17-51: Three Palms Quick Bread tastes delicious, but took forever to end up making, since I never seemed to have bananas, dates, and coconut all at the same time. š“
If you like banana bread, this is a really good take on that. Plus, 3 palms instead of 1! Such a deal! š
5-23: Cheese Pie with Tomatoes comes with a bit of a story. About 10 years ago, I spent a week in Chattanooga, Tennessee with my college friend/roommate and his family. His aunt (who was hosting us) attempted to teach me some of her Southern-style recipes while we were there, and one of them was something called ātomato pieā.
Her tomato pie involved a pie crust, tomatoes, a JAR of Hellmannās (it was the South), and a whole bag of shredded cheese. This one is slightly less heart-attack-inducing.
I grew up with turkey meatloaf. You probably grew up with some version of a loaf of meat. 9-28: Stuffed Meatloaf doesnāt stray too far from the traditional mold.
I donāt know about you, but I wouldnāt be too thrilled if the planned dinner for a party was a meatloaf. Donāt get me wrong, Iād appreciate the gesture. However, itās tough to get excited aboutā¦meatloaf.
Hereās one Iāve made in the past–thereās even my Sharpie notations to prove it. I remember making 6-40: Peppercorn Chicken Breasts for my mom, since sheās not a red meat eater and I was making another recipe from this book for everyone else that was heavy on meat. Iāll cover that one eventually, and update this to reflect that. š
My notations claim that itās easy. It is, when you use the right ingredients. If you donāt, it gets a bit tougherā¦
3-2: New England Clam Chowder is one of two recipes that I cooked and photographed before I took an extended break from cooking for this project. Therefore, my memories of the process of this dish may be a little fuzzy, but I think Iāll make some sense of it.
Clam chowder is something that Iāve loved since I was a kid. My husband is from New England and when we go back to visit, itās always an anticipated treat. We made a pretty decent clam chowder in the restaurant I worked at, too, and this recipe comes pretty close.
Of course, itās mandatory that it be referred to as chowdah–say it right!
This oneā¦was challenging. And it seemed so simple! 4-30: Cheese-Stuffed Potato Croquettes are essentially mozzarella sticks with a mashed potato/panko coating. These turned from a quick snack into a multi-day attempt.
Now, before I scare you off this recipe: it was 100% my fault it went south. I tried to improvise in several places, and it proved to be my downfall each time. Sometimes you can take liberties, and sometimes you canāt.
Hereās how you learn those lessons.
Itās feeling a bit unbalanced around hereāwe need more from the back of the book. Hereās one from a brand new group: Pies & Cakes. Just in time for the cooler weather, we have 16-47: Orange-Almond Pie.
This came out really well: it tasted great, and you can make it in a toaster oven!
First of all, ANY mention of 3-8: Gazpacho must immediately be followed with a reference to this episode of the Simpsons.
āItās tomato soup served ICE cold!ā
Yes, Lisa. Yes it is. š
It was the end of summer and we had a ton of tomatoes. Itās a winning combination. š
Thereās not a lot of NEW options when it comes to ground meat. Tacos, stroganoff, lasagna, burgers, meatloaf, etc. This one isnāt exactly new either, but hey–we can always use another ground meat recipe.
Even Simply Delicious knows they arenāt treading on new ground here. However, hereās the one warning about working with a wok: have a HOT stove. If you donāt–woks donāt work so well.
Youāll be hard-pressed to find someone who hasnāt had lasagna before. Itās not very difficult to make, but often very time-consuming. The first entry in the Pasta & Rice section is the old standby: 12-1: Lasagna.
This version is different than what Iām used to making: it uses a cheese sauce (similar to a bĆ©chamel) in place of a ricotta/egg mixture. It was good, but I think Iād choose the ricotta/egg mixture in terms of what I think of when I think of ālasagnaā.