SLIDESHOWS: Fast and Easy Ethnic Recipes

Quick Chicken-and-Cheese Tamales

To make his tamales, Guillermo Pernot of Cuba Libre in Philadelphia mashes masa dough and a slow-braised pork filling together in a saucepan instead of assembling the tamales one by one. For the quick take, Grace Parisi mixes store-bought rotisserie chicken and cheddar cheese into a quick dough, then she wraps the tamales in plastic before steaming them.