chopped – Page 12 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

8-12: Beef Stroganoff

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses August 4, 2016July 2, 2020beef, black pepper, butter, chopped, creamy, Dijon mustard, dinner, fairly easy, fairly expensive, gluten-free, ground beef, ground meat, ground turkey, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, mushrooms, paprika, parsley, rice, Russian, salt, sautéed, simmered, sirloin, sliced, sour cream, stroganoff, tomato paste, tomato sauce, untested, vegetables, vodka, whipping cream, yellow onions

Stroganoff was a VERY common dish in my house when I was growing up. Since this was the 90s (low-fat everything), it was usually made with plain ground turkey, powdered mix from a packet, and some light sour cream (which is essentially tasteless mush–real sour cream was a revelation when I got older). It got to the point where I couldn’t even stand the smell of stroganoff because my mom made this dish so often.

Time has passed, and stroganoff & I have had a reconciliation. I make it about once every other month now for work, but from scratch and not with packet mix (but still using ground turkey since it’s leaner). Simply Delicious has two stroganoff recipes: 13-6: Mushroom Stroganoff (a vegetarian version) and this one, 8-12: Beef Stroganoff. I made both at the same time, as part of a stroganoff-off.

Beef stroganoff is a pretty well known dish, and it’s not surprising that it’d be included in a book like this with so many other “classic” dishes. Let’s see how far Simply Delicious strays from the norm–who knows…they might surprise us.

7-7: Mushroom-Stuffed Pork Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses August 2, 2016June 19, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, beef broth, black olives, black pepper, boiled, braised, butter, chicken broth, chopped, creamy, deglazed, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, half-and-half, ham, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, mushrooms, parsley, party food, pork, pork shoulder, rolls, sage, salt, sautéed, shiitake, sliced, soy sauce, stuffed, tenderized, toothpicks, umami, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Simply Delicious uses mushrooms pretty heavily throughout their recipes–about 20% of the recipes I’ve covered so far have involved them. I wasn’t a big mushroom eater when I was a kid, but I’ve (slowly) begun warming up to them. 7-7: Mushroom-Stuffed Pork Rolls aren’t especially fancy, but they’re not a bad option for lunch, dinner, or even making in a large batch for a party.

This is the first recipe (of 160+ at this point) that uses sage, described as being “savory & slightly peppery.” I like using sage with mushrooms (along with parsley, rosemary, & thyme–the “essential herbs,” according to Simon & Garfunkel), as the earthy flavors of both complement each other well.🌿

9-2: Mexican Fiesta

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses July 21, 2016July 5, 2020appetizers, black olives, broiled, canola oil, casserole, cheese, chili powder, chopped, dinner, dips, easy, egg-free, garlic, ground beef, ground meat, guacamole, inexpensive, lunch, melted, Mexican, minced, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, nachos, party food, Pepper Jack, pimento, pinto beans, sautéed, side dish, snacks, sour cream, tacos, Tex-Mex, tomato sauce, tortilla chips, untested, yellow onions

9-2: Mexican Fiesta sounds exciting, but it’s really just poorly layered nachos. I know that they were trying to make it seem like a casserole, but all the good stuff that goes in tacos/nachos is basically layered in a pan and covered with a layer of chips on top. I think you’re supposed to eat it like a dip? 🌮

I like the touch of the Corona with a lime in the background of their picture, like all of a sudden that makes it a party. I can’t think of too many decent Mexican places that would serve something like this, but if you want something festive yet inoffensive for a party or a lengthy Netflix session, I suppose this recipe could get the job done. 🌶

8-11: Sirloin Steak Baked In Foil

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses July 20, 2016October 18, 2020beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, blanched, boiled, broiled, butter, chopped, deglazed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, foil pouch, garlic, gluten-free, julienned, lunch, mushrooms, pan-fried, paprika, party food, red wine, salt, sautéed, sirloin, steak, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

I have never cooked steak using the method in this recipe, 8-11: Sirloin Steak Baked in Foil, before and I probably would never cook them this way again. I like all the extra garnish, but it is a pain to cut and prepare that many vegetables for people to pick around to get to the main ingredient, the BEEF. 🐮

I used the red wine suggestion on the card, but I felt like I should have used beef broth to keep the beef-y flavor. This recipe also keeps a trend going, sticking with the foil pouch cooking method that Jamie used in the previous recipe on here, 6-25: Salmon-Filled Chicken Breasts.

6-25: Salmon-Filled Chicken Breasts

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses July 19, 2016June 17, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, breasts, chicken, chicken bouillon, chopped, creamy, crème fraîche, dill, dinner, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, foil pouch, grated, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, salmon, salt, smoked salmon, sour cream, stuffed, tarragon, untested

I’ve been saving some lox in the freezer from a past brunch for this recipe, 6-25: Salmon-Filled Chicken Breasts. There’s not a lot of salmon recipes in Simply Delicious (despite salmon’s popularity in the 1980s & 90s), and this may be one of the only smoked salmon ones that I have in my collection for this book.

Definitely not the first time Simply Delicious has given a recipe for stuffed chicken breasts–see 6-4: Easy Stuffed Chicken Breasts for another take on the same idea. However, if you like smoked salmon like I do, you may have some extra laying around–here’s a use for it. 🐟

7-14: Easy-to-Make Pork Casserole

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses June 29, 2016June 18, 20204-92 week, almonds, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, boneless, butter, casserole, celery, chicken, chopped, cubed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, ginger, green beans, green onions, ham, herbs and spices, Hutton house, lunch, melted, pork, pork shoulder, revisited, salt, sautéed, scallions, soy sauce, toasted, vegetables, yellow onions

I think Simply Delicious was aimed at the working-mom demographic primarily–a lot of the recipes focus on easy weeknight meals just as much as the fancy dinner party options. 7-14: Easy-to-Make Pork Casserole is a casserole in the sense of a casserole being a bunch of random stuff thrown together in a vessel and then heated.

Casseroles are typically defined as the traditional green bean or tuna types that we (by that I mean mostly Americans) associate with that word. This dish is a loose mixing of vegetables and pork cubes, and is honestly much more reminiscent of 7-55: Sunday Pork Stew than of “casserole”. My mom seemed to like it though, when she made it back in April of 1992.

11-25: Best Ever Sole Au Gratin

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses June 27, 2016July 7, 2020all-purpose flour, au gratin, black pepper, butter, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, cooked shrimp, creamy, dinner, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, fish, fish bouillon, fish stock, grated, lunch, mashed potatoes, melted, mushrooms, pared, Parmesan, revisited, roux, Rozie house, salt, sautéed, seafood, shrimp, sole, stuffed, twice-baked, vegetables, whipping cream, white wine, yellow onions

This recipe is already setting high expectations with the title 11-25: Best Ever Sole Au Gratin, and I’m not here to completely dash those hopes. This is a pretty decent fish recipe, as those go (I’m usually wary of home-cooked fish recipes), but it’s nothing spectacular, despite Simply Delicious’ assertions. 🐟

This one gets fancy with the piping bag and tips for the potatoes. I still haven’t replaced my piping/pastry bag set-up since it all failed during the making of 17-52: Apricot Macaroons for the holidays last year (2015). Since I’ve yet to replace it, I’ll have to get creative again.

12-16: Risotto with Pastrami

Adam Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses June 22, 2016October 4, 2020beef, boiled, breakfast, brown rice, cayenne pepper, celery, chopped, cilantro, cubed, dairy-free, diced, dinner, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, garlic, green bell peppers, Italian, Italian parsley, julienned, long-grain, minced, olive oil, omelette, paprika, pastrami, red bell peppers, rice, risotto, salt, sautéed, side dish, smoked ham, turkey, untested, vegetables, white wine, wild rice, yellow onions

Simply Delicious can give a dish a title that seems a bit of a stretch at times and this is definitely a prime case of this phenomenon: 12-16 Risotto with Pastrami.

Editor’s note: A big HELLO to those of you coming here from search engines–apparently there’s significant demand for pastrami risotto? This is one of those sites where we (my husband and I) are working our way through an old set of cookbooks–learn more about it here. Don’t expect anything like traditional risotto here (neither of us wrote any of the actual recipes)–but maybe stick around for an interesting read or two? Thanks for stopping by! 👋

The card even announces, “(t)his recipe for risotto differs from the traditional one.” I’ve never seen a dish like this, but the flavor profile was the same as a fancy omelette, just deconstructed before that was trendy.

2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters June 10, 2016July 8, 2020appetizers, black pepper, Cheddar, cheese, chopped, Dijon mustard, dinner, dressing, easy, egg-free, French, garlic, Gruyère, ham, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, julienned, lettuce, lunch, marinated, minced, mushrooms, olive oil, paprika, party food, red wine vinegar, salads, salt, side dish, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

It’s been a while since we’ve done a salad. This recipe, 2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad sounded fancy, and I had found myself with mushrooms, ham, and lettuce. Simply Delicious leans heavily on French cuisine, so it’s not surprising to see them attempt a French salad. But is this an actual French dish, or just something made up for Americans (like the classic “Chinese” example, General Tso’s chicken)?

I Googled a bit to see if there was an actual ham & mushroom salad that was a known part of French cuisine, and I actually was able to track down a somewhat similar recipe from Raymond Blanc, a well-renowned French chef. He published a Gruyere, ham, & mushroom salad recipe in a few of his cookbooks, noting that it came from his French hometown near the Franche-Comté region (not near Paris).

9-15: Peppercorn Beef Burgers

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses June 9, 2016October 20, 2020beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, boiled, brandy, bread crumbs, burgers, butter, chopped, creamy, dinner, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, flambé, Grand Marnier, griddle, ground beef, ground meat, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lemon juice, liquor, lunch, melted, milk, pan-fried, panko, party food, peppercorns, salt, sautéed, sour cream, soy sauce, steak sauce, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions

Hello readers, I’m Adam, your usual author’s husband, chiming in with a guest post. Jamie has these Simply Delicious recipes hung on our kitchen cabinets like a restaurant rail full of orders. There were some easy level recipes that I thought I could cook while Jamie was busy trying to finish her backlog of blog entries. 9-15: Peppercorn Beef Burgers are my first such attempt at preparing a recipe and photographing the process. I have to say that I had a lot of fun (I lit the sauce on fire!🔥) and you’ll see a few more guest posts from me coming up.

I’ve made more than a few burgers in my day, but the sauce on these patties did elevate the dish to a higher level.