Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas

By Paul Briand

My wife Jane put this recipe together -- not for her and me, but for her daughter Kelsey and son-in-law Jeremy who had our granddaughter Rylin a few weeks ago.

Kelsey and Jeremy are still very much in new-baby mode, trying to get Rylin on a schedule of eating, sleeping, being awake. In the meantime, the new mom and dad’s meals are a bit catch-as-catch-can.

So the other day Jane spent the day cooking and this Easy Chicken & Cheese Enchiladas was one of the dishes, adapted from a recipe that was part of a Campbell’s soup ad in Relish magazine. Here it is online.

It received very high marks from Kelsey and Jeremy.

Ingredients
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup picante sauce or salsa
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 flour tortillas (6-inch), warmed
1 small tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 green onion, sliced (about 2 tablespoons)

Directions
1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Stir the soup, sour cream, picante sauce and chili powder in a medium bowl;
2. Stir 1 cup soup mixture, chicken and cheese in a large bowl;
3. Divide the chicken mixture among the tortillas;
4. Roll up the tortillas and place seam-side down in an 11 x 7 x 2-inch baking dish;
5. Pour the remaining soup mixture over the filled tortillas and cover the baking dish;
6. Bake for 40 minutes or until the enchiladas are hot and bubbling;
7. Top with the tomato and onion and serve.

Click here for recipe card.

Ricotta Cheese Crab Tortillas

By Paul Briand

My wife Jane alerted me to this recipe. As news editor for the Eagle-Tribune in North Andover, Mass., she had edited the copy for a story on healthy recipes that included this one for Ricotta Cheese Crab Tortillas.

We love crab, and I was intrigued by the combination of the crabmeat with the ricotta. It isn’t a hot dish, since a cool to room temperature filling is used in a pan toasted tortilla. I mentioned to Jane that you could almost cut up the tortillas into appetizer sized portions and serve this as an hors d’oeuver.

Since I bought a pound of lump crab and since this recipe called for half a pound, that left a half a pound of crab for me to make crab cakes the next night for dinner -- definitely, a win-win in my book.

Ingredients
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons finely chopped green onion
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon of each; salt and pepper
1/2 pound fresh crabmeat, drained and flaked
4 (8-inch) whole-wheat flour tortillas
Vegetable cooking spray
Salsa on the side

Directions
1. Combine first 6 ingredients in a small bowl and mix well;
2. Fold in crabmeat, set aside;
3. Place 1 tortilla in a non-stick skillet over medium high heat coated with cooking spray;
4. Spread some of the crab mixture over half of tortilla in skillet, leaving a 1/4-inch margin on sides;
5. Cook about 3 minutes or until underside of tortilla is golden brown.
6. Fold in half. Transfer to a serving platter, serve with salsa.
7. Repeat with remaining ingredients;
8. Serves four.

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Beef & Noodle Casserole

By Paul Briand

The shout out for this recipe goes to my stepdaughter Eileen who gave me a cookbook to me for Christmas.

The cookbook is a collection of recipes from people associated with the Dominion School for Autism in Richmond, Va., where Eileen recently worked as an aide.

This recipe, according to the text, comes from Dorothy Lucy in memory of Aunt Ruby.

Layered a bit like a lasagna, this casserole intrigued me with its combination of cream of mushroom soup and tomato sauce. My adaptation includes baking instead of microwaving, and I used low-salt soup and tomato sauce. In addition, I sauteed my vegetables.

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
2 cups tomato sauce
Green bell pepper chopped
Medium onion chopped
1 teaspoon ketchup
1 teaspoon steak sauce
18 ounce bag of egg noodles
1 can cream of mushroom soup
One bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions
1. In an large oiled skillet over medium high heat, sautee the pepper and onion until they start to become translucent;
2. Add the ground beef, break up and cook through, drain off fat;
3. Add tomato sauce, ketchup and steak sauce, stir through and keep warm on simmer;
4. Cook egg noodles according to package instructions;
5. Drain noodles, return to pot and mix the soup into the cooked noodles;
6. In a greased large casserole dish, add a layer of the noodles, then add a layer of the beef mixture, then another layer of noodles and the rest of the beef mixture;
7. Spring with the cheese;
8. Place the casserole into a oven pre-heated to 350 degrees and bake for about 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and starts to brown and the mixture starts to bubble.

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Late Night Pizza

By Zachary Penrod

The pizza pictured here is not my "best" pie, but rather my "fastest" pie.

It stemmed from a unanimous, but unforeseen need for pizza. This need arose after a fabulous night of celebrating Sara's birthday with friends, but unfortunately late night pizza is far less available in the suburbs. When the birthday girl wants pizza the birthday girl gets pizza...and so I sprang into action whipping up a quick pie in under 30 minutes.

This recipe for the dough is super quick because there is no yeast, and therefore no need to proof or rise the dough.  

The one in the picture was topped with a spicy pizza sauce, shredded mozzarella, pepperoni, and then some fresh mozzarella.  It wasn't my prettiest or most circular pie, but it definitely the fastest from start to finish.

Ingredients
1 cup flour
1 t baking powder
1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup corn meal
1 egg
Herbes de Provence
(Toppings of choice)

Directions
1. Heat oven to 425 degrees. If you are using a pizza stone (experienced pizza makers only), it should be in your oven to heat at the same time;
2. Mix all ingredients, except the corn meal and egg, in a bowl and stir vigorously until the dough pulls from the sides;
3. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes;
4.  Sprinkle the cornmeal liberally on your working surface and work the dough into a 13-inch  circle. You can use a roller or your knuckles, but this dough turns out better if it’s worked instead of stretched;
5. If you are an experienced pizza maker, place the pizza on your pizza paddle, cutting board, or the back of a cookie tray (you’ll need to slide from here to your pizza stone!).  If you’re a pizza novice you can make and cook the pizza on the flat side of a cookie tray to avoid the expert pizza sliding maneuver;
6. Beat the egg and brush it onto the outer inch of the pizza crust;
7. Sprinkle your herbes de provence on the egg covered crust.  You can also sprinkle some sea salt and cracked black pepper on the crust if you like.
8. Finish the pizza with your favorite combination of sauce, cheese and toppings;
9.  Experienced pizza makers can then transfer the pie onto the pizza stone with one swift sliding motion.  The novice crowd can simply place the pizza in the oven on the upside down cookie tray;
10. Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the pizza looks and smells done.

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Christmas cookies

By Paul Briand

In the spirit of the season, I wanted to offer up two

archived links to Christmas cookies recipes that have been in our family for a long, long time.

I don't bake, so I leave it to my Mom, my sister Margaret, and my sister Ella to meet the Christmas cookie need each year.

Here's a Bird's Nest Cookie recipe from Margaret.

And here's a Chocolate Crinkles recipe from Ella.

Both originated with my mother Marge.

Lemon Shrimp On Rice

By Paul Briand

One way or the other, I planned to do a shrimp recipe for this week.

And I had two in mind: This Lemon Shrimp On Rice, which came as part of a coupon book from the supermarket where I food shop; and a Puff Pastry-Wrapped Jumbo Shrimp recipe that I found cruising the web.

My wife Jane preferred the pastry-wrapped shrimp -- with its garlic and herb spread and bacon and buttery puff pastry.

I decided on the lemon shrimp for the simple reason of getting on on the scale Monday morning and not liking what I saw.

This is pretty simple and low fat, and I adapted it here from the original.

I’m sure I’ll get to the puff pastry shrimp recipe soon.

Ingredients

1 cup of your favorite rice (enough to make for four servings)

1 cup of low-sodium chicken broth

1 ¼ cup water

1 tablespoon butter (or olive oil)

2 cloves minced garlic

Red pepper flakes to taste (1/8 to ¼ teaspoon)

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 pound prepared cooked shrimp (the larger the better)

1 lemon, sliced

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Make sure the prepared shrimp is fully thawed, at room temperature and dry;

2. Cook the rice according to normal instructions, but bringing the cup of broth and the cup and a quarter of water to a boil;

3. Add the butter, garlic, red pepper and lemon zest, stir;

4. Add the rice, stir, cover and turn the heat to low;

5. Simmer rice the normal cooking time until done;

6. Stir in the shrimp and lemon slices;

7. Cover, remove from heat and let sit for three minutes;

8. Top mixture with cilantro and serve.

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Speedy Pasta In A Pan

By Paul Briand

I’m a news hound, and I have a variety of apps on my BlackBerry smartphone and my Apple iPod Touch to browse headlines and read stories.

I’m also a recipe hound. And there’s an app for that too: Foodily.

I’ve been using the Foodily app on my iPod Touch for a few weeks. Foodily compiles recipes, and, if you see one you like, it connects you to its original source. I recently connected with this recipe for Speedy Pasta In A Pan.

It worked out well, and gives me yet another source of recipes to satisfy my need to find something interesting, something fun to cook and eat at home.

Note: When it says use large skillet, use a very large skillet. You may even want to use a pot. This recipe creates a pretty good sized bulk of sauce, pasta and cheese.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 14-ounce can organic, diced tomatoes, undrained

1 tablespoon each chopped fresh basil and oregano

1 pound fresh or defrosted frozen cheese ravioli

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

3 cups tomato sauce, homemade or store-bought

8 slices fresh mozzarella, or 3 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions

1. Heat a large nonstick pan and drizzle in the olive oil. Over medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic until golden;

2. Add the diced tomatoes, basil, and oregano. Stir and simmer for 5 minutes;

3. Remove half the tomato mixture and set aside;

4. Top the tomatoes in the pot with a layer of uncooked ravioli, then a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, a cup of the tomato sauce, and the remaining tomato mixture;

5. Nestle the last raviolis into the pan, topping with the tomato sauce and the mozzarella;

6. Cover the pan with a lid or a layer of foil and simmer over low heat for 15 minutes;

7. Let the dish relax off the heat for a few minutes to let everything settle before serving.

Click here for recipe card.