Tamale Round-About

This is another Pampered Chef recipe that I got from a friend, I'm not sure which cookbook it is featured in. This recipe is very versatile, I've used leftover sloppy joe meat before and you could easily use leftover chili.

Tamale Round-About

Filling

2 1/2 cups cooked ground beef

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 jar (16 ounces) thick and chunky medium salsa

1/4 cup red or green bell pepper or combination of both, chopped

Corn Bread

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour (I use 1 cup all purpose and 1/2 cup whole wheat)

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4-1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cup milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup vegetable oil

4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)

sour cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Generously spray fluted or bundt pan with nonstick cooking spray. For filling, place ground beef in skillet. Sprinkle with seasonings. Stir in salsa. Cover over medium-low heat 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, chop bell pepper and sprinkle in bottom of pan.

3. For corn bread, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Add milk, eggs, and oil; stir until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in cheese.

4. Spread 1 1/2 cups batter evenly over peppers in pan. Top with filling and remaining batter, spreading evenly.

5. Bake 35-40 minutes or until top is lightly browned. Loosen corn bread from edge and center of pan with knife. Invert onto serving plate. Slice into 16 wedges. Serve with sour cream if desired.

Yield: 8 servings

Fruit-Topped Triple Chocolate Pizza

In honor of Valentine's Day, I wanted to share a perfect dessert recipe to make for your Valentine. This recipe comes from Pampered Chef's "All the Best" cookbook. It's a relatively easy dessert that you could prepare in stages to make it more convenient. Also, feel free to try different fruits with this recipe. The original recipe calls for strawberries and oranges but I've never been a fan of oranges and chocolate. I think you could easily substitute raspberries for the strawberries.

Fruit-Topped Triple Chocolate Pizza

1 package (18 ounce) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

2 squares (1 ounce each) white chocolate for baking

2 tablespoons milk

1 package (8 ounce) cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup thawed, frozen whipped topping

12-16 strawberries, cut in half

1 can (11 ounces) mandarin orange segments, well drained

1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape cookie dough into a ball and place in center of a large round stone. Using lightly floured rolling pin, roll dough to a 12-inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick. Bake 12-15 minutes or until edges are set. (Cookie will be soft. Do not overbake.) Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes. Carefully loosen cookie from baking stone using a serrated bread knife; cool completely on baking stone.

2. Place white chocolate and milk in small microwavable bowl. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute; still until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. Microwave an additional 10-20 seconds if necessary. Cool slightly. In another bowl, combine cream cheese and powdered sugar; mix well. Gradually stir in white chocolate mixture; mix until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over cookie. 

3 Arrange fruit over cream cheese mixture. Place chocolate morsels and vegetable oil in small microwavable bowl. Microwave, uncovered, on HIGH 30 seconds or until chocolate is melted and smooth. Drizzle over fruit. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes. Cut into wedges.

Yield: 16 servings

Bistro Chicken Twist

This recipe comes from The Pampered Chef All the Best cookbook. I highly recommend this cookbook since it has a nice variety of recipes & shows creative ways to "shape" your food. If you're familiar with Pampered Chef recipes, then you're probably already aware that they have recipes that shape your main dish into a ring, wreath, or braid. This cookbook shows all 3 shapes & a variety of ways to use them.

Bistro Chicken Twist

1 cup chopped cooked chicken (as always, I threw some frozen chicken breast in the crock pot the night before)

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper (I had frozen leftover from the garden & used that rather than buying fresh in the middle of winter)

1/4 cup snipped fresh basil leaves

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup mayonnaise (I used low fat & it worked fine)

1 garlic clove, pressed (I use minced garlic in a jar, either works)

2 packages (11 ounces each) refrigerated French bread dough (I made 2 braids, the other I used dough made in my bread machine, it worked pretty well)

1 egg white, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 375. Combine chicken, bell pepper, basil, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, mayonnaise and garlic; mix well. I let mine sit covered over night in the refrigerator so that it wouldn't take as much time to make the next day, it worked very well doing this.

Place bread dough, seam sides up, on cutting board. Using a serrated knife, slice each loaf lengthwise, end to end, cutting halfway through to center of loaf; spread open flat. Lightly sprinkle flour evenly over dough. Roll dough crosswise to a 4-inch width, creating a well down the center of each loaf.

Spoon half of the mixture of the chicken down the center of each loaf. (see picture below) Gather up edges over filling, pinching firmly to seal. Place loaves, seam sides down, in an "X" pattern on baking sheet. Crisscross ends of dough to form a large figure "8," keeping ends of dough 1 inch from edge of baking sheet and leaving two 1 1/2-inch openings in center of twist.

Combine egg white and seasoning mix; lightly brush over dough. Cut 3-inch slit in each of the top sections of the twist to reveal filling. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese over loaf.

Bake 30-32 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes.

Yield: 8-10 servings.

Variation: Pepperoni Pizza Twist

For filling, combine 1 package (3.5 ounces) pepperoni slices, diced

1 can (3.25 ounces) pitted ripe olives, drained & chopped

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 pressed garlic clove

Continue as recipe above directs starting with cutting the French bread. Sprinkle the loaf with 2 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese before baking.