The Last Recipe

For the philly cooking creme contest, that is! I had intended on submitting three recipes this week but life being what it is only permitted me enough free time to submit one. It was a good one though! I didn't even have to go out and buy much to make it since most of the ingredients I generally keep on hand. Hope you like it! The winners will be announced some time this week so I am keeping my fingers crossed. I sure could use the cash prize!

Black Bean Green Chili Casserole



1-2 pound(s) of chopped pork tenderloin (can sub ground pork, beef or turkey)
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 tbsp. of chopped garlic
1 can black beans with cumin and chili spices (Kuner's)
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies (RoTel)
1 cup(s) of salsa verde
3 large flour tortillas
10 ounce(s) of philadelphia cooking creme, santa fe blend
2 cup(s) of cheddar cheese, shredded

1. saute meat, onions and garlic until browned, drain if necessary
2. add beans, tomatoes and salsa verde to pan, stir and heat through
3. Transfer meat mixture to casserole dish
4. spread cooking creme on half of each tortilla, fold tortilla in half and cut into quarters
5. layer tortilla quarters on top of casserole to cover
6. top casserole with cheddar cheese
7. bake at 350 for 45 minutes
serve hot and enjoy.

Casserole will be soupy so have plenty of extra tortillas on hand for sopping up the liquid! Delicious!

Original Cooking Creme Submission 2

Well, the philly cooking creme is finally available in stores around here, which gives me the ability to make even more submissions to the cooking creme contest and to play around more with my ingredients. The drawback! I have TONS of leftovers in my fridge! Husband and I can only eat so much! LOL! This week was exhausting so I decided to keep things simple with a quick and easy bean dip recipe. As soon as I was done making it, husband stole the bowl and headed to the living room to watch football with a bag of tortilla chips. I guess it's safe to say he liked it! LOL!

Easy Cheesy Bean Dip



10 ounce(s) of Philadelphia Cooking Creme, original flavor
1 can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 can refried beans
1 cup(s) of prepared salsa
1 cup(s) of shredded mexican cheese blend

Steps
Combine all ingredients in a medium sized sauce pan or microwave safe bowl
Gradually heat on low heat until hot, stirring frequently
Garnish with cooking creme, shredded cheese and/or chopped green onion (optional)
Serve with tortilla chips
DIG IN!

Original Cooking Creme Submission 1

So this week the original cooking creme is being featured. This is the only unflavored variety and, therefore you can use it in both sweet and savory dishes. A lot of people seem to be going with sweet but with spring in my sights and an ever bulging waistline I have decided to stick with savory. Of course, this fried appetizer isn't going to help me win the battle of the bulge! LOL!

Ham and Cheese Croquettes with Creamy Dipping Sauce



6 tbsp. of mirepoix (sauteed carrots, onion and celery, chopped very fine)
2 cup(s) of mashed potatoes, cold
1/2 cup(s) of cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup(s) of ham, chopped
10 ounce(s) of cooking creme, original flavor
2 eggs
2 cup(s) of seasoned bread crumbs
1 tsp. of chives
1 tsp. of parsley
1 cup(s) of chicken broth
1 pinch of salt and pepper to taste
4 cup(s) of oil for frying

Steps
Combine mirepoix, mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, ham, 1 egg and 3 Tbs cooking creme in a medium sized bowl and stir to combine.

refrigerate mixture to firm it up, if needed

in a small bowl beat remaining egg and spread bread crumbs on a plate

when potato mixture is firm shape into balls, dip each potato ball in egg and roll in bread crumbs to coat.

Heat cooking oil and deep fry croquettes until golden brown. let drain on a paper towel lined plate.

In a small sauce pan combine remaining cooking creme, chives, parsley and chicken broth. Let simmer on low heat stirring frequently until thickened to a dipping consistency - about 15-20 minutes

Serve croquettes with warm dipping sauce. ENJOY!

Garlic Flavor Cooking Creme Recipe

Well, between a giant snowstorm and a ton of bad news getting dropped on me like a safe, I only found the time and motivation to make one submission to the Philadelphia Cooking Creme contest this week. I have to say that this is my favorite flavor so far, but then I am a garlic junkie so that really comes as no surprise. I am a little disappointed that the other recipe I had in my head never came to fruition but I still have the creme so I can always make it later. Still, I think it would have been a knockout. Maybe I will try to adapt the idea for the Santa Fe variety. We shall see. In any event, the one recipe I did make was quite tasty although I was not entirely happy with how my pie crust turned out. I did everything I was supposed to do keep it from getting soggy but it still came out that way. Oh well, it still tasted good! That's the important thing. Anyway, i now present to you my recipe for Roasted vegetable Pie featuring Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Savory Garlic Flavor:

Roasted Vegetable Pie



1 pie crust
3 tomatoes, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
1 sweet onion, sliced
3 tbsp. of olive oil
2 tsp. of salt
1 egg, beaten
10 ounce(s) of savory garlic flavor cooking creme
1 cup(s) of shredded mozzarella cheese

Steps
1. line a deep pie pan with pie crust, cover with foil and prebake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. let cool after baking
2. Line a parchment lined baking sheet with sliced tomatoes, onion, and zucchini.
3. Drizzle vegetables with oil, season with salt and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool.
4. combine egg and cooking creme in a bowl, mix thoroughly.
5. Layer roasted vegetables in pie crust and top with cooking creme mixture
6. top pie with shredded mozzarella cheese
7. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Increase temperature to 400 degrees for last 10 minutes to brown top.
let stand 10-20 minutes before serving

ENJOY!

Cooking Creme Submission Number 2!

I have to tell you, I am really learning to LOVE this cooking creme stuff that Philly is putting out. Although I have only experimented with one flavor so far, it's pretty darn delicious! Yesterday I sent in my second and final recipe submission for the Italian Herb and Cheese flavor and I could not be happier with the way the dish turned out. I made my stuffed london broil and tweaked the stuffing recipe using the cooking creme. This stuffing was the best EVER! Once this product hits the shelves I highly recommend giving this a try. The stuffing would be delicious inside just about any cut of meat - seriously!!!

Stuffed london Broil featuring Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Italian Herb and Cheese flavor.

1 Thick cut london broil, butterflied and pounded
10 ounce(s) of Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Italian cheese and herb flavor
3/4 cup(s) of Fontina Cheese (can susbstitute Mozzarella)
4 Oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
2 slices hard salami, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 green onions, chopped, green and white parts
1/4 cup(s) of chopped frozen spinach, tharwed and squeezed of excess liquid
1/2 cup(s) of unseasoned panko bread crumbs

Steps

1. Open butterflied london broil and pound on both sides to tenderize

2. In a seperate bowl combine remaining ingredients to make stuffing

3. spread stuffing on london broil leaving a 1 inch edge on one side

4. roll london broil, jelly roll style, towards edge with no stuffing

5. once rolled, tie london broil with cooking twine to secure filling

6. place on a rack set in a roasting pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes

7. Remove london broil from oven, tent with foil and allow it to rest for 5-10 minutes

8. remove cooking twine and cut into rounds to serve.

Happy New Year to you!

Well, another year has come and gone - where does the time go! I have to say 2010 wasn't a bad year for me. Certainly better than 2009. I am hoping this upward trend continues, not only for me but for others I know who had a pretty shitty 2010. There are more people on that list than I care to admit. With the start of 2011 also came the start of the recipe submissions for the Philadelphia Cooking Creme recipe contest. After some initial struggling, I finally got my first submission in (YAY). This was a very quick and impromptu concoction, but I have to say, it was delicious. Even my husband who swears up and down that he hates spinach had to admit that it was "pretty f-ing good"! He is so eloquent. No wonder I love him so. LOL!

Spinach and Sopressata Crostini



3 tbsp. of olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 loaf crusty bread
10 ounce(s) of Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Italian Cheese and Herb Flavor
10 ounce(s) of chopped spinach, thawed and drained of excess liquid
1/4 cup(s) of roasted red peppers, chopped
1/2 cup(s) of Hot Sopressata, chopped (can substitute pepperoni, salami or other cured sausage)

Combine olive oil and chopped garlic
slice bread into rounds
brush rounds with garlic and oil mixture and toast lightly under broiler
spread cooking cream onto toasted bread rounds
top cooking creme with a layer of chopped spinach
top spinach layer with a layer of roasted red peppers
top roasted red peppers with chopped sopressata
arrange crostini on a tray and serve