Stuffed Cheese & Jalapeno Chicken Burgers

By Paul Briand

Full disclosure: This is a rip-off.

I borrowed -- stole? -- this idea from Burger King and its Stuffed Steakhouse Burger.

But I put a healthy less caloric, less saturated fat spin on this burger that is stuffed with cheddar cheese and jalapeno peppers.

Instead of ground beef, I used ground chicken. I used low-fact cheese. And instead of your typical hamburger bun, I used whole wheat, whole grain deli thins.

Ingredients

4 pre-packaged ground chicken patties

¼ cup crumbled cheese from block of low-fat cheddar

Jalapeno peppers to taste

4 whole grain/whole wheat deli thins

Directions

1. Place the chicken patties in a medium size bowl and add the crumbled cheese and peppers (as many as your palate can handle);

2. Mix all the ingredients together, much as you would a meatloaf;

3. Form the mixture into equally sized patties and place into a large skillet over medium high heat;

4. Cook the patties as you would a hamburger, making sure it is completely cooked through;

5. Serve the patties on toasted deli thins with tomato slices and Romain lettuce and your favorite among the mustard, ketchup and relish genres.

Print recipe card here.

Southwest White Chicken Chili

By Paul Briand

Just one more chili recipe then I’ll back off this riff I started last week.

I stumbled onto this one while reading Parade magazine in my Sunday newspaper. The recipe was part of an ad for Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup.

My biggest problem with can of soup recipes is that canned soup has way too much sodium.

Campbell’s and others are trying to introduce products with less salt and with less fat, and good for them.

The cream of chicken soup in this recipe comes in the low-fat version, which I did find on my grocer’s shelf.

A couple of other notes: I added roasted red peppers and some red kidney beans to give the dish more color. Yes, there is “white” in the recipe name but it was a little too pale for my liking..

You can find this and other Campbell soup recipes at campbellskitchen.com.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound), cut into cubes

4 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 medium green pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

3/4 cup water

1 1/2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

2 cans (about 15 ounces each) white kidney beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat;

2. Add the chicken, chili powder, cumin, onion and pepper and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, stirring often;

3. Stir the soup, water, corn and beans in the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low;

4. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally;

5. Sprinkle with the cheese and serve.

Print a recipe card here.

Italian Chili One-Pot

By Paul Briand

Can you have too many recipes for chili?

I say no.

Chili, for me, is one of those comfort foods I will return to time and again, and in my book it's OK to tweak a favorite recipe or even create a stockpile of different recipes.

I think the same is true for spaghetti sauce and for meatloaf.

This Italian version on the theme is from one of my tried-and-trues, Rachael Ray.

A couple of note on my approach to this recipe. I didn't use the chili peppers out of respect for my wife, Jane, who is slowly warming up to spicier food. And the 3 cups of stock called for in Ray's recipe seemed like a lot as I was cooking. I used maybe a little more than a cup.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/4 pound pancetta, diced, optional

About 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, a scant palmful

2 pounds ground beef or ground pork or beef and pork combined

Salt and pepper

2 red cherry chili peppers or red Fresno chili peppers, sliced or seeded and chopped

1 onion, chopped

3 to 4 cloves garlic, chopped

About 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 28-ounce can cannellini beans or chickpeas, drained

1/4 cup tomato paste

1 cup dry wine, red or white or 1 cup Italian beer

3 cups beef stock for beef-only chili or chicken stock for pork chili or beef and pork combined

Optional Accompaniments:

Shredded provolone cheese

Shredded basil

Finely chopped raw onion

Directions

1. Heat the oil in pot over medium-high heat;

2. Add pancetta, if using, brown to crisp then add fennel seeds;

3. Add meat, brown and crumble, and season with salt and pepper;

4. Once the meat is browned well, add chili peppers, onions, garlic, fresh or dried oregano and cook until onions are translucent, 8-10 minutes more;

5. Add beans and stir in tomato paste. Cook 1 minute until fragrant, then add wine or beer;

6. Let the liquid cook down then stir in stock. Simmer to combine flavors;

7. Serve in bowls topped with cheese and basil or chopped onion.

Print recipe card here.

Lemon Chicken

By Paul Briand

Here's another recipe from Penzeys Spices, which I introduced last week from my recent holiday travels that included a stay in Richmond, VA.

This is a very quick, very simple dish that yields a lot of flavor.

Ingredients

2 6-ounce chicken breasts, butterflied and pounded thin

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 lemons, one for juice, one sliced for garnish

1 cup chicken broth or stock

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

2 tablespoons butter

Directions

1. In a wide shallow dish or bowl, combine the flour, pepper and paprika. Lightly dredge the chicken in the mixture and shake off excess;

2. In a large skillet with the oil over medium-high heat, saute the chicken until brown, about 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken to serving platter;

3. Add the broth (or stock) and juice of a lemon to the skillet and reduce the sauce by half, about 5 minutes;

4. Stir in parsley and butter;

5. When butter has melted, pour the sauce over the chicken, garish with lemon slices and serve.

The recipe is easily doubled or tripled, depending on the size of the crowd you want to feed.

Print recipe card here.

Beef and Broccoli

By Paul Briand

As part of our holiday travels, my wife Jane and I visited Jane's daughter in Richmond, VA, and during a walking tour of one of the neighborhoods we stepped into a Penzeys Spices shop.

I hadn't heard of the store, but there are shops throughout the country, according to the web site.

What I liked about the store was the aroma. You can imagine that a spice shop would be an assault on the sense of smell, but it wasn't overwhelming. Frankly, it made me hungry.

The other thing I liked about the store was the offer of all kinds of recipes to go along with various spices from Penzeys, including some unique blends for specific purposes. This recipe, for example, called for Chicago Steak Seasoning from Penzeys.

I helped myself to the recipes, but didn't buy any spice. I really had enough of what I need in my pantry. So I adapted the recipe without the Penzeys spice.

Ingredients

2 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 cup rice vinegar

1/2 cup canola oil

2 teaspoons of a base Italian dressing of vinegar and oil

1 teaspoons garlic powder

3 cups spinach

3 cups mixed greens

1 red bell pepper thinly sliced

1/2 cup shredded carrots

1 pound sirloin steak

Pepper, salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 cups chopped broccoli

Directions

1. Put the soy sauce, rice vinegar canola oil, vinegar/oil, and garlic in a cruet or jar with a lid. Shake well and set aside;

2. In a large salad bowl, toss the spinach, mixed greens, pepper and carrot with the dressing (saving 2 tablespoons). Place on a large platter;

3. Season the meat with salt and pepper and cut into thin slices;

4. Add olive oil to a wok or large saucepan to high heat and, when oil it hot, add the steak and cook for 3 minutes until brown, stirring regularly;

5. Add the broccoli and the remaining dressing and cook for 2 or 3 minutes;

6. Top the greens with the prepared beef and broccoli. Serves four.

Print recipe card here.

Simon & Garfunkel Rub Turkey

By Paul Briand

This is a simple way to add color and taste your Christmas turkey.

I call it the Simon & Garfunkel rub because the ingredients used here are parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.

Yes, from the S & G 1966 album "Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme" and from the song, "Scarborough Fair/Canticle":

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?

Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme,

Remember me to one who lives there,

She once was a true love of mine.

At any rate, just take a couple of teaspoons of each (with a sprinkle of garlic powder and some salt and pepper) mix it all together in a bowl then rub the entire chicken -- inside and out -- with the mixture. Get some of the rub under the skin too.

As a spokeswoman for the McCormick spice company said to the Associated Press, in a story about seasoning turkey, "Your big three are sage, thyme and rosemary. They work well together so you get a nice balanced flavor."

With the rub inside the turkey, the herbs will drip into your stuffing, if you are an in-the-bird-stuffing kind of person, which I am.

The bird will have nice coloring and great taste.

Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

By Paul Briand

I picked up this recipe from the Associated Press feed on my Blackberry. The idea here is to create a cheese-stuffed chicken dish that may sound like a diet buster, according to the AP article, but isn't.

In fact the nutrition information for this recipe puts a serving at only 296 calories -- hard to believe since it contains three different kinds of cheeses, primarily cheddar and Gorgonzola. The calorie offset comes from the fact that the high impact Gorgonzola is countered with a reduced-fat cheddar with a little Parmesan cheese thrown in for good measure.

Ingredients

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained of excess water

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 ounce shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

1 ounce crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat

1/3 cup seasoned Italian-style breadcrumbs

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 large white egg whites

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees;

2. In medium skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 teaspoon of the olive oil followed by the onion and garlic. Saute until translucent, about 5 to 7 minutes;

3. Add the spinach and Italian seasoning, then cook until all the liquid has evaporated;

4. Mix in both cheeses, set aside;

5. One at a time, lay each chicken breast flat on a cutting board. Use a paring knife to make a horizontal slit along one side to create a pocket (do not cut all the way through);

6. Place a quarter of the cheese mixture into the pocket, then press the meat over it. Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken;

7. In shallow dish or pie plate, mix the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper. In other bowl, light beat the egg whites with a fork;

8. Holding the stuffed breast together, dip in egg whites then roll in the breadcrumbs. Repeat with remaining breasts and set aside;

9. In large ovenproof skillet over high heat, add remaining oil and add the chicken. Cook until browned on one side, about 2 minutes;

10. Turn breasts over and place the skillet in the oven. Bake until chicken is no longer pink at the center, about 20 minutes.

Click here for recipe card.