Lead Belly

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Wash potatoes and prick with a fork. Place in oven to bake for 1 hour, or until they can be squeezed relatively easily and sticking a fork in them is easy.

While potatoes are baking, season steaks with salt & pepper (to taste), and minced garlic. Either grill outside, broil, or sear in a cast iron pan until medium-rare (about 3-5 minutes per side). Cook longer if you prefer them more well done. Slice steaks into 1/2 strips across the grain and then cut into bite size pieces. Set aside.

Dice bell pepper and onion, and saute in a skillet briefly (just until slightly softened).

When potatoes are done baking, remove from oven and allow to cool until you can handle them easily. Reduce oven to 350 degrees. Slice potatoes in half and scoop out the insides into a bowl. (Discard skins, or do something creative with them, or if you are feeling more ambitious than me you can set them aside and turn this into twice baked potatoes, rather than a casserole).

Mash the potatoes up with the sour cream and butter. (Feel free to add more/less sour cream and butter – as long as it tastes good to you!).

Add the steak, veggies, and 1/2 cup of the cheese to the potatoes and mix. Spread out mixture in a baking dish and top with the remaining cheese. Add more cheese if you want, I always do. Taste a spoonful of the mixture to make sure the seasonings meet your requirements. Add more of whatever you want (salt, pepper, sour cream, garlic, butter, whatever).

Bake in the oven until cheese is melted, the top is starting to brown and hopefully things are bubbling.

Devour it and then feel guilty. Lay on the couch and rub your belly. Fall asleep while watching TV.