepper the meat mixture. Repeat till you are out of meat.

Now make your potato strings. This sort of machine works better than any other I tried. Put a towel or something under the machine unless you want a big wet mess on your counter.

Wrap a small handful of strings around a pepper and put peppers on a baking sheet sprayed with non stick spray. Repeat till down leaving a little space between the peppers. Repeat till down.

Spray the tops of the potatoes lightly with either oil or non-stick spray and place the pans in a 350 degree oven for half an hour. After half an hour TURN UP THE OVEN TO 400 degrees F. Make sure you have the top rack filled and after 15 minutes the top rack should be brown. Remove when brown and add other pans to top rack for 15 minutes to brown. Top with fresh crushed sea salt and black pepper to taste.

It comes out like this and yes it’s Delicious!

If you do what I suggested with the leftover strings it will come out like this.

A Forking Good very original recipe by me!