Recipes: Chicken Morocco and Pineapple Pumpkin Cheesecake

Tips For Cooking with Canned Food

Avoid overcooking canned foods. Canned products require only gentle warming, since they're already precooked and naturally preserved in cans.

When using canned foods as ingredients, stir or fold them into the recipe gently. Excessive stirring may cause canned fruits or vegetable to break apart.

Follow the "last-in" rule when adding canned goods to a recipe. This can help you avoid overcooking and may enhance the taste and appearance of the prepared dish.

Store canned foods wisely. Keep them in a cool, dry place where temperatures are below 85 degrees.

For maximum flavor and value from canned foods, it is best to use the products immediately after opening. If that is not possible, canned foods should be stored in sealed containers in the refrigerator to retain taste and nutrient quality.

A Recipe For Steel Can Recycling

Necessary Ingredients

Empty food and beverage cans
Empty aerosol cans
Empty paint cans
Any other steel containers (such as bandage boxes or shoe polish tins)

Instructions

Empty containers through normal us. (Food cans may be rinsed in the sink or dishwasher.)
Place containers in your curbside recycling bin or take them to the local drop-off or buyback center.
Return containers to steel mills and foundries through North America's most comprehensive recycling infrastructure.
Melt at over 2800 degrees F.
Form into steel sheets, plates, bars and tubes.
Cool, then combine with other parts to produce new steel products, such as cars, construction materials, appliances and even new steel cans.

Chicken Morocco

Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked bulgur wheat
4 chicken thighs, skinned
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) original recipe stewed tomatoes (no salt added)
1/2 cup prune juice or orange juice
6 pitted pruned, diced
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

Preparation

In saucepan, bring 1-1/2 cups water to boil; add bulgur. Cover and cook over low heat for 20 minutes. Season chicken with salt-free herb seasoning, if desired.

In skillet, brown chicken with onion in oil over medium-high heat; drain. Stir in tomatoes, prune juice, prunes and allspice. Cover and cook 10 minutes over medium heat. Uncover, cook over medium-high heat 10 to 12 minutes or until sauce thickens and chicken is done; turn chicken and stir sauce occasionally. Serve chicken and sauce over bulgur. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.

Pineapple Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
12 ounces light cream cheese, softened
1 can (16 ounces) pumpkin
4 eggs
2 tablespoons flour
4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Vegetable cooking spray
1 can (15-1/2 ounces) sliced pineapple in heavy syrup

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place 9x13-inch pan of hot water on lower rack in oven. Set aside 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. In food processor, combine remaining sugar with cream cheese. Process 20 seconds. Add pumpkin, eggs, flour, spice and vanilla extract. Process 10 seconds, scraping sides once.

Pour into 8-inch springform pan coated with vegetables cooking spray. Bake 50 minutes without opening door. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 1 hour.

Immediately run knife around sides of pan. Cool; refrigerate 3 hours. Drain pineapple; reserving syrup. Dice 1 pineapple slice. Cook reserved syrup, reserved sugar and diced pineapple over medium-high heat 8 minutes or until thick, without stirring. Just before serving, arrange pineapple on cake. Top with glaze.

Provided by Steel Packaging Council, American Iron and Steel Institute

This page originally published as a FoodDay article in 1997.