Tortellini(s) with Italian Sausage & Spinach

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who will be posting on her own here on Tastebuds very soon.

When I think of
comfort foods, many come to mind... too many to name. Truth be told, my number
one go to comfort food when in a time of need is Hungry Jack Mashed
Potatoes.

Also on my list of
comfort foods would have to be most Italian dishes... one being tortellini(s). I
never knew if that "s" should be at the end but I have a habit of pronouncing it
with it on there.

Back to the
tortelline(s)... today I bring you: Tortellini(s) with Italian Sausage &
Spinach.

Unless you are
going to make your tortellini(s) from scratch, I suggest you use Barilla. They
have a very homemade, classic taste & come in several varieties... I prefer
the Cheese & Spinach.

Next comes the
sauce. Again I am going to stress, if you are not going to make your sauce from
scratch, I suggest Bertolli sauces. I sometimes make my own sauces, & on the
Italian side it is customary to make sauces homemade, but when I do not have the
time to make my own, I choose Bertolli all the way. It's perfectly made &
you do not have to add anything to it like "other" store bought
sauces.

I personally keep
several jars, of several different varieties in my food pantry at all
times.

Now that we have
established that, it's on to browning the sausage. I use a mild Italian
sausage.

After the sausage
is browned thouroly, add fresh spinach. Only add a handful at a time & allow
it to wilt down before adding the next handful. This takes only about 10
seconds so keep your eyes on it at all times.

Now it's time to
add the sauce. I used the Bertolli Vadilla Onion Sauce.

Allow the sausage
& spinach to simmer in the sauce on low. While that is simmering, begin to
boil the tortellini(s). This take aprox. 8 - 10 minutes.

The tortellini(s)
should be prepared el dante (delicate). Drain, but DO NOT rinse. After draining,
place the tortellini(s) back into the empty, warm / hot pot that you boiled it
in.

Now it's time to
pull out that fabulous pasta dish set from Pottery Barn, that is just perfect
for the occasion.

Serve the sausage,
spinach & sauce over the tortellini(s) with a slice of garlic
bread.

Vegemite Cookery

Most people think that you can only have Vegemite on toast and of course most non-Australians think Vegemite tastes horrible, well it is if you spread it like peanut butter thick, the trick with vegemite is to spread it thin especially if you haven't tried it before

Most australian homes have Vegemite not just for use on sandwiches or toast but for stock and as a drink
This recipie comes from the Kraft vegemite website and uses Vegemite as stock

Roast Pumpkin And Leek Risotto
Serves: 4
Preparation: 10-15 mins
Cooking: 40 mins

500g butternut pumpkin, cut into cubes.

olive oil spray.

1 teaspoon butter.

1 leek, sliced and washed.

125g rashers bacon, rind removed and chopped.

1 clove garlic, crushed.

11/4 cups short grain rice.

1 tablespoon VEGEMITE.

1 litre (4 cups) boiling water.

pepper, to taste.1/4 cup finely chopped parsley.

40g butter.

shredded Parmesan cheese.

SPRAY pumpkin with olive oil spray and bake at 200ºC for 25-30 minutes or until golden.

Heat butter in a pan and cook the sliced leek, bacon and garlic for 2-3 minutes or until bacon is browned.

ADD rice and stir for 2 minutes or until coated in butter mixture. Stir in combined Vegemite and water. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally until water is absorbed and rice is cooked.

REMOVE from heat and stir in pepper, parsley, and butter. Spoon into serving bowls and top with shredded Parmesan. Serve immediately

photos from the Kraft Vegemite website

White Sauce

White sauce was the first thing I ever did in the kitchen, standing on top of the kitchen stool at 5 years old I stood and stirred the sauce on top of the stove
Didn't actually make it myself till much later but the stirring is the important part, you have to stir it constantly or it sticks
White sauce is a basic thing its the things you add that make the different sauces
If you want to make Macaroni Cheese add cheese
Or parsley sauce add parsley
Or go fancy french like here, just add the different things

Basic White Sauce
2 Big spoons of plain flour
1 Big spoon of butter or margarine
1/2 cup of milk (may need a little more than that, it depends on how big your spoon is)

Place margarine and flour in saucepan on low heat, stir till margaine is melted, slowly add milk while stirring constantly keep stirring over low heat till sauce is consistency of condensed milk

Thats it, that is all white sause is the same sauce that you use in a fancy chicken dish or on the macaroni cheese or over the roast dinner
Or like my favorite parsley sauce and sardines on toast

Nursing Home BBQ - June 15,07

Recently, with much anticipation, our little family took ourselves off to have BBQ at the nursing home where my ML lives. The cost was $20 per person and the invitation said the menu was: Roast beef, Roast chicken, baked potato with fixings, a salad and dessert. Not anything over the rainbow but since ML was there, we thought it would be fun for us to attend on a lovely summer's night in June.

We were greatly disappointed. The beef was OK, no gravy - the chicken was dry and overcooked and the salad consisted of a green aspic and an orange aspic (gross) because the plates were hot and the aspic just melted into puddles making a psychedelic gravy for the tater and meat to float in. I won't even tell you about the dessert.

Anyway, the next time the NH has this little shindig, we plan to whisk ML out to a nice place and spend the $$ there.

Where, you are asking is a recipe, and I will oblige by putting in this one.






Roasting Chicken on the gas grill

1 or 2 chickens for roasting
pre-marinade:
2tbls extra virgin olive oil
juice from1 lemon
herbs like - basil, tyme, oregano, marjoram and any others you like
2 tbls Dijon mustard
my secret ingredient is about ½ cup coffee leftover from the morning pot.


Now mix this all together and put it and the chicken in a zip-lock bag. Let sit in the fridge for at least an hour or even overnight.



Time to cook:
1st cooking in the microwave oven
Place the chicken and the marinade in a mocrowave safe container that fits the oven; cook on high on one side for about 9 minutes, then turn her over and do it again for another 9 minutes. Toss the marinade after.

2nd cooking on the grill
Place the chicken on a spit and put on the grill - for about another ½ hour with a drip pan under to catch the fat. Watch carefully so the drippings don't ignite. We use BBQ sauce the last 5 minutes or so to get it all glazed and bbqee. AS usual, the chicken is done when pierced with a fork, the juices run clear.

I useally cut it up using big kitchen shears. Easire than a knife and no chance of slicing off a finger.

The marinade isn't written in stone, just make up a slurry of savory things to let her sit in for a while. It is all about your tastes.

Gve it a try, sorry no photo but I will remember to take one the next time I grill a chicken which will probably be this coming Sunday.

Tips and Hints

Not a recipe but a link to a lot of useful information. Of course, there are also recipes on this site as well. I have taken the liberty to post this site here and I am not sure if you want things like this on this "spot". I figure any kind of help we can get to keep our families healthy and happy is cool.
Barb

Edit: This post is linked on the side of this page, if you want to contribute in anyway either links for the usefull links section or your email address so you can post on this blog please feel free to post a comment here .
We welcome all contributions and/or feedback even anonymous ones
Missy A