Sunday, March 2, 2008

Mini Cheese Cake Baskets


These are so easy and everyone in our family loves them at Easter, the kids especially.

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs
12 NILLA Wafers
1-1/2 cups BAKER'S ANGEL FLAKE Coconut, tinted green
36 small jelly beans
12 pieces shoestring licorice (4 inch each)
PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs; beat just until blended.
PLACE wafer on bottom of each of 12 paper-lined medium muffin cups. Spoon cream cheese mixture evenly over wafers.
BAKE 20 minutes or until centers are almost set. Cool. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Top evenly with coconut and jelly beans just before serving. Bend each licorice piece, then insert both ends into each cheesecake to resemble the handle of a basket. Store leftover cheesecakes in refrigerator.

Chipotle Tamale Pie

When I saw this on our local news one morning I couldn't resist. I love chipotle and found this to be easy and tasty.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound, lean ground beef or you can use turkey
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 chipotle chiles from the can, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce, from can chipotle in adobo
1 cup grated Cheddar
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves 1 (8.5-ounce) package cornbread mix
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Grease an 8-inch baking dish with the butter and set it aside.
Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef or turkey, the onions, green peppers, and garlic and cook until the meat is no longer pink and is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain off any excess fat and sprinkle the meat mixture with the cumin.
Add the beans, tomatoes, chiles and adobo sauce to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until heated through and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the cheese and cilantro.
Spread the meat mixture in the prepared baking dish, pressing down on it with the back of a spoon to make an even, compact layer.
Combine the cornbread mix with milk and egg. Spread the cornbread batter over the turkey mixture and bake until the cornbread is golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the tamale pie stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.