Tortellini Primavera

 

It's a sad state of affairs. Our freezer is dangerously close to running out of beef. When the pandemic hit last year and grocery stores were having trouble stocking essentials, consumers suddenly wanted to purchase beef and other meats from farmers and ranchers.

 

That's a great thing for the industry. But it created a new problem. Suddenly, producers were booking extra harvest dates for their animals at the small butcher shops. 

 

It pushed wait times for appointments to more than a year away. We called our processing plant a year ago. The first available date was September 2021!

 

While we normally would have butchered a couple of steers this spring, we are now waiting until September. I'm already out of our homegrown hamburger, and I've already gone through the first extra 20 pounds we purchased from Ellinwood Packing. 

So I've found some recipes that don't use my go-to freezer beef. This Tortellini Primavera was one we enjoyed. 

It's loaded with veggies. It also used up some frozen tri-color tortellini that had been hanging around in my freezer. So win-win!

 

If you have leftovers, add a splash of cream or milk. Pasta always absorbs liquid after it's refrigerated.  

Enjoy!

 

 

Tortellini Primavera

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman blog

 

2 tbsp. butter

1 small onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced (you can use jarred minced garlic)

3 whole carrots, peeled and diced

1 cup broccoli florets, rough chopped

1/2 cup chicken broth 

1/3 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt and pepper to taste

3/4 cup cooked ham, diced

1 cup frozen peas

1 pound cheese, spinach or tri-color tortellini

Extra Parmesan for serving

Cook tortellini a couple of minutes less than package directions call for. Drain and set aside.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add carrots and broccoli, stir and cook for another 2 minutes. Add chicken broth, and cook for another 2-3 minutes until the liquid reduces a bit. Stir in cream and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and stir.

When the mixture is hot and a cream sauce has formed, stir in peas, ham, salt and pepper. Allow them to heat through. When the sauce is hot, stir in the tortellini. Check seasonings and add more salt and/or pepper, if needed. Allow the pasta to heat back up, then serve with extra Parmesan. Serves 6.

If you have leftovers, add a splash of cream or milk. Pasta always absorbs liquid after it's refrigerated.

Baked Monte Cristo French Toast

Somehow, a chain restaurant didn't make the cut for Taste Atlas' Top 6 Monte Cristo sandwiches. I think Bennigan's in Wichita was the only place I ever personally tried this sandwich. (Bennigan's is no more in Wichita, so we're outta luck - at least, at that restaurant.)

A variation appeared on The County Line table when Jill's family visited during wheat harvest. The day before, I had prepared a spiral ham, so I knew I needed ways to use the extra meat. The Baked Monte Cristo French Toast recipe was in my "to-try" pile, so it was perfect timing to begin the day with a hearty breakfast. 

Taste Atlas describes it as: "an American sandwich consisting of two slices of white bread filled with a slice of cheese, ham and turkey or chicken meat. The combination is dipped in beaten eggs and fried in butter, resulting in a delicious, calorie-packed concoction that is crispy on the exterior while tender and custardy on the interior."

What's not to like, right?

That website says the first Monte Cristo was served in the 1950s in southern California, but some people claim that the sandwich is just a variation on the classic French Croque Monsieur.

What's Cooking America's website says the croque monsieur was originated in a Paris cafe in 1910 and consisted of Gruyere cheese and lean ham between two slices of crust-less bread, fried in clarified butter. This sandwich is still a popular snack or casual meal throughout France and Switzerland in most bars and cafes.

Many American cookbooks, published in the 1930s to 1960s, featured this sandwich under different names such as French Sandwich, Toasted Ham Sandwich and French Toasted Cheese Sandwich. Although there are no existing documents to support the claim, it is believed that the Monte Cristo Sandwich was first served in southern California in the 1950s.

Then, in 1966 at Disneyland in Anaheim, it appeared on their menu of the Blue Bayou and Tahitian Terrace restaurants in New Orleans Square and has continued to be a popular menu item to this day.

The recipe originator - Favorite Family Recipes - used a boysenberry syrup. I had blueberry syrup on hand, so we used that. You can also fruit jam - rather than syrup - for dipping.

Baked Monte Cristo French Toast

From Favorite Family Recipes

1 loaf French bread, cut into 1-inch slices
8 tbsp. whipped cream cheese
1/2 lb. deli black forest ham
1/2 lb. deli turkey
1/2 lb. Swiss cheese
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 cup butter, melted

Powdered sugar for dusting

Fruit syrup or jam

Place 7-8 slices of French bread in the baking dish, trying not to over-crowd and squish too much. Spread cream cheese over each slice of bread, then layer on ham, turkey, and Swiss cheese.

Top with remaining slices of French bread (making "sandwiches").

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, milk, sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Pour over bread and let sit for 5 minutes. Turn bread over and cover pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes or even overnight. (I refrigerated it overnight.)

Drizzle melted butter over the top and bake at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. Dust with sifted powdered sugar over the top. Serve immediately with syrup or jam.

I also served with fresh fruit.

***

If you're looking for a more savory way to use leftover ham, try this Ham & Cheese Quiche recipe.

Plantation Turkey is a favorite recipe from a contest sponsored by The Hutchinson News. Despite its name, it also uses diced ham. (I've gotten better at food photos since I took this photo in 2011; however, the recipe is one we usually have if there's leftover ham in the fridge.)

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

Good cheer wasn't the only thing passed around as families gathered around the Christmas tree for the holidays. As surely as the ball dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve, people were dropping, too, succumbing to coughs, sneezes and headaches that their friends and relatives shared along with carefully-wrapped presents and the latest recipe from Pinterest.

Randy and I couldn't avoid the "plague" either. Knowing that a trip to the doctor would just confirm that we had joined the Virus of the Month club, I turned to self medicating. I prescribed comfort food.

To me, comfort food ... makes me feel like a warm blanket is wrapped around me. 

Queen B on Chowhound.com

At my house, comfort food is a bowl of soup. As I searched for a recipe to sooth cold symptoms - and use up leftover ham at the same time - I combined two recipes to create this soup - one from allrecipes.com and the other from Taste of Home.

Enjoy - whether you're in the throes of a virus or just wanting a warm and tasty offering for lunch or supper.

Cheesy Ham and Potato Soup

3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup frozen broccoli florets, thawed and chopped
3 cups water
1 tbsp. chicken soup mix
3/4 cup diced, cooked ham
1/4 tsp. freshly cracked pepper
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups finely shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Combine potatoes, carrots, celery, onion, broccoli, water and chicken soup mix in stockpot. Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add ham and pepper.

Melt butter in a separate saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork and cook, stirring constantly, until thick and well combined. Slowly stir in milk, stirring so that lumps don't form. Continue stirring until thickened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add cheese, stirring until it's melted and to prevent it from burning.

Pour the milk mixture into the stockpot and cook soup until heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately. If desired, top with chopped green onion tops, shredded cheese and croutons for some color and crunch.

Note:  I get the chicken soup mix at Glenn's Bulk Foods. You can substitute regular chicken bouillon granules.

Today, I'm linked to Wichita blogger Ashley's What's In Your Kitchen Wednesday. Visit her blog, Kitchen Meets Girl, and check out recipes from other bloggers. 

Joyce's Stovetop Ham Casserole

I don't know who Joyce is. But she makes a good ham casserole.

The recipe had been sitting in my "to try sometime" pile for a long time. "Sometime" came this week.

I like to give credit where credit is due. I emailed my sister, Lisa, to see if it came from her kitchen. She thinks maybe it was from Joyce Beck at KCLY/KFRM radio.

Well, Joyce, you got a thumbs up from my resident recipe reviewer (who, by the way, just had some for breakfast, too ... minus the green salad!)

The original recipe used a whole stick of butter. I used 2 tablespoons and it was plenty to soften the onions and celery. You can use reduced fat sour cream and soup, if you like. But it's still probably too high in fat and sodium to fit the "healthy cooking" label.

But, everything in moderation, right? I've been a little heavy on the ham recipes here lately, but I was looking for ways to use the rest of a spiral ham we had when Brent was home for spring break.

Even if you don't have ham until Easter, it's worth holding onto this recipe for your "try it sometime" pile. Enjoy!

Joyce's Stovetop Ham Casserole

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
2 cups cubed ham
1 can cream of celery (or mushroom or chicken) soup
8 oz. (1 cup ) sour cream
1/2 lb. spiral noodles, cooked according to package directions
2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded.

Melt butter in skillet. Add celery and onion and cook until tender. Do this while you cook your noodles in boiling water.

To the softened vegetables in the skillet, add the soup, sour cream, drained noodles and ham; heat through, stirring often.

Just before serving, add the Swiss cheese and stir it in to melt. Remove from stove burner and serve with a green salad with plenty of chopped fresh veggies.