January 2018 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

17-22: Bread Loaves with Creamy Filling

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 31, 2018November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, breads, breakfast, cheese, chervil, chopped, cottage cheese, creamy, dill, easy, filling, herbs and spices, inexpensive, kneaded, lunch, melted, parsley, proofed, salt, sliced, snacks, tarragon, untested, vegetarian, white bread, whole wheat bread, whole wheat flour, yeast

One of the last few from the “in-the-queue-way-too-long” batch, here’s 17-22: Bread Loaves with Creamy Filling. I’ve been putting this recipe off for a while–I never seemed to have or remembered to buy cottage cheese to make it. Yes, in another 1980s-lowfat-health-craze-inspired moment, Simply Delicious chooses to sacrifice flavor for “health benefits”, this time by stuffing whole wheat bread with herb-flavored cottage cheese.

See? “Healthy” is right there in the description. Now, 30+ years later, we’ve determined that fats are probably better for you than we thought back then, and carbs/sugar are probably a lot worse for you. Remember, when they make things “low-fat”, they usually have to jack up the sugar to make it somewhat edible. Not really a great strategy for weight loss, as my parents’ yo-yo dieting throughout the 80s, 90s, and beyond can attest to.

9-13: Hungarian Frittata

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses January 30, 2018October 18, 2020breakfast, chopped, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dried spices, Eastern European, easy, eggs, franks, frittata, green bell peppers, herbs and spices, hot dogs, Hungarian, inexpensive, lunch, paprika, red bell peppers, salami, sausage, sautéed, sliced, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, wieners, yellow onions

Frittata is one of my favorite dishes. I could eat eggs all day: morning, noon, and night. I am so happy that the meme of Put an Egg On It has come into existence. A warm egg yolk on top of well done corned beef hash is my favorite application of Put an Egg On It. Sausages and salami inside a bed of scrambled eggs could be a close second for best application of eggs in a dish.

A frittata sounds a lot like an omelette: Eggs, veggies, and meat combined together. The difference is in how the ingredients are combined.

5-8: Royal Crêpes

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 25, 2018January 19, 2023all-purpose flour, breakfast, broiled, butter, butter sauce, Cheddar, cheese, chilled, chopped, cooked shrimp, creamy, crêpes, dill, double boiler, dried herbs, egg yolks, eggs, emulsion, fairly expensive, fairly hard, half-and-half, herbs and spices, Hollandaise sauce, lemon juice, lunch, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, pancakes, peeled, salt, seafood, shredded, shrimp, untested, whipping cream

More queue-cleaning–add 5-8: Royal Crêpes to the pile of other crêpe recipes that I’ve done over the course of this project. When I first started making crêpes for this project about 4 years ago now, I had never made crêpes before. Now I feel like I’ve got a pretty good handle on the concept, so let’s kick it up a notch with a “royal” version. ?

Oh no–my mortal enemy: Hollandaise sauce. I’ve struggled with it in the past–will this be my redemption? Jump behind the cut and find out!

8-22: Beef Tenderloin with Whole Garlic

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses January 24, 2018October 18, 2020beef, beef tenderloin, blender, butter, chilled, chopped, creamy, crushed red pepper, dinner, dried herbs, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, food processor, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, herbs and spices, lemons, melted, minced, pan-fried, parsley, pastry bag, piped, roasted, rosettes, salt, sliced, Tabasco sauce, tarragon, untested, Worcestershire sauce, yellow onions

Oooh-la-la! What a fancy recipe 8-22: Beef Tenderloin with Whole Garlic is!. I have never attempted a dish like this before, but I approached it with confidence because I’ve watched Jamie make both a spiced butter and oven roasted garlic. She makes it look easy, but making this dish was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I don’t have plates with fancy fluted edges and I was out of red wine to serve with my dish, but I served it as best I could.

This dish is definitely gourmet. With spiced butter and roasted garlic, this dish contains a lot more elements than my usual go-to dishes.

17-10: Poppy Seed Bread

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 23, 2018August 31, 2020all-purpose flour, anise, baked goods, breads, buns, butter, cheese, cumin, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly hard, granulated sugar, grated, inexpensive, kneaded, milk, parchment paper, poppy seeds, proofed, rolls, salt, sesame seeds, side dish, Silpat, untested, vegetarian, white bread, yeast

One of the last entries from the Baked Goods chapter, 17-10: Poppy Seed Bread is essentially white bread with a sprinkling of poppy seeds on top. Simply Delicious shows it as a loaf, but I chose to make it into rolls/buns–since you’re already topping the bread with seeds, it makes it very reminiscent of sesame seed hamburger buns. ?

Even 20+ years later, most mentions of poppy seeds inevitably end up referencing this Seinfeld gag, where Elaine’s love for poppy seed muffins keep causing her to test positive for opium on a work-administered drug test.

This often leads to the question: Can poppy seeds really affect a drug test? And the answer, according to the New York Times, is actually “Yes!” ? You’d have to eat a LOT of them (much more than what the recipe for this bread contains) to have it show up at levels that would cause alarm–but the claim does actually have merit.

6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses January 22, 2018October 14, 2020Asian, basted, braised, brown sugar, cabbage, canola oil, chicken, chili sauce, Chinese, Chinese cabbage, cornstarch, dairy-free, dinner, drumsticks, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, ginger, grated, herbs and spices, lunch, minced, mirin, peeled, pineapple, pineapple juice, rice wine vinegar, salt, sautéed, shredded, soy sauce, sweet-and-sour, sweet-and-sour sauce, Tabasco sauce, tender-crisp, thighs, untested, vegetables, white wine vinegar

The quote from the front of the recipe card for 6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken is as true as anything I could write about this recipe:

“Cook chicken legs and thighs the Chinese way, in a sweet-and-sour sauce. This is such a simple way of preparing bargain chicken and the result is just terrific.“

Sweet-and-sour sauce tastes great when you make it fresh, but it’s just as easy to buy the thick, red sauce in a jar and call it good.

7-22: Oven-Grilled Ribs

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses January 21, 2018June 19, 2020baked potatoes, barbecue, black pepper, boneless, brushed, country-style, dairy-free, deglazed, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, ginger, grilled, herbs and spices, lunch, party food, pork, ribs, rosemary, rubbed, salt, soy sauce, tamari, untested

During the recent process of going through and relinking all of the pictures for this site, I came across a set of pictures from a recipe I cooked back in March of 2016, but never wrote about or posted. So almost two years later, I finally bring you 7-22: Oven-Grilled Ribs.

You’ll have to bear with me on this one…I remember it, but it may not end up being as descriptive as if it were more recent. I often write these on a delay (especially these days as I split my time between relinking old posts and writing new ones), but 2 years is a new record.

4-10: Spinach-Mushroom Ring

Adam Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 19, 2018October 4, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, butter, chopped, creamy, diced, dinner, eggs, fail, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, frozen, grated, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lunch, milk, mushrooms, nutmeg, ring mold, salt, sautéed, side dish, sliced, spinach, stews, tart pan, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

4-10: Spinach-Mushroom Ring claims to be perfect for a ladies’ luncheon…this light and fluffy egg and mushroom stew dish is yet another dish that I wouldn’t generally make for myself. I ate one of these rings and threw the rest out, and if you know anything about me, that’s something I rarely do.

This dish is described as luscious and from the most accepted and common definition, it can described as richly luxurious or appealing to the senses. The combined flavors of the mushroom sauce and spinach omelette could be described as rich and creamy, but that still doesn’t mean it was a tasty dish.

11-1: Steamed Halibut with Vermouth

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses January 18, 2018July 6, 2020blender, butter, creamy, crème fraîche, dinner, dry vermouth, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, fish, fish bouillon, fish filets, flaked, food processor, frozen, garnish, gluten-free, green bell peppers, halibut, lemon pepper, liquor, melted, red bell peppers, salmon, salt, seafood, seafood steak, sour cream, steamed, strained, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, white pepper, white wine

I had mentioned in 11-5: Lemon Pepper Scallops that we had a plan to cook more of the Fish/Seafood and Beef recipes since we had already gone through a good portion of the Chicken/Poultry, Pork, and Ground Meat/Sausage ones. Summer got busy, and not as many of those recipes got made as I had intended. I made 11-1: Steamed Halibut with Vermouth during those summer months but I never wrote about it until now (while I clear out the queue).

I’ll agree with the method of cooking being excellent: the fish component came out great. I’m not a huge pea or vermouth fan so the sauce was probably not one I would repeat, but it was a well-done sauce otherwise. Technique-wise I feel like it’s definitely one of Simply Delicious‘ stronger offerings–if you’re really into 1980s-style food.

9-17: Ham-Wrapped Meat Loaf

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses January 16, 2018October 18, 2020allspice, bacon, beef, black pepper, bread crumbs, chopped, cornstarch, deglazed, diced, dinner, dried spices, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, gravy, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, half-and-half, ham, herbs and spices, lunch, meal prep, meatloaf, milk, panade, panko, parsley, pork, red onions, salt, sliced, smoked ham, sour cream, tomatoes, untested, white bread

A good friend from high school once had the genius idea to open a meatloaf based restaurant, based on his family’s famous meatloaf recipe. If he ever got the place off the ground, I’d expect he’d add a dish similar to 9-17: Ham-Wrapped Meat Loaf to his menu. I think it’d be weird to have a fast casual restaurant that is based around meatloaf. What would you call it? Meat Loaf Market? Meatloaf-ology?

Wrapping a meatloaf in bacon or ham is a tried and true way to make any ordinary blob of ground meat taste more interesting.

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