Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project – Page 2 – A recipe-by-recipe adventure working our way through a treasured set of 1980s subscription-based cookbooks.

8-38: Brandy Two-Pepper Beef Steak

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses February 20, 2024February 19, 2024beef, black pepper, brandy, butter, capers, carved, deglazed, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, flambé, garnish, gluten-free, gravy, liqueur, olive oil, peppercorns, seared, sirloin, sliced, steak, untested, watercress, Worcestershire sauce

I got into making my own plant-based meats a few years ago, mostly because the options available in the markets at the time were A) expensive; B) hard to find; and C) not very good. B and C have mostly been rectified in the last few years, so I find myself buying more of that and making less of my own (proving that time is money).

However, I had at one point stocked up my freezer with a lot of the homemade stuff, so 8-38: Brandy Two-Pepper Beef Steak is another one of those recipes where I was using up what was left of that stash.

It’s been challenging to figure out how to tackle these meat-focused recipes when I don’t really eat it anymore, so a lot of these have ended up being more “adaptations” rather than full replications of the given recipe. There’s so many cooking travesties on social media and the internet these days–this feels like a drop in the bucket at this point.

15-15: Tiramisu

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 19, 2024February 18, 2024biscotti, biscuits, brandy, chilled, coffee, cognac, cold desserts, cream cheese, creamed, dessert, easy, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, espresso, fairly expensive, folded, instant coffee, Italian, layers, liqueur, mascarpone, meringue, party food, powdered sugar, soaked, stiff peaks, untested, vegetarian

If you’re still in the “indulgent” spirit, 15-15: Tiramisu comes highly recommended. I remember when tiramisu had its big moment around the time this book was published, so it’s not surprising that it was included in this book.

This is a great one to make in advance of a party or dinner…just don’t sneak too many bites before you serve it!

19-23: Nuts

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School February 18, 2024February 18, 2024almond extract, almond meal, almond milk, almond oil, almond paste, almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, coconut, coconut flour, coconut milk, coconut oil, cooking school, hazelnut oil, hazelnuts, ingredients, macadamia nuts, nuts, peanut oil, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, vegan, vegetarian, walnut oil, walnuts

Do you enjoy nuts? I wasn’t a big fan of them growing up, but find myself warming up to them in my adult years. 19-23: Nuts is another entry from Simply Delicious’ Cooking School, and it outlines a lot of different types of nuts, ranging from the more common to some less frequently used kinds. Nuts are found in all types of cuisines, and are a good source of protein and other healthy stuff.

In case Simply Delicious isn’t enough for you, here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry for nuts. Compare that to the “nut” wisdom from 35 years ago you can find after the jump.

13-3: Vegetable Deep Dish Pie

Jamie Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses June 8, 2023June 8, 2023all-purpose flour, black pepper, butter, canola oil, Cheddar, cheese, custard, cut in, deep dish, dinner, eggs, fairly hard, inexpensive, layers, leeks, lunch, milk, pastry, pie crust, pies, quiches, salt, sautéed, shortcrust, shredded, sliced, tomatoes, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, zucchini

Ahoy there! Like most people who started a blog a while ago, I’m not as consistent with it as I used to be, but I’ll always come back at some point (usually when work is slow and/or we have a holiday weekend coming up…).

Today’s entry is a good one for all you vegetable gardeners out there–13-3: Vegetable Deep Dish Pie. I was growing zucchini and tomatoes last year (that’s when I actually cooked this), so this one was perfect to use some of those up.

Of course, if you’ve got something else in the ground this year (I’ve got a different type of tomato and some assorted pepper plants this time around), you can vary this to accommodate whatever you’ve got or whatever you like. There’s always farmers’ markets as well!

16-19: Midsummer Cake

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 30, 2023March 30, 2023almond extract, almonds, boxed cake mix, butter, cakes, creamed, decorative, dessert, easy, egg yolks, eggs, fairly inexpensive, French, frosting, fruit, garnish, granulated sugar, grated, liqueur, mint, nuts, orange juice, orange peel, oranges, party food, sliced, spring, strawberries, summer, toasted, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

We’re barely into spring, so what better way to celebrate that than to jump ahead to summer with 16-19: Midsummer Cake? We’ll call it being super proactive–you’re already thinking ahead for summer. Like when you go shopping for spring clothes and the summer stuff is already on the shelves. Look at you being so productive. Such a trendsetter!

There’s no rule saying you HAVE to make this in summer–it could be a great spring dessert as well. In fact, strawberries are generally considered more of a “spring fruit” more so than a summer one (depending on where you live), so maybe we should update this to be a “Spring Cake”? I can’t go with “Mid-Spring Cake” because that sounds like something you make in the middle of a jump.

8-62: Oven-Baked Baby Beef Ribs

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses March 14, 2023March 14, 2023all-purpose flour, basted, beef, black pepper, brushed, chili sauce, dairy-free, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, red onions, ribs, roasted, salt, shallots, untested

Simply Delicious has a lot of rib recipes, however I think 8-62: Oven-Baked Baby Beef Ribs might be the first one I’ve covered that features beef ribs instead of pork. Here’s an article that breaks down some differences between the two types–I haven’t eaten real meat in like 5 years at this point, so I don’t feel like it’s my place to have that discussion with you.

They show their ribs with some baby carrots (you can buy them already cut/prepped to look this way, but perhaps should consider roasting them) and green beans, but if you’d like an unhealthier option (who wouldn’t), you can serve them with some “Kenji” onion rings instead like we did.

14-28: “Hot Love”

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 15, 2023February 15, 2023chocolate, chocolate curls, cookies, dessert, easy, fairly expensive, fruit, garnish, grated, hot desserts, ice cream, liqueur, macaroons, orange juice, party food, raspberries, raspberry liqueur, raspberry sauce, shortbread, simmered, soft peaks, untested, Valentine's Day, vegetarian, whipped, whipping cream

I’m a day late, but had intended to post 14-28: “Hot Love” for Valentine’s Day, because how could you not? Apologies for procrastinating on it, but at least it’s there for Valentine’s Day 2024 (and beyond).

This one used to make me giggle every time I looked at the card as a kid–it felt cheesy to me even back then (but also sort of intriguing in that “is this what grown-ups do?” kind of way). I pretty much still feel the same way about it (grown-up question and all).

What is the plate in the picture above resting on (besides a book)? A cabinet on its side? A locked trunk? What’s in the box!?

Can you tell I’m not much of a romantic?

19-17: Butter, Margarine, and Oils II

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School January 21, 2023January 21, 2023almond oil, avocado oil, bacon fat, butter, canola oil, chicken fat, chili oil, coconut oil, cooking school, corn oil, hazelnut oil, how-to, lard, margarine, olive oil, palm oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, shortening, soybean oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, walnut oil

To start off 2023, here’s a follow-up to an entry I wrote almost 7 years ago–better late than never, I always say. 19-17: Butter, Margarine, and Oils II is the sequel to 19-16: Butter, Margarine, and Oils I–I had promised back then that I’d write it, I just didn’t think it’d take me that long to do it. You’ll see why this one took so much longer than the first one once you get into it.

To give you an idea of why this one took so much longer: it actually gets more into the different types of oils and fats–the first one was more of a brief overview of the concept.

After the jump, I’ll give some links to Simply Delicious recipes that use these different types of oils. We’ll also take a look at the back of the card, which goes into more detail about different types of fats (butter, margarine, lard, etc.).

2-1: West Coast Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 20, 2022December 20, 2022asparagus, black pepper, California, canola oil, cooked shrimp, crab, creamy, Dijon mustard, dill, dinner, dressing, easy, fairly expensive, fish, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, grated, half-and-half, horseradish, iceberg lettuce, lemons, lettuce, lobster, lunch, mayonnaise, minced, mushrooms, mussels, new book, rockfish, salads, salt, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, sour cream, tomatoes, vegetable oil, vinaigrette, vinegar, yellow mustard

A wise man once said, ” You don’t win friends with salad.” I’m not sure how many friends you’ll be winning with 2-1: West Coast Salad, but if you’re looking for something keto-friendly (we used to call that low-carb or “Atkins-friendly” back in the day, kids) and you need a break from the cookies and candies that are EVERYWHERE around this time of year, this might be the ticket.

By Western shore/West Coast, we’re referring to the western coast of the United States which includes the states of California (where I live and am from), Oregon, and Washington. The seafood is in fact different in the Pacific versus the Atlantic–you won’t find a lot of lobster here, but you will find an abundance of crab and mussels.

15-24: Monterosso Ice Cream

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 6, 2022December 6, 2022cake pan, cakes, cherry liqueur, cold desserts, creamed, crushed, dessert, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, folded, frozen, fruit, fruit juice, garnish, granulated sugar, ice cream, ice cream maker, Italian, kiwis, layers, liqueur, mashed, meringue, party food, peeled, pineapple, soft peaks, stiff peaks, strained, strawberries, summer, untested, whipped, whipping cream

Because it takes me a while to get around to writing these, it often works out that I’m writing about winter recipes in the summer and vice versa. Sticking with that theme, I present to you (in December) 15-24: Monterosso Ice Cream. Hey, at least it’ll be timely if you’re in the Southern hemisphere. I bet you guys are tired of everything being geared towards the Northern hemisphere anyway, so this one’s for you.

In case you were wondering, Monterosso is a coastal village in Italy, and it looks very nice. Totally giving me White Lotus S2 vibes. I can’t seem to find anything that associates a certain type of dessert or ice cream with the town, but I did find some recommendations for gelato in case you’re ever in the area.