Getting "Pampered" with Antonette Mendoza...the Remix!

If you keep up with my personal/family blog, you will have read that I had a pretty busy weekend. Part of the reason why is because I hosted a Pampered Chef party on Antonette's behalf. Just so you know, I am a huge fan of Pampered Chef. I've had the privilege of knowing a good handful of consultants, most of whom were either close friends or spouses of a few officers I've met in my military career. So I have a considerable collection of Pampered Chef items, all of which I consider to be my most valuable kitchen items, aside from Rosie the Kitchenaid Mixer, of course!

A whole gang of us ladies congregated at my house to concoct some of the most tasty Pampered Chef recipes. Charisse--Antonette's sister--invited her friend and neighbor, Stephanie, to join in the fun. She claims that she hardly ever cooks, but you wouldn't have been able to tell the way she whipped up the delicious bruschetta! Here she is with Antonette:


Pampered Chef is very creative with recipes and they're so easy to make. If you love hamburgers or cheeseburgers, then you'll love the salad that Antonette put together here. I've provided the recipe below and not only did it make enough to feed an entire battalion, it was so delicious! It's also the perfect substitute to grilling actual hamburgers....seriously!

Deluxe Cheeseburger Salad

(adapted from the Pampered Chef Season's Best Recipe Collection: Spring/Summer 2008)

4 sesame seed hamburger bun tops

1 small red onion, divided

2 plum tomatoes

3/4 lb. 95% lean ground beef

1/2 cup finely diced dill pickles

3/4 cup ketchup

1 tbsp yellow mustard

8 cups thinly sliced romaine lettuce

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice bun tops into 1/4 inch strips. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove to cooling rack and cool completely.
2. Slice half the onion crosswise into thin rings. Remove and discard stems from tomatoes; cut tomatoes into quarters lengthwise and slide crosswise. Set onions and tomatoes aside.
3. Cook ground beef over medium-high heat 5-7 minutes until no longer pink, breaking beef into crumbles. Chop remaining onion. Finely dice pickles. In bowl, combine chopped onion, pickles, ketchup and mustard. Add cooked ground beef and mix well.
4. To serve, arrange lettuce on large serving platter. Spoon beef mixture over lettuce. Top with cheese, tomatoes, and sliced onion. Arrange hamburger bun croutons around edge of platter. Serve immediately.

Yields 6 servings

Surprisingly enough, you didn't really need salad dressing for this, because the ketchup, mustard, and pickle mixture gives it the right amount of flavor. However, afterwards I thought it would have been perfect to serve it with Thousand Island Dressing. Maybe then it can be called Deluxe Big Mac Salad!

Charisse experimented with a salmon cake recipe. Those delectable salmon cakes were arranged on the platter that you see below. It's another simple Pampered Chef recipe that will seriously make your mouth water. And the sauce that accompanied it--to die for! I've also provided the recipe below:

Salmon Cakes with Cool Lime Sauce

(adapted from The Pampered Chef: It's Good For You Cookbook)

Sauce:

1 lime

1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise

1/4 cup fat-free sour cream

Salmon Cakes:

2 cans (each 6 oz.) skinless, boneless pink salmon packed in water, drained and flaked

1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions with tops

1 tablespoon snipped fresh cilantro

3/4 cup unseasoned dry break crumbs, divided

1/3 cup fat-free mayonnaise

1 egg white

1. For sauce, zest lime to measure 2 teaspoons zest. Juice lime to measure 2 teaspoons juice. In small bowl, combine lime zest, juice, mayonnaise and sour cream; mix well. Cover; refrigerate until ready to serve.
2. For salmon cakes, drain salmon. Place in small colander and flake (a fork will do this quite well). Finely chop bell pepper and thinly slice green onions. Add bell pepper, green onions, snipped cilantro, 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, mayonnaise, and egg white to salmon. Mix well.
3. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs onto bottom of a shallow dish or plate. Scoop salmon mixture over bread crumbs and flatten with back of scoop to 1/2 inch thickness. Turn to coat evenly with bread crumbs.
4. Heat 12-in skillet over medium heat until hot. Cook salmon cakes 6-8 minutes or until golden brown, carefully turning once. Serve with sauce.

Yields 8 Servings.

And there you have it! Two easy recipes to Wow! your friends with. That same day, I did my cooking/baking homework assignments for the week, which I'll show in a new post after this. My Tuesdays With Dorie assignment was a Dimply Plum Cake and my Barefoot Bloggers assignment was a Cream of Wild Mushroom Soup, so stay tuned!

Getting "Pampered" with Antonette Mendoza

A close family friend, and another practically "other" sister, Antonette (shown above), recently became a Pampered Chef consultant. Just to help her practice for cooking shows, we occasionally have "test kitchens" at each others' houses, making recipes especially designed by the Pampered Chef. So not only does Antonette get to learn from these experiences, she (and the rest of us) get to indulge in some of the yummiest, sweetest recipes--some of which are listed below. We did this about two weeks ago. It was a whole family affair and everyone got to help out, had tons of fun and left with satisfied tummies!

Antonette's sister, Charisse, and Charisse's husband, Jacques, prepared Jerk Chicken Nachos. If you've ever seen Pampered Chef recipes, you'll know that they call for use of Pampered Chef cookware, as well as seasonings and spices. Just so you know, you can use the cookware you already have and find comparable seasonings at your local grocery store. Here's the lovely couple whipping up their yummy appetizer and what it looked like when they were done. We found that the nachos are better served straight out of the oven.

Jerk Chicken Nachos
(adapted from The Pampered Chef: Season's Best Recipe Collection (Spring/Summer 2008)



6 cups tortilla chips
3 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend
2 tbsp Jamaican Jerk Rub, divided
1 small yellow or red bell pepper combination
1 lime
2 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro
1/4 sour cream and 1 tsp additional Jamaican Jerk Rub (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Arrange tortilla chips in a slightly overlapping layer on a large round baking sheet (we used a 9x13 glass baking pan and it worked equally well).
2. In a bowl, combine chicken, cheese, and 1 tbsp of the rub; mix gently. Sprinkle mixture over tortilla chips and bake 5-7 minutes or until cheese is melted.
3. Meanwhile, dice bell pepper. Cut lime in half crosswise. Juice half the lime into a small bowl. Add remaining rub and bell pepper and mix well.
4. Spoon bell pepper mixture over nachos; sprinkle evenly with snipped cilantro. If desired, combine sour cream and additional rub in a resealable plastic bag; trim corner to allow sour cream to flow through. Pipe sour cream mixture over nachos. Garnish with lime slices.

Yields 12 servings.

Even my mom, grandma, and sister were there. My mom and grandma used a microwaveable Pampered Chef cooker to make a German Chocolate cake. My sister made a vegetable pizza, also compliments of the Pampered Chef. I don't have these recipes, but I do have some cute pictures seen below.






Several of my friends are also Pampered Chef consultants and I have lots of their cookware and cookbooks. I took a dessert recipe from an older cookbook and it was so easy to make and very delicious! You should try it!

Caramel Pecan Dessert Ring
(adapted from The Pampered Chef: Season's Best Recipe Collection (Spring/Summer 2003))



1 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 package (16.3 oz) refrigerated grand-size flaky biscuits (8 biscuits)
1 large red baking apple such as jonathan
1/4 caramel ice cream topping or maple-flavored syrup
vanilla ice cream (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Combine pecans and brown sugar. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pecan mixture. Add flour to the remaining pecan mixture and mix well. Add egg and vanilla; mix until well blended.
2. Separate biscuits; peel each apart into two layers for a total of 16 biscuit halves. Arrange biscuit halves in an overlapping circular pattern around a large round baking stone or baking sheet, leaving two inches from the edge. The originial recipe calls to roll the biscuits to form a round crust, with a hole in the center (a ring). I found it more effective to use my fingers. Spoon pecan mixture evenly onto biscuit ring.
3. Core and cut apple into 16 very thin slices. Arrange over pecan filling in a circular pattern. Sprinkle reserved pecan mixture over apples.
4. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Drizzle with ice cream topping. Serve with ice cream, if desired.

Yields 16 servings


Well, that was a pretty eventful day! I hope you guys enjoy these recipes as much as we did!