ArcaMax

Sometimes we all need a break from the holiday season. What with one party after another at work or school or friends' homes, lots of meals out in fine restaurants and endless supplies everywhere of cookies and candies, a moment probably comes when you or your loved ones say, "I've had enough! Can't we just enjoy a simple family-style meal at home tonight?"

That's when recipes for traditional, easy-to-make comfort foods come in handy. A meatloaf or a casserole, something simply thrown together and baked without much fuss, can be just the antidote to fancier meals.

At this time of year, my thoughts always turn to one of my dear late mother's specialties. Maria Puck was known far and wide, or at least all over our town and the surrounding region in southern Austria, for her stuffed peppers.

It's hard for me to analyze what made her version of this typical central European dish so delicious. There wasn't anything particularly special about the main ingredients -- just green bell peppers and a stuffing of meat or poultry, chopped vegetables and cooked rice.

But, like all of my mother's cooking and that of great home cooks everywhere, her version of the dish was distinguished by little things that made big differences. She always added a touch of sweetness to the filling by mixing in some chopped raisins -- not so much that they would call attention to themselves but just enough to highlight the other flavors. She did the same thing with the good tomato sauce in which the peppers baked, livening it up with hints of dried marjoram and Hungarian paprika. The subtle heat of the paprika, by the way, also nicely complemented the tart sweetness from the raisins.

It's those ways of cooking with the heart as much as the head that elevate an everyday dish into something you remember all your life, a recipe that I'm happy to share with you here. Make it for your family on a quiet night during the next few weeks, serving the peppers with boiled potatoes like my mother used to do.

And feel free to play with the recipe to make it your own, changing the seasonings as you like or even altering the kind of meat. At Spago, we sometimes even prepare the dish for our guests using fresh Mexican poblano chili peppers, the same variety used to make cheese-stuffed chiles rellenos, for slightly spicier results; just be sure to remove from inside the peppers all the white veins and seeds, the source of much of their heat.

Whatever variation you choose to make, as long as you do it with love, I'm sure Maria Puck would approve of your results.

CHICKEN-STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Serves 6

Tomato Sauce:

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons paprika

2 cups canned diced tomatoes

1 cup canned organic chicken broth

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon dried marjoram

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Stuffed Peppers:

2 organic chicken legs (drumsticks and thighs together)

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup diced onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 pound mushrooms, finely chopped

2 cups cooked long-grain rice

1/2 cup seedless raisins, coarsely chopped

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

6 large green bell peppers

Minced parsley, for garnish

First, prepare the Tomato Sauce.

Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute; add the paprika and sauté until it turns fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes, broth, sugar and marjoram. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture reaches a fluid sauce consistency, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and keep warm.

Next, prepare the Stuffed Peppers.

With your fingers and a small, sharp knife if necessary, carefully remove and discard the skin from the chicken legs. Carefully cut the meat from the bones, discarding the bones. Trim away any fat or gristle. Cut the meat into chunks, put them in a food processor with the stainless-steel blade, and pulse until the chicken is coarsely but evenly ground. Transfer to a large mixing bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

In a medium skillet, heat half of the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent, 2 to 3 minutes, stirring in the garlic during the last 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and continue to sauté, stirring occasionally, until their liquid evaporates, 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Stir the onion-mushroom mixture into the ground chicken. Add the rice, raisins, egg, parsley, thyme, cumin, salt and black pepper and stir until thoroughly combined. (To test the stuffing for seasoning, sauté a small spoonful in a little oil, taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rinse the peppers and wipe them dry. With a sharp knife, cut off the top 1 inch of each pepper, keeping the stem intact. Set these tops aside. Pull out the core and seeds from each pepper and brush the peppers inside and out with the remaining oil. Season the insides with salt and pepper.

Divide the filling equally among the peppers, filling them to the top without packing the stuffing. Replace the tops. Put the peppers in a baking dish just large enough to hold them comfortably upright with a little space around them. Spoon the tomato sauce around the peppers.

Bake until the peppers are tender and the filling is cooked through, about 1 hour. Use a large serving spoon to transfer the peppers to individual serving dishes, spooning the sauce around them. Garnish with parsley.