fairly inexpensive – Page 7 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

12-20: Fettuccini with Ham

Adam Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses June 8, 2018October 27, 2020black pepper, boiled, butter, cheese, chopped, creamy, diced, dinner, easy, fairly inexpensive, fettuccini, frozen, grated, half-and-half, ham, julienned, lunch, melted, mushrooms, Parmesan, parsley, pasta/noodles, peeled, piquant, pork, salt, sautéed, sliced, smoked ham, sweet peas, untested, vegetables, whipping cream, yellow onions

Fettuccini and ham are different foods I’ve heard of before. 12-20: Fettuccini with Ham is a dish I never could have imagined in my wildest dreams. It is both “piquant and tasty” as described below and I enjoyed the dish a lot.

Time for a confession: I have never cooked fettuccini nests before in my life before I prepared this dish. My parents weren’t adventurous with their pasta choices. We were strictly a spaghetti and angel hair household when it came to noodle pasta. Having a cream based sauce was rare also, they generally opted for a tomato-based sauce.

7-17: Piquant Pork Chops

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses May 20, 2018October 28, 2020apples, barbecue sauce, broiled, brushed, butter, cast-iron, chili sauce, chopped, cloves, creamy, currants, curry paste, dinner, easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, fruit sauce, golden raisins, grated, Greek yogurt, grill pan, grilled, half-and-half, hot sauce, julienned, milk, Oriental, pan-fried, parsley, peeled, piquant, pork, pork chops, pork loin, pork shoulder, raisins, salt, sautéed, scored, slit, spicy, sriracha, steak sauce, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions, yogurt

Oh boy, yet another pork chops recipe. 7-11: Piquant Pork Chops tries to stand out by boasting a fruity, spicy take on the standard pork-chop-with-pan-sauce entries that have already been covered at length throughout this project.

I think it’s a bit hyperbolic to insist that just adding a “new” spice or sauce to pork chops radically changes it as a dish, but I suppose that for some people it can be a big deal to experience new things outside of the regular old tried-and-true.

14-14: Sliced Pineapple with Nut Meringue

Adam Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 10, 2018October 29, 2020blender, chopped, dessert, easy, egg whites, eggs, fairly inexpensive, food processor, frozen, fruit, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grated, hazelnuts, hot desserts, lemon juice, lemon peel, lemons, meringue, mint, nuts, party food, pineapple, piped, raspberries, raspberry sauce, sliced, snacks, stiff peaks, untested, vegetarian, zested

14-14: Sliced Pineapple with Nut Meringue is a unique desert. It was actually fairly tasty, just not something I would have thought to put together. This interesting dish has multiple textures, flavors, and temperatures which all interact nicely. I love raspberry, pineapple, and meringue, but I never thought to combine them, especially this way. 🍍

Meringue is probably one of my favorite applications of eggs in cooking. Egg whites only, but still a great use of eggs.

15-25: Coconut Custard with Mango

Adam Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods April 12, 2018October 29, 2020boiled, chilled, coconut, coconut milk, cold desserts, creamy, custard, dairy-free, dessert, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, gluten-free, granulated sugar, mango juice, mangoes, purée, ramekins, sieves, simmered, strained, untested, vegetarian, white wine

There are a few great songs about coconuts. Zazu in Disney’s The Lion King sings a cheeky, British song about the coconut. If the fruit pairing in this recipe were different, I’d also share this Harry Nilsson song that you may recognize if you’ve ever been to a chorus concert at an elementary school. Is coconut a fruit? a nut? a seed? Let’s find out together with 15-25: Coconut Custard with Mango.

The cracked coconut in the background is what you may think of when hearing the word “coconut”, however, the brown and white fleshy part is the seed of the fruit. Every part of the fruit of the coconut is used in many different applications all around the planet.

16-8: French Apple Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods April 5, 2018July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, American, apples, apricots, baked goods, baking powder, butter, chilled, cored, cut in, dessert, dough, eggs, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, French, fruit, granulated sugar, individual, jam/jelly/preserves, party food, pie crust, pies, Silpat, sliced, tart, tart pan, Thanksgiving, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian

It’s the first days of spring, but I’m still catching up on old posts. Consider it “spring cleaning.” Here’s one from Thanksgiving 2017, 16-8: French Apple Pie. In 2016, I went all out for Thanksgiving and made most of the entire meal from Simply Delicious recipes. We had alternate plans for 2017, so only an easy-to-prepare ahead of time dessert was needed.

I’ve already covered a similar recipe to this one: 16-15: Tarte Tatin. Consider these a smaller, more rustic version. In regards to authenticity, as long as it’s apples on top and crust on bottom, it counts as a French apple pie according to Wikipedia. 🍏🇫🇷

4-36: Golden Potato Medley

Adam Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters February 27, 2018October 13, 2020all-purpose flour, au gratin, black pepper, blanched, boiled, bread crumbs, butter, carrots, casserole, celery, Cheddar, cheese, cheese sauce, chopped, creamy, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, grated, green bell peppers, half-and-half, lunch, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, panko, pared, Parmesan, party food, peeled, potatoes, red bell peppers, roux, salt, sautéed, side dish, sliced, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions, yellow potatoes

There are few things in this world as good as potatoes and vegetables covered in cheesy breadcrumbs. It’s a popular side dish that you’ve seen many variations of. I really enjoyed 4-36: Golden Potato Medley and the plating that Simply Delicious shows below looks so much better than how my dish came out. I go more for utility than aesthetics when I’m cooking, but it’s also true that you eat with your eyes before your stomach. 👀

This dish is the perfect side dish, but it is hearty enough to be eaten as an entree. It doesn’t look like much, but is perfect with hot sauce.

7-19: Cajun-Style Pork Ribs

Adam Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses February 25, 2018October 15, 2020American, American South, baby corn, black pepper, bone-in, bourbon, brandy, broiled, Cajun, canola oil, carved, cayenne pepper, cherry tomatoes, corn, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, dried spices, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, garlic, garlic powder, gluten-free, grilled, lukewarm, lunch, marinated, New Orleans, paprika, party food, pork, red onions, ribs, roasted, salt, sliced, spareribs, spice blends, thyme, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

Chili’s, Applebee’s, Red Robin…I’ve enjoyed racks of ribs at almost every restaurant that offers ribs as a major offering on the menu. Freshly smoked ribs are a delicious delicacy. These oven baked ribs lack the smokiness of ribs cooked in a smoker. The flavor profile for 7-19: Cajun-Style Pork Ribs is influenced by the alcohol-infused marinade and the Cajun spice rub mixture.

Simply Delicious thinks these spices are fiery, however, I’ll have to disagree. Maybe I’m too desensitized to spice now, but I could have used about 30% more spiciness. I wasn’t always a fan of spicy food, but now some of my favorite hot sauces are sriracha, Tapatio, and Tabasco.

9-16: Individual Salami Pizzas

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses February 24, 2018July 5, 2020Alfredo sauce, all-purpose flour, barbecue sauce, canola oil, Cheddar, cheese, Colby Jack, cornmeal, crushed tomatoes, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, green onions, herbs and spices, individual, Italian, kneaded, leeks, lunch, melted, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, olive oil, oregano, Parmesan, party food, pepperoni, pesto sauce, pizza, salami, salt, shredded, Silpat, sliced, snacks, tangy, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, yeast

Simply Delicious has several takes on pizza–we’ve covered quite a few already including 13-11: Vegetarian Pizza, 1-9: Four Seasons Pizza, and 5-31: Oven Pizza Pancake. There’s even 11-4: Calzone with Seafood if you like your pizza folded in half with toppings on the inside. 9-16: Individual Salami Pizzas is probably one of the more “traditional” pizza recipes so far.

It’s recommended to make this for something like a kid’s party, since it’s pretty tough to find a kid who will say no to pizza. I was a teacher for several years, ran a meal program for a school for a year or two, and I’m here to tell you that pizza (in whatever shape/form/capacity) was always a crowd pleaser for young and old.

8-29: Marinated Flank Steaks

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses February 1, 2018October 16, 2020allspice, basted, bay leaves, beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, broiled, butter, canola oil, carrots, celery, celery root, chopped, cornstarch, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, flank steak, garlic, gravy, herbs and spices, juniper, lunch, marinated, minced, mirepoix, mushrooms, port wine, red wine, scored, sliced, strained, thyme, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Over the years I’ve made plenty of steaks, but I don’t have a lot of experience cooking flank steaks. Jamie grew up eating carne asada–but on the East Coast, we were eating Steak-Ums sandwiches. Not quite the same, but it got the job done. 8-29: Marinated Flank Steaks was a fun opportunity to cook this recipe and get familiar with cooking a different cut of beef that I’m used to.

I have some experience with marinades so this dish wasn’t too difficult for me to attempt. It is ranked Fairly Easy after all.

6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses January 22, 2018October 14, 2020Asian, basted, braised, brown sugar, cabbage, canola oil, chicken, chili sauce, Chinese, Chinese cabbage, cornstarch, dairy-free, dinner, drumsticks, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, ginger, grated, herbs and spices, lunch, minced, mirin, peeled, pineapple, pineapple juice, rice wine vinegar, salt, sautéed, shredded, soy sauce, sweet-and-sour, sweet-and-sour sauce, Tabasco sauce, tender-crisp, thighs, untested, vegetables, white wine vinegar

The quote from the front of the recipe card for 6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken is as true as anything I could write about this recipe:

“Cook chicken legs and thighs the Chinese way, in a sweet-and-sour sauce. This is such a simple way of preparing bargain chicken and the result is just terrific.“

Sweet-and-sour sauce tastes great when you make it fresh, but it’s just as easy to buy the thick, red sauce in a jar and call it good.