pickles – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

2-9: Pasta Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 30, 2022March 30, 2022apples, boiled, Cheddar, cheese, chicken, cooked chicken, cooked turkey, diced, dressing, easy, garlic, green onions, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, julienned, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, new book, parsley, party food, pasta salad, pasta/noodles, peeled, pickles, relish, salads, sliced, smoked chicken, smoked ham, smoked turkey, sour cream, tomatoes, turkey, untested

Howdy, y’all–it’s been a minute since we’ve last met. Like everyone else in the world, things can get busy/stressful/overwhelming for me at times and then unfortunately this project takes a backseat. I’ve still been making recipes here and there though, and I’ve got a few built up to share with you. I can’t promise a robust posting schedule (count me as partly responsible for the death of blogs) but I’ll do my best.

To kick things off, here’s 2-9: Pasta Salad, one from the new book. Ugh, I WANT that kitschy 70s flower/watering can picture–if I found it in a thrift store, it’d definitely be coming home with me. I’ll take those FABULOUS flower-shaped plates too.

I love that this is such a time-capsule of an era where we fully embraced carbs–I don’t know of too many people today that would classify pasta as “nutritious”. We were just on the precipice of the ridiculous food pyramid of the 1990s at this point, where we were advised to eat 6-11 servings of carbs a day and stay far, far away from anything fatty (low-fat/high-sugar EVERYTHING was the result).

I also feel like Simply Delicious couldn’t figure out anything exciting to say about pasta salad, so they attempted to turn it into a half-assed history lesson. “He might have done it, maybe not, who knows! Have some pasta anyway!”

My elementary school education (which occurred around the same time) went pretty much the same way. Oh, the late 80s/early 90s.

9-1: Spicy Beef Patties

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses June 9, 2017October 19, 2020beef, beets, black pepper, bread crumbs, burgers, butter, canola oil, capers, chopped, cucumbers, diced, dinner, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, grated, griddle, ground beef, ground meat, half-and-half, lunch, milk, pan-fried, panko, pickled, pickles, potatoes, relish, Russian, salt, spicy, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Any excuse to pull out the electric griddle is alright with me! After all of the meatball-style recipes in the Ground Meat and Sausage section, I was ready for a patty-style recipe again and 9-1: Spicy Beef Patties did not disappoint. I’ve never thought to put pickled beets into a burger before, but after trying this recipe, I would consider it again.

I love the little skinned potatoes they served alongside the patties in the example photo. I haven’t quite learned the technique to cook those yet. Their side salad is very photogenic, but not very filling. 3 tomato slices and 1 leaf of lettuce.

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. ✅

7-23: Pork Chops with Tarragon

Adam Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses September 30, 2016October 7, 2020black pepper, boiled, boneless, butter, cornichons, creamy, crème fraîche, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, gluten-free, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, pickles, pork, pork chops, salt, sautéed, shallots, sour cream, tarragon, untested, white wine

Pan frying pork chops is not the easiest method for cooking pork chops. It is really easy to over cook pork chops that way, but 7-23: Pork Chops with Tarragon came out “just right”.

These pork chops are pan fried and the sauce is added to the pan, drippings and all at the end. Cooking the sauce and meat together creates a flavorful sauce.

9-24: Tangy Double Meat Patties

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses May 26, 2016July 6, 2020all-purpose flour, anchovies, barbecue, black olives, black pepper, breakfast, burgers, butter, chili sauce, chives, chopped, deglazed, demi-glace, diced, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, eggs, garlic, green olives, green onions, griddle, grilled, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, ground turkey, ham, horseradish, inexpensive, ketchup, lunch, mushrooms, pan-fried, parsley, party food, pickles, salt, sautéed, shiitake, stuffed, tangy, untested, yellow mustard, yellow onions

We’ve covered the fact that burger patties are a common recipe for using ground meat–9-25: Juicy Grilled Meat Patties, 9-44: Wok-Fried Beef Patties, and 9-31: Savory Turkey Patties are just a few of the methods outlined by Simply Delicious. 9-24: Tangy Double Meat Patties are another variation, this time with a flavorful filling of your choice.

Snappy is such a great adjective for describing food. I don’t think anything past about 1988 has been described as such, but if you dig into the 1950s-60s era of cookbooks (of which I have a ton), it’s all over the place.

1-28: Picnic Tuna Sandwiches

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 15, 2016February 5, 2020appetizers, avocados, black pepper, breads, butter, celery, cheese, chilled, chopped, diced, easy, eggs, hard-boiled, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, lemon juice, lunch, mayonnaise, paprika, party food, Pepper Jack, pickles, picnic, radishes, red onions, salt, sandwiches, sour cream, tuna, untested, whole wheat bread, yellow mustard

Leave it to Simply Delicious to try to make tuna sandwiches sound fancy. 1-28: Picnic Tuna Sandwiches is a basic method for constructing a sandwich, using tuna fish, presumably for a picnic. It’s really all in the title.

I suppose you have to learn how to make tuna salad somehow–maybe you grow up with parents who don’t like it and you never learn. That’s not what happened in my case (my mother adores tuna salad), but I suppose it’s the case for some people, and so recipes like this must exist. Reminds me of this xkcd comic.