Chorizo and Cheese Tortellinis

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, but it is because I haven't been able to get into the kitchen and cook anything from scratch. I don't like posting up recipes from box meals even if I do tweak them a lot, unless it is an amazing recipe that I think people would want to try. I like to post up things that are my own ideas and own creations since I find more pride in that for myself.

But hopefully I won't have to wait so long in between posts now as I have a few things coming up that will get me back into the kitchen! Some deviled eggs and Samoa cookie knockoffs will be coming up soon, so stay tuned!

Any who, I decided to make some tortellinis last night. They have always scared me a bit since I never understood how to fold them, however I found a great youtube video that made it so easy to understand (I posted the link in the steps). Combining chorizo and cheese seemed like an amazing idea, and taking that one step further and infusing that into a pasta was just magic! I hope you enjoy these as much as my boyfriend and I did! Enjoy!

• 10 oz Chorizo, cooked
• 2 Tbsp Garlic
• 2 3/4 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 cup and 2 Tbsp Cream Cheese
• 1/4 cup Italian Cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup Cotija (or Parmesan Cheese)
• 1 Tbsp Pesto
• 2 eggs
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Water
• 1 6 oz can Tomato Paste
• 3 cups Flour
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Salt
• 1 cup Tomato Sauce
• 1 14.5 oz can Diced Tomatoes (drained)

Step 1: First you will want to combine your cooked chorizo with 1 Tbsp garlic, 1/4 tsp Paprika, 1/2 cup cream cheese, 1/4 cup Italian cheese, 1/4 cup cotija cheese, and 1 Tbsp pesto. Mix thoroughly and then set aside.

Step 2: Beat eggs in a bowl. Add oil, 1/2 tsp Garlic Salt, water, 1/2 tsp paprika, and 6 oz can tomato pasta. Once mixed, add 3 cups Flour 1 cup at a time and mix until you have a dough-like substance. Dough will be very sticky, so keep extra flour on hand and use as need be. Knead dough for 5 minutes on a floured surface and then set aside and cover for 20 minutes.

Step 3: After dough has set break into 4 balls. Take the first piece and place on a floured surface, take a rolling pin and roll the dough out as thin as you can (the thinner the better since you will be folding these, and you don't want your tortellinis to be too doughy). Cut the dough into even squares and set the squares aside. Mix in the leftovers into the next ball of dough and continue the rolling and cutting process. You should have anywhere from 48-72 squares.

Step 4: Place a few squares down in front of you and add a small ball of chorizo mixture to the center. Fold the square matching the corners so you have a triangle. The make a fold by rolling the base (the chorizo pocket) upward. Fold both corners in and tuck under the hole. (Here is a video guide to help: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlBFWQH7de4 (not my video, but I used it for reference as it is a great demo)). Do this for all of the squares you have left. If you have any chorizo mixture left, set aside.

Step 5: For the sauce, you will want to combine the tomato sauce, 3 Tbsp cream cheese, 2 tsp paprika, 1 Tbsp garlic, and the 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes in a saucepan. Cook on low heat and stir until cream cheese has been dissolved. Keep at a low simmer while you cook the tortellinis.

Step 6: In a large pasta pot, bring enough water to cover your tortellinis to a boil and then place your tortellinis in to cook. Cook tortellinis for 5-8 minutes (check periodically as homemade raviolis do not take as long as store bought tortellinis to cook). Once finished, place tortellinis on a plate and cover with the pasta sauce. Enjoy!


Yield: Makes 3-4 servings.

Swiss Mushroom Twice Baked Steak Potatoes

The amazing Twice Baked potato; combining delicious mashed potatoes with the delicious skin of a baked potato! Amazing!

Although in all honesty, I've never really been good at making these as i always end up puncturing the skin and then just scrapping the whole idea to make potato skins and mashed potatoes. Not this time! I made sure to scoop out the insides very carefully as to not ruin them, and it worked!

But these aren't just any twice baked potatoes! Oh no! These potatoes are stuffed with swiss cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms, mashed potatoes with gravy, and marinated steak. The perfect meal for any carnivore ! (and omnivore for that fact!)! Enjoy!

• 2 Potatoes
• 7 oz. Thin Cut Chuck Steak
• 1/3 cup Red Wine (I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 3 Tbsp and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
• 1/2 cup Onion (sliced thin or diced)
• 6 Mushrooms (sliced)
• 1/2 cup Beef Broth
• 1 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp and 1 tsp Butter
• 2 Tbsp Milk
• 1 Tbsp Sour Cream
• 3 slices Swiss Cheese

Step 1: First you will want to marinate your steaks. Combine the red wine, 2 Tbsp of the Worcestershire Sauce, and the liquid smoke in a container and place the meat in it. Let it marinate for at least 2 hours before cooking (I let mine sit over night).

Step 2: When the meat has almost finished marinating, poke a few holes with a knife into your potatoes and place them in the center of your oven. Bake them for an hour at 375 degrees Fahrenheit  When they finish, take them out of the oven and let them cool. Turn off oven.

Step 3: While the potatoes are cooling, saute your onions in 1 Tbsp of butter over medium heat. Once the onions start to turn translucent, add in the mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms are soft. Remove the veggies and without cleaning the pan, add the steak to the pan. Cook until the meat has finished and remove them, then turn the heat down to low.

Step 4: Add the remaining marinade to the pan and let cook with the meat juices for a minute, stirring frequently. After a minute, add in the beef broth, 1 Tbsp Worcestershire, and the flour and stir until flour has fully dissolved. Let sit at the lowest heat possible. Go back to your steaks and cut them into small strips.

Step 5: Turn the oven back on to 375 degrees Fahrenheit  Go back to your potatoes and carefully cut out an oval on one of the sides (pretend you are making a canoe out of your potato). Once you have the oval carefully and slowly scrape out the insides and place in a bowl, but be careful not to puncture a hole in the skin. After you have removed the insides for both potatoes, scooping out as much as you can, return to the bowl you placed them in and add in 1 tsp of butter, the milk, the sour cream, and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire. Mash the potato until you have a consistency you like (some people like lumpy while others like creamy; this is all your preference right now).

Step 6: Go back to your pan and stir the gravy, making sure it is fully mixed and warm. Then take 2 slice of Swiss cheese and carefully place a slice in each potato, lining the bottom and sides. After the cheese is in, add in a layer of steak, followed by a layer of mashed potatoes and gravy, and then another layer of steak. By this time your potato should be almost full, so carefully place some of the vegetables (onion and mushrooms) on the top with a little bit of gravy. Grab a baking sheet and place the potatoes carefully on it without tipping them over. Once they are on the baking sheet, take the last piece of Swiss cheese, tear it in half, and place each half on one of the potatoes. Bake in the oven for 15 more minutes. When finished, place each potato on a plate, add more gravy and vegetables to the top, and then serve with the remaining mashed potatoes, sauteed vegetables, and gravy. Enjoy!


Yield: Makes 2 servings.

Pesto Spaghetti Squash

Growing up we never really had too many squashes in our meals. So when I heard that there was such as a Spaghetti Squash, I didn't believe it at first, honestly. I had to Google it in order to make sure it was in fact a real thing. And sure enough, it is real!

 When making this meal for the first time, I wanted to use items I would normally incorporate with pasta, such as pesto and sauteed mushrooms. Combining all of these things together creates a wonderful dish that most people would enjoy; I know I did! Enjoy!

• 1 Spaghetti Squash
• 1 Onion (sliced)
• 3 Tbsp Butter
• 4 White Mushrooms (sliced)
• 1 cup Kale (stems removed)
• 1 tsp Garlic Salt
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 2 Tbsp Pesto
• 1 tsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice open the Spaghetti Squash length-wise, and then spoon out the seeds from the middle. Grease a cookie sheet and place the squash on the pan with the skin of the squash on the pan and the flesh facing up. Cook the squash for 1 hour, and then remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Once you can handle the squash, take a fork and start scrapping out the insides. The squash will come out of the shell in a string-like form. Place in a bowl and set aside.

Step 2: On the stove over med-high heat, sautee the onion in 1 Tbsp butter. Once the onion starts to turn translucent, add the kale and mushrooms to the onion and reduce the heat to a med-low.

Step 3: Next add the squash to the pan. Add 2 Tbsp of butter, the garlic salt, and the Italian Seasoning and cook for a a minute or two until everything is mixed. Remove from the stove and place in a big bowl.

Step 4: Once in the bowl, add the olive oil and pesto to the mixture. Mix around, and then slowly add in the parmesan cheese. Mix until pesto and cheese is evenly spread, then serve! Enjoy!

Yield: Makes 4-6 servings.

Country Fried Onion and Mushroom Steak

Me: 'What do you want for dinner tonight?'
Him: 'Tacos!'
Me: 'We don't have tacos. :('
Him: 'What do we have?'
Me: 'Pork, chicken, steaks... I could do a Salisbury with the mushrooms I bought?'
Him: 'That could be cool...'
Me: 'OH I KNOW! It will be waiting for you when you get home! :D'

And that is usually how our meal planning works half of the time. Thankfully I came up with the brilliant idea (using him for inspiration because hey, I don't want to surprise anyone unless I know they are going to love my food experiment) to try to make some Country Fried Steaks with an onion and mushroom gravy; one of his all-time faves when we go out to eat. After deciding what should go in it, I just had to figure out whether or not to pan-fry them or use the deep fryer. After a few minutes of no decisions, he suggested to try both out, so we did! 

We both thought that the deep-fryer would be the winner, hands down. But to our surprise, the pan-fried steaks came out much better than the deep fried ones! Cooking in the pan allowed the breading to soak up all the delicious flavored that were being released by the pan, giving it a fuller taste than the deep fried one. Because of that I opted to only give directions for the pan-fried recipe, however if you really want to deep fry them please do so for 4 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Enjoy!

• 4 3-ounce Steaks
• 3/4 cup Breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (grated)
• 1 Tbsp Green Onion (was 1 stalk for me)
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 Milk
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 1/4 cup Onion
• 1/4 cup Mushroom
• 1/2 cup Beef Broth
• 2 Tbsp Flour
• 1 Tbsp Cornstarch
• Salt and pepper to taste

Step 1: Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and green onion in a container. Beat egg until fluffy and then add 1/4 cup Milk and whisk. Once combined, dip steak in egg batter and then press in the flour concoction until coated. Do this for all 4 steaks.

Step 2: In a sauce pan, heat butter and olive oil over medium heat. Once butter melts, turn heat to medium-high and place steaks in the pan. Cook for about 3-4 minutes each, or until golden brown. Be sure not to move them for at least the first two minutes to help the breaking stick to the steak or else it might fall off.

Step 3: Once steaks are down, remove them from the pan and turn the stove to medium heat. Add onions and mushrooms to the pan and cook in the pan until soft. Slowly add in the milk, broth, flour, and cornstarch to the onions and mushrooms. Make sure to stir while adding in the ingredients in order to mix them properly. 

Step 4: After gravy has been mixed, turn heat to low temperature and let sit for a minute. Stir again, and then turn off heat and let sit for another 1-2 minutes. Gravy will thicken up as it cools a bit.

Step 4: Cover steaks with gravy and enjoy!

Yield: 4 servings.