fairly expensive – Page 8 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

7-18: Pork Tenderloin in Wine Sauce

Adam Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses December 24, 2016October 16, 2020all-purpose flour, allspice, black pepper, butter, Christmas Eve, creamy, crushed, deglazed, dinner, dried spices, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, gravy, half-and-half, herbs and spices, juniper, marinated, pan-fried, pork, pork tenderloin, port wine, red wine, roux, salt, sautéed, sherry, strained, tenderized, untested, whipping cream, winter

Marinade is a “sauce, typically made of oil, vinegar, spices, and herbs, in which meat, fish, or other food is soaked before cooking in order to flavor or soften it”. Port wine is not an ingredient I normally keep in the house, but I have marinated a pork tenderloin before so 7-18: Pork Tenderloin in Wine Sauce shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.

Meat that soaks in a marinade comes out tender and delicious. Cooking with this method requires more preparation time. Leave the meat in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours for maximum tenderness. The minimum marinating time I recommend is around 1 hour. When I prepared this recipe, I tried to make it in one night, so the meat marinated in the refrigerator for only 2 hours.

15-18: Chocolate Favorites

Adam Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 18, 2016October 29, 2020all-purpose flour, baking cups, brownies, butter, chilled, chocolate, chocolate chips, chocolate curls, cold desserts, creamy, dessert, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, frozen, melted, meringue, party food, pastry, powdered sugar, semisweet, snacks, sour cream, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, whipped

Cold desserts are not my area of expertise, but I gave it a shot for this recipe. ❄ 15-18: Chocolate Favorites were a hit! I really just got a kick out of saying “Chocolate Favorite” when describing these little treats. 🍫

Bite sized pastries are the best! These two layers did come out as intended, a one-two punch of chocolate flavors. This recipe did indeed make me want to rejoice. 😆

1-10: Seafood Cocktail Louisiana

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 2, 2016December 31, 2019American, appetizers, Cajun, celery, chili sauce, chilled, cocktail, cooked shrimp, crab, dairy-free, dill, dressing, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, iceberg lettuce, lemon juice, lemons, liquor, lunch, New Orleans, parsley, party food, peeled, salads, seafood, shellfish, shredded, shrimp, sliced, snacks, spicy, Tabasco sauce, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, untested, vodka

I’m counting 1-10: Seafood Cocktail Louisiana as the fourth dish I made of this year’s 7-recipe Thanksgiving cooking marathon (TGV 2016) , but its components actually spanned a few days (and a few cooks). This was one of three appetizers I made for my Thanksgiving dinner–the others being a crudité & hummus platter and 1-5: Pigs in a Blanket.

My mom was always big on the idea of “shrimp cocktail” as being necessary for Thanksgiving dinner appetizers (it was always part of her family’s holiday dinner when she was growing up), so in order to honor that idea, I chose this recipe.

As I mentioned above, I’m counting this as the fourth dish I made–it spanned Wed. 11/23 and Thu. 11/24 as different components had varying levels of make-in-advance-ability. My sous chef made the dressing and prepped shrimp the first night, while I assembled the dish itself right before serving the next day.

15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 30, 2016July 30, 2020blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cake pan, chilled, chocolate, chocolate curls, coffee, cold desserts, cornstarch, creamy, dessert, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, folded, fruit, garnish, gelatin, gluten-free, Grand Marnier, granulated sugar, grated, melted, milk, orange juice, party food, pudding, raspberries, ring mold, rum, stiff peaks, strawberries, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, unsweetened, untested, vanilla extract, whipping cream

The other of two desserts that I made for this year’s Thanksgiving (TGV 2016) was 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe (the first was 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte). With my family, it’s REQUIRED that there be a chocolate dessert option when having a big dinner, so I decided to give this one a whirl–I thought it’d be a nice contrast of flavors and textures when compared to the other options (the aforementioned torte and a pumpkin pie my mom made). 🍫

This was the third dish I made, continuing the Wednesday 11/23 portion of my holiday cooking marathon. Since the pudding needed to chill, I thought letting it rest in the fridge overnight would give it the best chance of holding together when served the next day. 🍮

Other dishes I made on this night (Wed. 11/23): the dressing for 1-10: Seafood Louisiana Cocktail, cranberry sauce, 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte, and a roasted garlic & herb butter to serve with 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls.

6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 27, 2016October 15, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, butter, canola oil, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chimichurri sauce, chopped, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, food processor, garlic, grated, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, minced, parsley, purée, red onions, salt, shallots, South American, sunflower oil, untested, white wine, zested

Two-packs of whole chickens were on sale at Costco and the other chicken in this pack was used to make 6-20: Rosemary Chicken. This recipe, 6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken required me to rub a few brain cells together to prepare the chicken as written on the card.

Lime flavor added to anything is a winner with me. Chicken and lime is a great combination, the white wine sauce added a unique twist.

8-31: Roast Beef

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses November 1, 2016October 18, 202012-11-08 dinner, baked potatoes, beef, beef broth, black pepper, boneless, dairy-free, deglazed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, gluten-free, gravy, meat thermometer, party food, revisited, rib eye, roach motel apt, roast beef, roasted, salt, white pepper

This recipe is the best kind of recipe from Simply Delicious, an easy one. I’m not the most confident at preparing roast beef in this manner, however, the method shown in 8-31: Roast Beef is easy and can be applied to other cuts of meat such as lamb. 🍖

Simple is the best way to describe baking a roast beef in the oven.

Editor’s note: I’ve made this one before–it was part of my fancy dinner party I had in my first apartment after college. You know, before I had to surrender it to the roaches. 😯 I’ve continued to use it as a basic roast beef recipe, although now I like to do a beef broth/mixed-herb/red wine marinade before roasting.

1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 26, 2016October 2, 2020appetizers, apples, black pepper, boiled, breakfast, carrots, chilled, cornichons, creamy, diced, easy, eggs, fairly expensive, frozen, ham, hard-boiled, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Italian, lemon juice, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, party food, pickles, potatoes, salt, smoked ham, snacks, sour cream, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

Artistic appetizers are amazing!🖕 I can’t get enough of them and Simply Delicious has interesting appetizer recipes that are easy to prepare like this one, 1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad. 🇮🇹

Easy to prepare ahead of time, these rolls are light and delicious appetizers to serve for any occasion. ✅

3-18: Shrimp Bisque

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 14, 2016March 14, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, bisque, boiled, brandy, butter, cooked shrimp, creamy, dill, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, fish bouillon, fish stock, frozen, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, paprika, party food, roux, seafood, shellfish, sherry, shrimp, snow peas, soups, sweet peas, tomato paste, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions

I’ve always been a fan of a nice seafood bisque–lobster and/or shrimp bisque on a menu always gets at least a consideration from me, if not an order. 3-18: Shrimp Bisque was a solo affair for me (cream-based things usually are), but I enjoyed every bit of it. 🍤

I’ll admit it right now: I left the peas out of my version (except for the final picture plate–sorry to break the illusion), but you go right ahead and include them if you dig peas.

1-14: Avocado Halves with Spicy Shrimp

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters September 20, 2016October 2, 2020appetizers, avocados, breakfast, chili sauce, chopped, cooked shrimp, crème fraîche, cucumbers, diced, dill, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, gluten-free, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, paprika, parsley, party food, red onions, salad shrimp, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, slit, snacks, sour cream, sriracha, untested

I don’t make appetizers very often, so I made 1-14: Avocado Halves with Spicy Shrimp for us to eat as a snack while cooking other dishes. 🍤

I was lacking lettuce at the time, so my dish was served on a platter instead of a bed of crispy lettuce.

15-2: Chocolate Mousse

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods August 20, 2016July 30, 2020chilled, chocolate, chocolate chips, coffee, cold desserts, creamy, dessert, double boiler, easy, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, folded, melted, mousse, party food, powdered sugar, ramekins, restaurant-style, semisweet, untested, vegetarian, whipped, whipping cream

Since it’s currently summer, I’ve been experimenting more with the Cold Desserts section of Simply Delicious. Come fall & winter, we’ll get back to more of the Hot Desserts. 15-2: Chocolate Mousse is not the first mousse I’ve attempted (check out 15-1: Lemon Mousse for a citrusy variation), but it is a pretty solid chocolate mousse recipe–these are great for entertaining, or even making in individual servings and freezing for later. 🍨

As noted above on the card, chocolate mousse is a classic and popular dessert. There are a variety of ways to approach it, as explained in this Serious Eats feature on the dish, but Simply Delicious’ version is super easy–5 ingredients are all you need. 🍫