Red, White & Blueberry Pie

*** Original recipe found in Pampered Chef Delightful Desserts Cookbook. You can go here for their on-line recipe (I found it AFTER typing all this out!). I lifted the above picture from their site. It does NOT do justice to this pie!!

1/2 package (15 ounces) refrigerated pie crusts (1 pie crust)
1 quart fresh strawberries, divided
4 squares (1 ounce each) white chocolate for baking
1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup cold milk
1 package (3.3 ounces) white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup thawed, frozen light whipped topping

1. Preheat oven to 425. Let pie crust stand at room temp. 15 minutes. Gently unfold onto lightly floured surface. Gently roll to even creases and get size of Deep Dish Pie Plate. Press crust in pie plate, pressing into bottom and up sides. Prick bottom. Bake 10-12 minutes or golden brown. Cool completely.
2. Rinse strawberries and pat dry on paper towels. Select 8 uniformly sized berries for dipping; cut in half through stem ends. Set aside. Hull and slice remaining berries using egg slicer for uniform pieces.
3. Melt white chocolate, uncovered, on high 1 minute in microwave, stirring often until chocolate is melted and smooth. Do not overheat. Dip strawberry halves in melted chocolate; place on a sheet of parchment paper, cut side down. Refrigerate 15 or until set.
4. Scrape remaining melted chocolate over bottom of prepared pie crust, spreading evenly to coat entire bottom and sides of crust. Layer sliced strawberries over bottom of crust.
5. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk until well blended. Add pudding mix; whisk until mixture begins to thicken. Spread mixture evenly over strawberries.
6. Arrange blueberries evenly over top of pie filling. Attach open star tip to Easy Accent Decorator (or any decorator frosting bag) and fill with whipped topping. Pipe topping evenly around edge of pie. Place dipped strawberry halves on whipped topping border. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cut into wedges.

Yield: 8 servings (VERY generous portions, you can easily get 10)

Tortilla Stack

*** This was originally a Pampered Chef recipe. I have no idea where my original copy is. I stopped using it a long time ago. This is my version.

1 can refried beans
flour tortillas (for individual servings use the soft taco size, for family style use burrito size)
1-2 cups cooked chicken breasts, chopped
cheddar cheese, shredded
1 onion, chopped & sauted
1 taco seasoning packet or (2 TBSP ground chili powder, 1 TBSP garlic powder, 1 TBSP ground cumin)
1 can black olives, sliced or chopped

Mix the seasonings with the chopped chicken. Place one tortilla on flat pan (cookie sheet or pizza pan work well), layer evenly with with refried beans, chicken, onions, black olives, cheddar cheese. Top with second flour tortilla. Repeat as many layers as desired. Heat in 375* oven until cheese is melted.

Servings: One taco sized tortilla makes a good adult portion stack. Cut burrito sized tortillas into wedges (like a pizza).

My Notes: Joel doesn't like olives so I only put them on one half of the stack. The recipe works well as vegetarian. Just add the seasonings to the refried beans and leave off the chicken. When I'm low on tortillas, time or patience I only do one layer. You could also add avocado, green chilies or any other TexMex ingredient.

Fake Lasagna

*** Found in Pampered Chef Celebrate! Cookbook under the title "Party Pasta Bowl" but to me it sounds like a fake, or simple, version of lasagna. Thus the new name.

1 package (16 ounces) uncooked mostaccioli or ziti
1 cup chopped onion
1 pound lean (90%) ground beef
3 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tsp Italian Seasoning Mix
1 jar (48 ounces) spaghetti sauce
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 egg
1 container (15 ounces) part-skim ricotta cheese
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1/4 cup snipped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
Additional snipped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 35o*. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Meanwhile, cook and stir onion, beef, and garlic over medium heat 8-10 minutes or until beef is no longer pink. Remove from heat; drain. Sprinkle with seasoning mix. Stir in sauce and tomatoes.

In small bowl, lightly beat egg. Add ricotta cheese, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese, parsley and pepper. Grate Parmesan cheese; set aside 1/4 cup. Stir remaining Parmesan cheese into ricotta mixture.

To assemble casserole, place cooked pasta in casserole dish. Add 6 cups of the meat sauce; mix well. Spread ricotta mixture evenly over pasta. Top with remaining meat sauce. Bake 1 hour. Top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Continue baking 10 minutes or until bubbly. Garnish with additional parsley.

Yield: 12 servings.

* Note in cookbook: To prepare this dish ahead of time, assemble casserole 2-3 hours in advance, cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, let stand at room temperature about 20 minutes then bake, uncovered, as recipe directs.

*** My Notes: I have not yet tried this recipe. But when I do I will cut it in half, use whatever pasta I happen to have, use store bought grated Parmesan and dried parsley.

Seafood Chowder

Taken from The Pampered Chef Celebrate! Cookbook.

4-5 medium red potatoes, cut into 1 -inch cubes (about 1 pound)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup diced red bell pepper
2 cans (6.5 ounces each) minced clams, drained, reserving clam juice
1 TBSP butter or margarine
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) chicken broth
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups half-and-half (light cream)
1 pound fresh bay scallops
1 pound frozen, cooked medium shrimp, thawed, rinsed, and tails removed
Snipped fresh parsley

Prep vegetables. Drain clams, reserving clam juice. If juice does not measure 1 cup, add enough water to equal 1 cup.

Melt butter in dutch oven or large pot over medium heat. Add onion; cook 3 minutes or until tender. Add vegetables, reserved clam juice, chicken broth, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil; cover. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, place flour in small bowl. Gradually whisk half-and-half into flour until smooth.

Add clams, scallops and shrimp to chowder; gradually whisk in flour mixture. Return to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Cover until ready to serve. Ladle soup into bowls and sprinkle with parsley.

Yield: 12 servings (15 cups).

My Notes: I cut this recipe in half. Also, I usually omit celery (I don't like it) but have also substituted dried celery. This is a great soup for Company. Just add more veggies to stretch the number of servings. = ) I also omit the parsley or use dried parsley. If cost of the seafood is an issue I think you can reduce the amount of the shrimp and scallops without losing too much flavor.

Chicken & Broccoli Braid

Taken from The Pampered Chef Main Dishes Cookbook.

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic glove, pressed
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1 cup)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (or Miracle Whip)
2 tsp Dill Mix ***
1/4 tsp salt
2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 TBSP slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 375*. Combine chicken through salt.

Unroll 1 package of crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across width of rectangle cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining package of dough. Press dough lightly to seal perforations. On longest sides cut dough into strips 1.5 inches apart, 3 inches deep. (There will be 6 inches in the center for the filling.)

Spread filling evenly over middle of dough. To braid, lift strips of dough across mixture to meet in center, twisting each strip one turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends up to seal at end of braid.

Brush egg white over dough. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown. Cut and serve.

Yield: 10 servings.

*** If not using store bought Dill Mix you can make your own using 1 tsp dried dill weed, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp parsley, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder.

My Notes: When it's just my family, I don't bother with the egg wash and almonds. This is a great recipe for Company. The number of servings really depends on how big you cut the pieces. I rarely get 10 pieces from this because I cut generous servings. = )