Pesto Cream Tortellini

Family favorite and so fast, not to mention it looks fancy and it's easy. Best combination! Highly recommend. We love this recipe.

Simmer 1 cup heavy cream with 1/4 cup pesto in a skillet until slightly thickened. Stir in 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Toss with 12 ounces cooked tortellini and 2 cups steamed broccoli.

Feast.

Shrimp Stir Fry with Snow Peas and Coconut Curry Sauce

I'm a big fan of the "ethnic" foods so get ready for a wave of these delicious recipes I've been hoarding :)

This one was delicious with the slightly sweet and creamy coconut sauce. We absolutely LOVED all the veggies that filled this up. Lots of great color and delicious!

INGREDIENTS

Shrimp Stir Fry:
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used frozen and thawed them beforehand)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 bell pepper, cored, seeded, and sliced (any type will do)
• 8 ounces snow peas, strings removed
• 1 cup bean sprouts
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger (scared of fresh ginger? don’t be…it can be peeled and frozen easily to be used at anytime)
Coconut-Curry Sauce:
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons red curry paste (I used 2 teaspoons for a doubled recipe – this paste can be found in most grocery stores in the Asian foods aisle near the Thai ingredients)
• 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

DIRECTIONS

1. For the sauce, combine the sauce ingredients in a medium bowl (I doubled the sauce because we love extra sauce in our family). Set aside. Toss the shrimp with soy sauce. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up any clumps, until curled and lightly browned, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp to a clean bowl.
2. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to the pan and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes. Stir in snow peas and bean sprouts and cook for one more minute.
3. Clear the center of the pan and add remaining 1 teaspoon oil, garlic and ginger. Cook, mashing garlic mixture into the pan with the back of a spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in cooked shrimp. Whisk sauce to recombine and add to pan, bringing to a simmer. Cook until the sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.

Coconut-Pecan German Chocolate Pie

So, this is a fun twist on German Chocolate Cake. It's kind of exactly like you'd imagine it from the pictures.  The pie is a creamy, dense, fudge-like filling that's deliciously chocolatey with nuts sprinkled in and topped with a gooey coconut and pecan frosting. Very rich and truly delicious if you're in the mood for a good German Chocolate fix. From here.

Maybe a new pie for Thanksgiving?

Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 6 tablespoons cold lard

• 3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

• FILLING:

• 4 ounces German sweet chocolate, chopped

• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped

• 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

• 4 egg yolks

• 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

• 1 cup chopped pecans

• TOPPING:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

• 1/4 cup butter, cubed

• 2 egg yolks

• 1 cup flaked coconut

• 1 teaspoon McCormick® Pure Vanilla Extract

• 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix flour and salt; cut in lard until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed. Shape into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim pastry to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Line unpricked pastry with a double thickness of foil. Fill with pie weights, dried beans or uncooked rice.
3. Bake 11-13 minutes or until bottom is lightly browned. Remove foil and weights; bake 6-8 minutes longer or until light brown. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven setting to 350°.
4. In a microwave, melt chocolates in a large bowl; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Whisk in milk, egg yolks and vanilla; stir in pecans. Pour into crust. Bake 16-19 minutes or until set. Cool 1 hour on a wire rack.
5. Meanwhile, in a small heavy saucepan, combine brown sugar, cream and butter. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat.
6. In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Cook 2-3 minutes or until mixture thickens and a thermometer reads 160°, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut and vanilla; cool 10 minutes.
7. Pour over filling; sprinkle with pecans. Refrigerate 4 hours or until cold. Yield: 8 servings.

Smoky Honey Mustard Pork Chops

The BEST pork chop recipe I have found in a long time!!  We just had this for dinner tonight and everyone loved it!  Relatively fast and easy.  Found this on ourbestbites.com -- they always have such great recipes.  

The only problem I encountered was when I was broiling them, I checked the temperature after the recommended time (8-10 mins) and they were far from being hot enough (165 degrees) so I ended up adding about 15 minutes (in smaller increments of time) until they were finished.  I would highly recommend slicing your pork chops thinner (1" thick at most) to avoid this problem.

Smoky Honey Mustard Pork Chops

4 4-6 oz. pork loin or sirloin chops

Kosher salt and pepper

Liquid Smoke

3 Tbsp. Dijon or whole grain mustard

1 1/2 Tbsp. honey

2 cloves minced garlic

Sprinkle pork chops with Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper. Give them a liberal dousing of liquid smoke (you can usually find this either near the seasonings or the BBQ sauce/condiments in the grocery store). Set aside.

Heat oven broiler to high or preheat grill. Combine honey, garlic, and mustard. Place pork chops on broiler pan/grill and cook for 4-5 minutes. Turn and cook another 4-5 minutes. You want the internal temperature to be at least 165 (that’s a little pink inside), but you also don’t want to overcook them because they’ll become tough. So you may need to adjust your cooking times a little, bearing in mind that they have two minutes to cook after the initial 8-10 minutes.

Baste with honey mustard mixture and cook an additional minute. Turn and baste other side; cook for one additional minute. Remove from heat and allow to stand a few minutes to seal in the juices.