melted – Page 7 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

17-48: Buttery Vanilla Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 29, 2016January 19, 2023all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking cups, breakfast, brushed, butter, cake yeast, Christmas, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly easy, filling, food processor, granulated sugar, holiday baking, inexpensive, kneaded, melted, milk, party food, pastry, powdered sugar, rolls, salt, snacks, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, XMAS 16, yeast

In my holiday baking batch from last year (XMAS 15), I included 17-67: Coconut Crescents to offer some variety to the endless types of cookies. 🍪 17-48: Buttery Vanilla Rolls were included in this year’s holiday baking (XMAS 16) for much the same reason, although I think I ended up with a better mix of items this year. 🎅🏼

I liked that these were baked in muffin cups as well–I thought that might make them easier to pack up and distribute/ship as gifts. To make them holiday-ish, I sprinkled them with a bit of red and green decorating sugar while they were cooling. 🎄

6-46: Chicken Breasts Veronique

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses December 26, 2016October 15, 2020black pepper, boiled, boneless, breasts, butter, chicken, chopped, creamy, curry powder, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, French, fruit, gluten-free, grapes, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, minced, pan-fried, reduced, salt, sautéed, shallots, skinless, sliced, untested, whipping cream, white wine

Simply Delicious is introducing me to so many new culinary terms. 6-46: Chicken Breasts Veronique was a new one for me. 🍇 The definition of “Veronique” is explained below:

Chicken and grapes isn’t the most obvious combination, not in 🇺🇸 American-style cuisine anyway. This dish is definitely influenced by 🇫🇷 French cuisine. I’ve eaten chicken and grapes before in Middle-Eastern styled recipes as well.

17-42: Luscious Lemon Bars

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 23, 2016September 21, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking pan, baking powder, bars, butter, casserole, cheese, cheesecake, chilled, citrus, coconut, college, cream cheese, creamy, dessert, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, filling, flaked, food coloring, frosting, gift ideas, granulated sugar, grated, holiday baking, icing, lemon juice, lemons, lukewarm, melted, party food, pie crust, powdered sugar, revisited, salt, snacks, tart, vegetarian, XMAS 16, zested

17-42: Luscious Lemon Bars were the second of my holiday baking batches this year (XMAS 16), and one that I’ve baked in the past, given my rather bold notes. I think I was on a cheesecake kick, and thought these would be easier than making an actual cake. “BAD DO NOT MAKE” doesn’t exactly bode well for a recipe–why make it again?

Here’s why: sometimes it’s important to try again, even when the first experience wasn’t exactly a positive one. The first time I made these lemon bars was my junior year of college, so about 10-12 years ago. I had just moved into my first off-campus apartment with my friend, and we had a full kitchen, something I hadn’t had access to for a few years while living away from home in the dorms.

I remember making these in that kitchen (yes, I dragged these books with me all the way out to Colorado and back) and struggling with this recipe. Out of that frustration (and failure) came the note. I’ve learned a lot since then (culinarily and otherwise), so I think it’s time to figure out if it was the recipe or it was me.

6-9: Orange-Glazed Turkey Breast

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses December 22, 2016October 15, 2020Asian, autumn, boiled, boneless, breasts, butter, citrus, cornstarch, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, fall, glazed, leftovers, lunch, mandarin oranges, maple syrup, melted, orange juice, oranges, roasted, sliced, soy sauce, tamari, Thanksgiving, turkey, untested, winter

Sometimes a dish can remind you what you like about a particular ingredient. 6-9: Orange-Glazed Turkey Breast reminded me that I really enjoy turkey breast. Turkey breast is a low calorie protein that is delicious to eat any time of year, not just at Thanksgiving.

This dish would be really easy to make with Thanksgiving leftovers. We bought a turkey breast on manager’s special and froze it for storage until I was ready to make this recipe.

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. 😆

6-29: Stuffed Turkey

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses December 8, 2016June 18, 2020all-purpose flour, American, basted, black pepper, bread crumbs, breasts, brushed, butter, carved, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, cornbread, cubed, deglazed, diced, dinner, dried herbs, drumsticks, egg-free, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, giblets, gravy, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lemons, meat thermometer, melted, paprika, party food, roasted, roasting pan, rubbed, sage, salt, sautéed, side dish, skewered, sliced, soy sauce, stuffed, stuffing, tamari, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, thighs, thyme, toothpicks, trussed, turkey, twine, untested, vegetables, wings, yellow onions

This recipe, 6-29: Stuffed Turkey, is the WHOLE reason I originally decided to take on the challenge of cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year (TGV 2016)–when else was I going to get a chance to use the actual Thanksgiving recipe but on the holiday itself? I have cooked a Thanksgiving dinner before, but not in my own house, and not planned/shopped/organized for by myself. It was a fun challenge, and I have this card and project to thank for it.

Of course I made this recipe the day of Thanksgiving (Thursday 11/24), and it includes not only the turkey, but traditional stuffing and gravy as well. I cooked this in the afternoon, after making 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls and 1-5: Pigs in a Blanket in the oven that morning.

This year’s Thanksgiving was at least 2 weeks ago by the time you’re reading this, but I hope that if you had one this year it was a nice one, and that if you’re reading this sometime in the future preparing for the current year’s feast, that yours is nice as well. Mine was lovely despite what’s been a tumultuous year, and this recipe was definitely a big part of making my first solo Thanksgiving successful. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read even just a bit of what I’ve written, and thanks for participating in my project, even just for this brief moment.

I’ve been working on this project for just under 3 years now, and I’ve got at least that long to go to attempt to finish it–thanks for giving me a reason to keep this project alive, an outlet for writing, a focus for creative energy, art to share with my family and friends, and a priceless set of memories and experiences tied to a set of stinky old cookbooks that have always meant a lot to me, and mean even more now. Thank you.

3-16: Hearty Beef Soup

Adam Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 5, 2016October 4, 2020beef, beef stew, boiled, butter, canola oil, chili peppers, chopped, chuck roast, crushed tomatoes, cumin, diced, dinner, Dutch oven, egg-free, fairly easy, garlic, green bell peppers, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, melted, minced, paprika, potatoes, red bell peppers, rump roast, salt, sautéed, seared, simmered, sliced, soups, stews, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

The winter is the best time of year for soup, especially 3-16: Hearty Beef Soup. This dish made a great lunch dish that was easy to pack for multiple servings.

As the card says, it reheats very well and tastes great even without a side of sour cream.

5-31: Oven Pizza Pancake

Adam Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 1, 2016October 13, 2020anchovies, appetizers, black olives, black pepper, breakfast, butter, celery, cheese, cooking class, dinner, dried herbs, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, grated, ham, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, milk, Mozzarella, mushrooms, omelette, oregano, pancakes, Parmesan, party food, pepperoni, pizza, red onions, revisited, rosemary, salami, salt, seafood, shellfish, shredded, shrimp, sliced, tomatoes, toppings, twice-baked

Cooking a pizza on a pancake dough creates a very kooky, weird pizza experience. 5-31: Oven Pizza Pancake is not your usual pizza–this soft-crusted abomination is another dish created when the Simply Delicious editors decided to have one too many beers at the office.

The beer in the background of this image should have been my first clue that this was a strange dish.

Editor’s note: I used this recipe for when I taught cooking in an after-school program for K-8 kids a few years ago–I didn’t have the time or resources to make a traditional rising dough using yeast on that particular site, so this method provided me a somewhat valid shortcut.

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.

16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 28, 2016November 5, 2020à la mode, all-purpose flour, apples, apricots, autumn, baked goods, baking powder, baking soda, boiled, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, cake pan, cakes, caramelized, cast-iron, cherries, chopped, cinnamon, cored, currants, dessert, diced, dried fruit, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fall, fruit, fruitcake, gift ideas, golden raisins, granulated sugar, grated, herbs and spices, hot desserts, melted, nuts, oranges, papaya, party food, pecans, peeled, pineapple, raisins, snacks, springform pan, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, torte, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

One of the two desserts I made for this year’s Thanksgiving (TGV 2016) was 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte (the other was 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe). I wanted something “of the season”, and this seemed like a cross between apple pie and fruitcake.

This was the second dish I made, starting off the Wednesday 11/23 portion of my holiday cooking marathon. Since this cake holds well at room temperature, I planned to just slightly underbake it, and then finish it off for 5-10 minutes in a preheated oven to warm it up for dessert on the day of the holiday.

If I hadn’t made this for Thanksgiving, I think it’d make a great gift (mailed or delivered in person) or potluck dish, especially for an office or somewhere where it would sit for a while. Even though Thanksgiving is over for the year, it’s totally still the season for a cake like this one.

Other dishes I made on this night (Wed. 11/23): the dressing for 1-10: Seafood Louisiana Cocktail, cranberry sauce, 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe, and a roasted garlic & herb butter to serve with 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls.