fairly easy – Page 12 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

14-25: Crêpes with Fruity Filling

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 30, 2016July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, bananas, boysenberries, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, cherries, crème fraîche, crêpes, dessert, eggs, fairly easy, French, fruit, granulated sugar, half-and-half, hot desserts, inexpensive, lukewarm, lunch, melted, milk, omelette, pineapple, powdered sugar, raspberries, salt, sour cream, strawberries, stuffed, untested, whipped

14-25: Crêpes with Fruity Filling is only the second recipe I’ve covered for Group 14: Hot Desserts, but it’s the third total crêpe recipe that I’ve tried from the book (the others being 5-22: Crêpes with Chicken and 5-24: Meat-Filled Crêpes) so far. Those two previous recipes were savory–this one is sweet.

This recipe is suggested for dessert, but I think you could have it for breakfast (or even lunch) if you wanted. If you don’t like the fruit they suggest, you can substitute your own or whatever is local/in season. 🍒🍍🍓

5-6: Cheese Soufflé

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 28, 2016April 29, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, breakfast, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cornstarch, creamy, dinner, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, French, Gouda, grated, Gruyère, inexpensive, Jarlsberg, lunch, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, party food, salt, shredded, side dish, soufflés, stand mixer, untested, vegetarian, whipped

Soufflés are one of the stereotypical fancy foods–a harried chef attempting to keep one from falling due to its delicate, temperamental nature used to be a common comedy trope.

The two most common variations are the dessert version (like a chocolate one) and the savory version (like this recipe, 5-6: Cheese Soufflé). I’ve covered one savory soufflé dish already from this book: 4-11: Potato Soufflé with Onions.

This would be a good recipe to add some green onions or chives to–I think it would add some nice color to the soufflé without weighing it down. Simply Delicious shows this recipe in individual ramekins, but I’m going to make it all in one big soufflé dish–I have to justify its existence in my cabinet.

9-10: Lean Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses May 13, 2016July 5, 2020appetizers, basil, black pepper, boiled, bread crumbs, canola oil, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dried herbs, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, ground meat, ground turkey, herbs and spices, Italian seasoning, lunch, meatballs, minced, olive oil, panko, parsley, party food, salt, sautéed, tomato sauce, untested, veal, white bread, white pepper, yellow onions

Here’s another one of those 1980s attempts at “healthy”. 9-10: Lean Meatballs with Tomato Sauce calls for the use of veal, which doesn’t immediately resonate with me as being “healthy”. A quick and dirty Google search comes up with veal having less calories than pork but more cholesterol than beef. Calories were the enemy in the 1980s, so I suppose that’s part of their justification for deeming veal meatballs “healthy”.

I’m not a huge fan of veal, and considering there’s a whole lamb & veal section to this book that I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of, we’re going to keep these meatballs “healthy” and swap veal for turkey. My mom was (and still is) a huge proponent of ground turkey, so this is probably a swap she or I would have made if we’d made this before.

17-38: Olive Bread

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 12, 2016September 20, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, baked goods, basil, black olives, breads, breakfast, brushed, buns, cheese, chipotle, crescents, crispy, dairy-free, dinner, dough, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, garlic, Greek, herbes de Provence, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, inexpensive, kalamata, kneaded, lunch, olive oil, oregano, parchment paper, Parmesan, party food, proofed, revisited, rolls, rosemary, salt, sandwiches, side dish, Silpat, sliders, snacks, Tarzana apt, vegetarian, yeast

Here’s one I’ve made a couple of times before. 17-38: Olive Bread is a nice, easy bread to make, especially if you don’t have a ton of experience with the process. I think sometimes yeast doughs can be intimidating to beginners, but this one hasn’t failed me yet–even when I was still just beginning to make bread. If you’re looking for a more “plain” type easy bread, check out 17-6: Best Ever White Bread. However, if you like those olive batard breads from the bakery section of the market, you’ll love this one.

I’ve made this twice before, once in its intended form (but with more olives because I LOVE olives) and again soon after, but in a smaller bun-size with chipotle peppers & garlic instead of olives. I used them for slider buns for burgers intended for a New Years’ party, judging from the date on the card. What will I change about this recipe this time?

9-20: Meat Roly-Poly

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses May 1, 2016July 5, 20201998 dinner, all-purpose flour, baked goods, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, bread crumbs, breakfast, butter, canola oil, corn oil, diced, dinner, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, green bell peppers, ground beef, ground meat, herbs and spices, Hutton house, kneaded, lunch, melted, milk, mushrooms, panko, paprika, pared, party food, proofed, red bell peppers, revisited, salt, sautéed, sesame seeds, Silpat, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, yeast, yellow onions

Here’s one I’ve made before. In one of my previous entries (6-22: Crispy Chicken Drumsticks), I mentioned doing all the cooking for a family dinner party when I was 12-13 years old with a similarly-aged family friend of mine. 9-20: Meat Roly-Poly is another one of the recipes I remember making for that party.

Another memory from this dinner party: I had just gotten a new CD (Version 2.0 by Garbage) and we were listening to it on my parents’ GIANT 1970s hi-fi stereo system over and over as we spent the day cooking. Gives you an idea of how old I am, and how long I’ve been cooking from this book.

6-32: Savory Buffet Chicken

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses April 30, 2016June 18, 2020apples, Asian, blender, breasts, chicken, coconut, coconut milk, creamy, crushed tomatoes, curry powder, dairy-free, dinner, Dutch oven, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garlic, gluten-free, grated, herbs and spices, Indian, lunch, minced, olive oil, Oriental, salt, sautéed, sesame seeds, tahini, thighs, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions

Indian never goes well for Simply Delicious. 11-16: Indian Fried Fish was a bust, and 12-22: Nasi Goreng was less than exciting. This recipe, 6-32: Savory Buffet Chicken doesn’t openly identify itself as Indian-inspired, but it’s pretty similar to another clandestinely-influenced recipe, 6-8: Curried Chicken.

“Oriental” is a term you don’t really hear any more (as I mentioned in 7-11: Oriental Pork Stir-Fry), and the language seems a bit flowery for the 1980s. However, this project is not about that stuff–it’s about the food. Let’s press on.

7-1: Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses April 20, 2016June 18, 2020black pepper, blanched, bread crumbs, butter, cheese, chopped, coated, creamy, dinner, dredged, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garlic, garlic powder, grated, herb salt, herbs and spices, lunch, mushrooms, pan-fried, panko, Parmesan, parsley, parsnips, pork, pork tenderloin, sautéed, side dish, steamed, stews, tenderized, untested, vegetables, whipping cream, white wine

Oh boy, another pork tenderloin recipe. This is the last of my Costco pack, but I’m going tomorrow, so who knows what I’ll come home with. 7-1: Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms is the first card in Group 07: Pork, and a pretty straightforward recipe. Other pork tenderloin recipes I’ve covered so far include 7-27: Pork Tenderloin in Creamy Sauce, 7-34: Grilled Pork Slices with Garlic, and 7-36: Pork Tenderloin with Curry Sauce.

This recipe includes parsnips, a root vegetable related to carrots and parsley. Parsnips are usually winter vegetables, but I think you could probably still get away with it in mid-April.

5-39: Asparagus-Clam Quiche

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 19, 2016October 14, 2020all-purpose flour, asparagus, bacon, black pepper, blanched, boiled, breakfast, cheese, clams, dinner, dried herbs, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, granulated sugar, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, minced, paprika, pie crust, quiches, salt, sautéed, seafood, shortening, shredded, simmered, spring, Swiss, thyme, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Since there’s been a lot of asparagus around lately, I’ve been trying to get through as many asparagus-related Simply Delicious recipes as I can. 5-39: Asparagus-Clam Quiche doesn’t sound particularly exciting or palatable, but it involves our featured ingredient and we have to cover them all, so onward we go.

Quiche is not a foreign concept for Simply Delicious–check out 5-1: Mushroom & Cheese Pie, 5-7: Quiche Lorraine, or 5-23: Cheese Pie with Tomatoes for a few different takes on the dish.

9-30: South American Meatballs

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses April 9, 2016July 6, 2020appetizers, beef, black pepper, bread crumbs, canola oil, chili powder, coated, coconut, diced, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fried, grated, green bell peppers, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, herbs and spices, lemons, limes, lunch, meatballs, milk, pan-fried, panade, panko, paprika, parsley, party food, pork, purée, salt, Silpat, South American, tomato paste, untested, vegetables, yellow onions, zested

There are LOTS of different ways to prepare meatballs–at least 20 according to this Serious Eats piece. So far, the only meatball recipe I’ve covered on here is 9-4: Swedish Meatballs, although 9-44: Wok-Fried Beef Patties are pretty close. A quick Google search brings up albondigas for “South American meatballs”. Prior to 9-30: South American Meatballs, my only experience with either of these concepts is something similar to this recipe that you get at Mexican restaurants. And none of it involves coconut. 🌴

Coconut is the main thing here–it’s meatballs with coconut all up in there. It’s not a bad taste, just an an acquired one. Paprika is usually associated with Hungarian (European) cuisine, but its origins are in the Americas, brought over during all of that New World/Old World business in the 16th century.

4-9: Asparagus with Italian Butter Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 29, 2016October 13, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, asparagus, black pepper, blanched, boiled, butter, butter sauce, chervil, chives, creamy, dinner, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, herbs and spices, Italian, Italian parsley, melted, milk, mounted, parsley, roux, salt, sautéed, side dish, spring, steamed, tarragon, tender-crisp, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, whipping cream, white wine, yellow onions

Late March/early April is right around the time asparagus begins its short season, so if you happen to find yourself with some in the near future, here’s a recipe for you: 4-9: Asparagus with Italian Butter Sauce. I served this as a side dish along with 8-20: Juicy Steak with Garlic Topping.

There’s such a short window of time when asparagus is in season–you start seeing it around March-April, and it’s done around early summer, in June-July. We’ve recently signed back up for our CSA box after a break, and asparagus was waiting for us in the first one.