gluten-free – Page 6 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

16-11: Meringue-Topped Chocolate Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 7, 2018July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, almonds, at work, baked goods, butter, chilled, chocolate, custard, dark chocolate, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grated, lemon peel, lemons, macadamia nuts, meringue, milk, nuts, party food, pi day, pie crust, pies, semisweet, sliced, toasted, toppings, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

A few months ago, we celebrated Pi Day in my office. Most of the pies were store-bought, but I decided to flip through Simply Delicious and see if there was anything worth contributing. I decided on 16-11: Meringue-Topped Chocolate Pie–everyone likes chocolate, and we had had a mishap with the lemon meringue pie on the way back from the store while preparing the day before.

If you’re not familiar with Pi Day, it takes place on March 14th, which when written as a numeric date is 3-14 (at least in the U.S. it is–some countries reverse the order). Pi (the mathematical constant represented by the Greek letter π) is usually rounded up to 3.14, so March 14th is celebrated with actual pies (and a bit of math) as a play-on-words. 😂

No one really needs an excuse to eat pie, but “It’s a math joke” is certainly an acceptable one.

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.

8-36: Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses March 1, 2018October 16, 2020beef, beef tenderloin, black pepper, butter, cast-iron, chilled, chopped, diced, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, gluten-free, lunch, marinated, pan-fried, parsley, salt, sautéed, sliced, untested, wok, yellow onions

8-36: Tenderloin with Mustard Sauce was the first of two beef tenderloin recipes I made on the same night. The other dish, 8-22: Beef Tenderloin with Whole Garlic, was a completely different preparation. It was interesting to cook it two different ways and compare the final product.

Utilizing an onion-mustard marinade resulted in a completely different flavor than in the other tenderloin recipe. The beef was not marinated at all in the other recipe. If I had to choose, I prefer the marinated beef from this recipe because it was more tender.

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.

8-22: Beef Tenderloin with Whole Garlic

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses January 24, 2018October 18, 2020beef, beef tenderloin, blender, butter, chilled, chopped, creamy, crushed red pepper, dinner, dried herbs, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, food processor, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, herbs and spices, lemons, melted, minced, pan-fried, parsley, pastry bag, piped, roasted, rosettes, salt, sliced, Tabasco sauce, tarragon, untested, Worcestershire sauce, yellow onions

Oooh-la-la! What a fancy recipe 8-22: Beef Tenderloin with Whole Garlic is!. I have never attempted a dish like this before, but I approached it with confidence because I’ve watched Jamie make both a spiced butter and oven roasted garlic. She makes it look easy, but making this dish was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I don’t have plates with fancy fluted edges and I was out of red wine to serve with my dish, but I served it as best I could.

This dish is definitely gourmet. With spiced butter and roasted garlic, this dish contains a lot more elements than my usual go-to dishes.

11-1: Steamed Halibut with Vermouth

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses January 18, 2018July 6, 2020blender, butter, creamy, crème fraîche, dinner, dry vermouth, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, fish, fish bouillon, fish filets, flaked, food processor, frozen, garnish, gluten-free, green bell peppers, halibut, lemon pepper, liquor, melted, red bell peppers, salmon, salt, seafood, seafood steak, sour cream, steamed, strained, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, white pepper, white wine

I had mentioned in 11-5: Lemon Pepper Scallops that we had a plan to cook more of the Fish/Seafood and Beef recipes since we had already gone through a good portion of the Chicken/Poultry, Pork, and Ground Meat/Sausage ones. Summer got busy, and not as many of those recipes got made as I had intended. I made 11-1: Steamed Halibut with Vermouth during those summer months but I never wrote about it until now (while I clear out the queue).

I’ll agree with the method of cooking being excellent: the fish component came out great. I’m not a huge pea or vermouth fan so the sauce was probably not one I would repeat, but it was a well-done sauce otherwise. Technique-wise I feel like it’s definitely one of Simply Delicious‘ stronger offerings–if you’re really into 1980s-style food.

11-35: Grilled Pacific Halibut

Adam Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses October 23, 2017October 27, 2020black pepper, broiled, California, cast-iron, chili powder, chili sauce, cumin, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, fish, fish filets, garlic, gluten-free, grill pan, grilled, halibut, healthy, herbs and spices, Hutton house, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, marinated, Mediterranean, minced, piquant, revisited, rosemary, salt, seafood, steak, teriyaki sauce, white wine vinegar

I have never been known for my skills in preparing fish, but this recipe, 11-35: Grilled Pacific Halibut, helped me become a halibut grilling master! 🐟

Many of the times I failed at cooking fish, I did not marinate the flesh first. Skipping that step definitely makes a difference.

Editor’s note: By the looks of the notations on this card, my mother made this in what looks like July of 1995, although that last digit is difficult to clearly determine–her handwriting has always been a challenge. It might be 1990. She noted that it was “Very Easy” on the back–sounds like Adam may have had a similar experience.

9-3: Herb Garden Meat Patties

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses October 1, 2017October 19, 2020black pepper, burgers, butter, chopped, cilantro, cream sauce, creamy, diced, dinner, dried herbs, dried spices, easy, egg-free, garnish, gluten-free, ground meat, ground pork, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, melted, milk, pan-fried, paprika, party food, peeled, pork, salt, sliders, sour cream, thyme, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions

Finally, an interesting take on the ground meat patty. Let’s spice things up by adding fresh garden herbs with 9-3: Herb Garden Meat Patties! 🌿

I’ve tried burgers with added spices before. Here’s yet another Simply Delicious suggestion for preparing flavorful meat patties.

9-39: Zesty Meat Casserole

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses June 13, 2017October 19, 2020baking pan, butter, carrots, casserole, celery, celery root, cheese, chopped, creamy, dinner, easy, egg-free, gluten-free, grated, ground meat, half-and-half, inexpensive, julienned, milk, Parmesan, parsnips, peeled, piquant, potatoes, salt, sautéed, sweated, Tabasco sauce, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, yellow onions

Not every Simply Delicious recipe is a home run. With 9-39: Zesty Meat Casserole, perhaps unsuccessfully, tries to break the mold. By not forming the beef into a patty, meatball, or kebab, this casserole tries to do something different. To cook this recipe, I had to prepare a parsnip, something I’m not accustomed to. I made this dish before a trip out of town and brought it with me to have something homemade to eat.

I cut my vegetables in a manner similar to the photograph, but my substitution of milk for half-and-half made the sauce come out runny.