fairly expensive – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

5-3: Cheese Fondue

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 16, 2025April 24, 20251970s, appetizers, asparagus, black pepper, blanched, brandy, broccoli, celery, cheese, cheese sauce, cornstarch, cubed, diced, dinner, dips, egg-free, Emmental, fairly easy, fairly expensive, fondue, garlic, grated, green bell peppers, Gruyère, hors d'oeuvres, Jarlsberg, kirsch, liquor, melted, mushrooms, new book, nutmeg, party food, red bell peppers, slurry, steamed, Swiss, tender-crisp, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, white bread, white wine

Hello! In case you were in the mood for more fondue after 14-1: Chocolate Fondue, here’s your opportunity.

5-3: Cheese Fondue is the last new recipe I have for Group 5, and is a NEW BOOK recipe (hence why it’s being covered last). I also got to use my mini electric fondue pot again, which is exciting.

Did you know there are actually 4 types of fondue? We’ve covered chocolate and now cheese, but not yet oil or broth.

Someday I’ll figure out how to cover 7-15: Pork Fondue (since I don’t eat meat), but I don’t see any broth fondue recipes in what I’ve got left, so we may never get all 4 varieties. Simply Delicious wasn’t hip on hot pot, evidently.

Also, happy 11th birthday to this beast of a project.

16-22: Apricot Swirl Cheesecake

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods July 14, 2024December 26, 2024all-purpose flour, almond meal, almonds, apricots, cheesecake, china caps, Christmas, cold desserts, cream cheese, creamed, dessert, dried fruit, dusted, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garnish, granulated sugar, grated, grind, jam/jelly/preserves, lemon peel, lemons, marbled, nuts, purée, sieves, simmered, springform pan, strained, strainers, summer, toasted, untested, vegetarian, whipping cream, XMAS 23, zested

In an attempt to finish off last year’s Christmas dishes (XMAS 23) before this year’s Christmas gets here, here’s 16-22: Apricot Swirl Cheesecake. Probably more of a summer recipe, but whatever, cheesecake is good any time of year. I made this together with 16-20: Chocolate Mousse Cake, because you need both a chocolate dessert AND a fruit dessert.

Fun fact: this may look okay-ish in the picture, but trust me, this does not go well. Jump behind the cut for the details (and mistakes).

16-20: Chocolate Mousse Cake

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods July 13, 2024July 13, 2024almond paste, almonds, cake pan, cakes, chilled, china caps, chocolate, Christmas, Cointreau, cold desserts, dessert, double boiler, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, food processor, frozen, fruit sauce, gluten-free, Grand Marnier, granulated sugar, grated, grind, liqueur, mousse, orange liqueur, orange peel, powdered sugar, raspberries, raspberry liqueur, raspberry sauce, semisweet, stiff peaks, vegetarian, wax paper, whipped, whipping cream, XMAS 23, zested

I had high hopes of catching up on this thing in a timely fashion, but let’s face it–we’re all surprised I’m even still updating it all at this point. The 10-year anniversary came and went a few months ago without much (or any) fanfare, but I AM still here–just not as attentive as I used to be. Let’s face it–a LOT has changed over the last 10 years. No plans to completely let it die yet, but I would be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it.

Anyway, here’s 16-20: Chocolate Mousse Cake, which was one of two desserts I served for Christmas 2023 (XMAS 23).

Seemed Christmas-appropriate, plus it’s gluten-free! That doesn’t matter to anyone that’s in this house, but someone out there might care about something like that.

8-35: Flambéed Steak Diane

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses April 23, 2024April 21, 2024beef, black pepper, brandy, butter, chives, chopped, cognac, deglazed, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, flambé, hot sauce, lemon juice, lemons, liqueur, parsley, pearl onions, peeled, salt, sautéed, scraped, shallots, sirloin, steak, untested, white onions, Worcestershire sauce

Today I have something “old-school” for you–8-35: Flambéed Steak Diane. This is a dish that’s been around for a while and is considered “retro” today. It is similar to steak au poivre and is another of those “quick pan-fried steak” recipes that use butter and some sort of umami as a sauce.

This is the last entry from the batch of beef-but-not-beef recipes I made to clean out the freezer–I’ve had those posts sitting in my queue for quite a while. I had to space them out because they’re all SO similar. You can scroll back to 8-39: Tournedos with Blue Cheese Sauce and 8-38: Brandy Two-Pepper Beef Steak for the other entries in this recent “mini-series”.

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!

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?

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.

11-15: Grilled Salmon with Thyme

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses August 26, 2022August 26, 2022barbecue, black pepper, butter, coarse salt, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, fish, fish filets, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, grill pan, grilled, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lemon peel, lemons, marinated, melted, minced, salmon, salt, seafood, seafood steak, summer, thyme, untested

Autumn is just around the corner, but here’s another recipe you can try before you put the grill away for the season (unless you live somewhere that you can grill all year round). 11-15: Grilled Salmon with Thyme uses salmon steaks which can be tough to locate depending on where/when you look for them, but if you are able to snag some it’s a nice change from the same old burgers and hot dogs.

Here where I live, it’s not only still 90+ degrees each day, it’s also salmon season, so I’ve been seeing it on sale a lot at our local grocery stores. Warm nights + fresh salmon on the grill = good times.

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