Fresh Tortellini Au Gratin

 This recipe keeps being requested and so I thought I'd better post it here so, as my children spread their wings, they will always be able to find it.  :)

1/4 pound mild Italian sausage
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 (9-ounce) package fresh cheese-filled tortellini
3 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup canned diluted chicken broth
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley, divided
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1 (2-ounce) jar diced pimiento, drained
l/8 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons fine, dry breadcrumbs
11/2 tablespoons butter or margarine
Sliced cherry tomatoes (optional)
Fresh basil sprigs (optional)

            Remove and discard casing from sausage. (I usually use the mild Italian sausage that is not in a "casing.")  Cook sausage and onion in a small skillet over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble meat.  Drain well; set aside.

            Cook tortellini according to package directions, adding unpeeled cloves of garlic to water.  Drain well, reserving garlic.  Set tortellini aside; peel and crush garlic.  Combine garlic and whipping cream in a medium bowl; beat with a wire whisk until blended.  Add reserved sausage mixture, tortellini, chicken broth, 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup minced parsley, basil, pimiento, and pepper; stir gently to combine.

            Place tortellini mixture in a 1-quart baking dish.  Combine breadcrumbs and remaining 2 tablespoons minced parsley; stir well.  Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over tortellini; dot with butter.  Bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes.  Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese over breadcrumbs; bake an additional 5 minutes or until lightly browned.  If desired, garnish with cherry tomato slices and fresh basil sprigs. Yield: 4 servings.

Almond Poppyseed Muffins

 My children always call home and ask if this recipe made it into the Yancey reunion cookbook.  Somehow, it didn't.  Since I only have it written in pencil and that paper is practically ripped out of my cookbook, I thought I'd document it here.

2 cups flour
3 teaspoons poppy seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened butter
2 eggs
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 teaspoon almond extract

In a medium size bowl, combine the dry ingredients and stir together.  

In a large bowl, cream the sugar and butter.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.  Add the yogurt and extract, beat well.  Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Stir until moistened thoroughly.  Divide batter into a greased muffin tin.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until done (passes the toothpick test).  Makes 12 muffins.

Cauliflower Casserole

 I really love eating my vegetables this way.  

1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets

1 cup sour cream

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup crushed cornflakes

1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/4 cup red bell pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Paprika (if  you want)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Place 1 inch of water in a saucepan; add cauliflower.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer until crisp-tender, 5-10 minutes.  Drain off the water.

In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, sour cream, cheddar cheese, cornflakes, peppers and salt.  Transfer to a greased 2-qt baking dish.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and paprika.

Bake, uncovered, until heated through, 30-35 minutes.

Shredded Pork for Tacos in Pressure Cooker

 I found a boneless pork loin roast in the freezer and wanted a quick meal for supper.  I thawed the roast in the microwave and cut it into chunks.  (It was probably about 1 lb and I cut it into 6 pieces).  Then into the pressure cooker it went.  Seth said it would have been even yummier with some type of rice.  Maybe I'll mix up some Spanish rice tomorrow to go with the leftovers.  I got the original recipe from eatingonadime.com.

2-3 pounds of pork loin or pork roast

1 cup salsa (we used home-canned salsa)

1 cup water

1 package taco seasoning

Place pork in the pressure cooker.  In a two-cup glass measuring cup combine salsa, water, and taco seasoning.  Pour this liquid mixture over the roast.  Place the lid on the pressure cooker and make sure the nob is set to sealing.  Cook on the high setting for 45 minutes.  (I cooked it for 40 minutes because I had cut my meat up, but it was also still a little frozen).  You can quick pressure release at the end of cooking time.  (I was shopping, so the kids left it alone and it stayed on the keep warm setting for about 10 minutes before I got back.)  Remove meat from the pressure cooker, shred with forks.  (I've also heard you can put it in a stand mixer and turn that baby on to shred the meat.)  Put the meat back into the liquid.  

We served this on flour tortillas with shredded cheese, olives, sour cream, and lettuce.

Skillet Steak and Potatoes

I found this recipe the other day and decided to try it since I'm looking for yummy skillet recipes to send to Logan.  Mom sent it out in an email back in 1998.  It was so good!  I'll describe how I did it.

1 1/2 pounds boneless round steak
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons salt (I only used 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup water
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
2 onions, thinly sliced and made into rings
4 potatoes, thinly sliced

 Trim excess fat from meat; cut into serving-size pieces.  (I had purchased a roast.  I sliced the roast into thick slices, maybe about 1/2" thick.) Combine flour, salt, and pepper.  Dredge steak in seasoned flour.  (I put the flour mixture in a ziploc bag.  Put my steak slices in the bag and shook it up to coat.)  Brown the meat in hot oil.  Add broth and water.  (I used water and bouillon for the broth.  Which means I measured about 18 ounces of water and added 1 1/2 teaspoons better than beef bouillon.)  Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.  (I simmered for 1 hour).  Add the onion rings on top of the meat.  Cover and simmer for 30 more minutes.  Add the potatoes, spreading them out over the top of the meat and onions.  Simmer for 30 more minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Almond Poppy Seed Bars

 Bryce told me I need to put this recipe on the blog.  I tried to find it at Taste of Home again, and it didn't come up in the search.  It took me a bit of searching to find the one I printed off last time I made this dessert.  So I'm putting the recipe here.  My family loves these.  I even just mix it up with a bowl and spoon, or a dough whisk, or other whisk (it depends on what's handy).   :)  And it's me . . . so I don't add the salt in this recipe.  I usually frost it with a purchased can of cream cheese frosting.  Other tip:  if you measure the dry ingredients first, you don't have to wash and dry the measuring spoon(s) to use for the extracts.

3 eggs
2 1/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons butter flavoring (or additional vanilla extract)
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 1/2 teaspoons poppy seeds
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

In a bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, milk, oil, extracts, and butter flavoring.  In another bowl, combine the flour, poppy seeds, baking powder and salt;  add to the egg mixture and mix just until combined.  Spread into a greased 15x10x1 inch baking pan.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack. (I don't know why this recipe says is will cook in 20 minutes.  It takes my oven almost 40 minutes.  This last time I did check it about every 5 minutes after the initial 20 minutes and took it out of the oven at 39 minutes.)

Frost bars.  (I use purchased cream cheese frosting).