salt – Page 5 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses January 11, 2021January 12, 2021Asian, black pepper, blanched, boneless, broccoli, cashews, Chinese, chopped, corn, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, ginger, grated, ham, inexpensive, leeks, lunch, meal prep, pork, pork chops, pork shoulder, salt, sautéed, sliced, snow peas, soy sauce, tender-crisp, untested, vegetables, winter

Looking for a way to use up some winter vegetables? Maybe your veggie box is heavy with leeks and broccoli these days–if so, maybe give 7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek a try. It’s got big “we have Chinese food at home” energy.

If malls were still a thing, you could probably find something similar at a generic Chinese/pan-Asian restaurant in the half-empty food court.

If you want to round out your combo plate for the full experience, you could make some 8-25: Stir-Fried Beef or 11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp to go with it. Maybe throw in some 6-39: Chicken Pot Stickers or 1-15: Chinese Spring Rolls on the side?

16-13: Lemon Meringue Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 3, 2021January 3, 2021all-purpose flour, butter, chilled, cornstarch, curd, cut in, dessert, dough, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, favorites, filling, flaky, flute, fruit, gift ideas, granulated sugar, grated, inexpensive, lemon juice, lemon peel, lemons, meringue, new book, party food, pie crust, pies, salt, stiff peaks, untested, vegetarian

It’s citrus time where I live, which means that everyone has buckets of oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits that they can’t give away fast enough. I myself have an orange tree, but I’m often given lemons from friends and family as well–16-13: Lemon Meringue Pie is a good recipe to use up some of that winter citrus. You can also check out 15-29: Raspberry-Lemon Parfait or 17-42: Luscious Lemon Bars if you have a LOT of lemons to use up.

This is a NEW book recipe, so I never even knew until recently that Simply Delicious even had a lemon meringue pie recipe. If I had known, I guarantee I would have attempted it much earlier than now.

I LOVE lemon meringue pie–it conjures recipes of slowly rotating cake and pie displays in coffee shops. Man, do I miss eating in a restaurant.

3-7: Snappy Crab Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 26, 2020December 26, 2020bisque, blender, boiled, Cajun, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, crab, croutons, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, frozen, gluten-free, krab, lunch, marinated, milk, New Orleans, parsley, purée, salt, seafood, shellfish, sherry, simmered, soups, sweet peas, Tabasco sauce, tender-crisp, tomatoes, untested, whipping cream

Many moons ago when I first began this project, I wrote about Simply Delicious‘ use of adjectives to spice up the descriptions of their dishes. 3-7: Snappy Crab Soup reminds me of 3-13: Velvety Carrot Soup in its use of flashy words to get you interested in something hard to get excited about.

This is essentially a crab bisque, without the extra steps of simmering shells. The “hot pepper seasoning” they refer to in the blurb above is Tabasco sauce, so this is a mildly Cajun-influenced recipe as well. I remember thinking Tabasco sauce was the HOTTEST thing ever when I was a kid…I’ve learned so much since then. 🦀🌶

14-2: Apple Strudel

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 11, 2020August 10, 2021all-purpose flour, applejack, apples, Austrian, autumn, brandy, butter, Calvados, chilled, cinnamon, cornstarch, dessert, dough, dusted, fairly hard, fall, filling, food processor, gift ideas, granulated sugar, grated, hot desserts, inexpensive, lemon peel, lemons, liquor, melted, nuts, orange peel, oranges, pastry, peeled, phyllo dough, powdered sugar, raisins, rum, salt, strudel, untested, vegetable oil, Viennese, walnuts, zested

I’ll be honest–I’ve started this entry for 14-2: Apple Strudel a bunch of times, and I can’t think of anything exciting to say about it. There’s a lot of apple desserts in this book, and they all just start to blend together for me after a while. Even then, apple strudel is pretty a well-known dish to begin with, so odd are low that you’re going to learn anything new about it from reading Simply Delicious’ take on it.

It took me until NOW (and by now I mean as I’m pushing the keys to type this) to realize that there was actually powdered sugar coating the one pictured above, and they didn’t just peel the first layer of the outside off and say “yep, looks good to me”.

7-30: Mixed Meat Casserole

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses December 3, 2020December 3, 2020beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, boneless, cabbage, carrots, casserole, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, dairy-free, deglazed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, lamb, lamb shoulder, leg of lamb, new potatoes, parsley, pork, pork shoulder, potatoes, salt, sautéed, string beans, tender-crisp, untested, veal, veal shoulder, vegetables, yellow onions

7-30: Mixed Meat Casserole is exactly what it sounds and looks like–they’re not pulling any punches here. It’s like combination fried rice, a little bit of everything.

At least this is somewhat closer to the traditional idea of a casserole–Simply Delicious sometimes gets a little loose with what they categorize as a casserole.

6-42: Turkey Pot Roast

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 8, 2020December 24, 2020black pepper, bone-in, boneless, bouquet garni, breasts, carrots, chervil, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, dinner, Dutch oven, easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lemons, parsley, peeled, pot-roasted, potatoes, red potatoes, salt, simmered, tarragon, TGV 2019, Thanksgiving, thyme, turkey, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Looking for a smaller Thanksgiving option this year than the traditional 6-29: Stuffed Turkey? Here’s part of what I made for last year’s meal–6-42: Turkey Pot Roast. If you’re cooking for less people this year (or any year) and still want something Thanksgiving-ish, this might be a good option.

I didn’t want to make a full turkey for only two meat eaters (me not being one of those two), so I combined this recipe along with some additional leg and thigh pieces into enough turkey to complete the holiday without having to make more than we needed.

This is also MUCH easier to do than a full turkey, especially if you’ve never attempted one of those before and don’t want 2020 to be your first run at it. 6-9: Orange-Glazed Turkey Breast is another “smaller” turkey option if you’re just looking for a taste of turkey instead of a glut of it.

14-21: Pear Pandowdy

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods October 13, 2020October 12, 2020all-purpose flour, American, apples, autumn, baked goods, baking powder, blackberries, blueberries, brown sugar, butter, cherries, cinnamon, dessert, easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, frozen, fruit, granulated sugar, hot desserts, lemon juice, nutmeg, peaches, pears, pie crust, plums, raspberries, salt, strawberries, toppings, vegetarian

Here’s a very basic dessert recipe: 14-21: Pear Pandowdy. Pandowdies are typically made with apples, but Simply Delicious offers a pear variation which is also popular. Both are in season right now, so either one would work for this recipe if you’re looking for something to do with all of that fall produce.

Here’s more info on pandowdies, courtesy of New England.com:

An old-fashioned favorite, the pandowdy is, by definition, a cooked fruit dessert sweetened with maple syrup or molasses and topped with a pie pastry. The name refers to the act of “dowdying” the crust — that is, breaking it up with a knife and pressing it into the bubbling juices — midway through baking. While it’s not the prettiest of pastries, what it lacks in streamlined good looks it more than makes up for in rich flavor.
Yankee Magazine, August 2020

Let’s see how close Simply Delicious gets to their definition. They sell this thing much better than I do.

8-13: Japanese Beef Casserole

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses October 12, 2020October 12, 2020Asian, bamboo shoots, beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, beef tenderloin, braised, canola oil, casserole, celery, chard, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, frozen, Japanese, Japanese soy sauce, julienned, kale, lunch, meal prep, mushrooms, salt, sautéed, sesame oil, sherry, shoyu, sirloin, soy sauce, spinach, stir-fry, untested, vegetable oil, white pepper, yellow onions

Usually, I give Simply Delicious a hard time for their attempts at “cultural cuisine”–I had gone into 8-13: Japanese Beef Casserole with the same expectations. I even cooked the recipe with that thought in mind–that this was just another lame attempt at something “exotic” for the 1980s housewife crowd to try to excite their disaffected family about. I mean, read that description below and try to imagine how that would go in real life.

However, while researching for the write-up (the last part of this multi-step process), I found some interesting “similar” recipes. I’m still not sure if I’m right or wrong about this one.

Here’s my thoughts on the two things this recipe could be (given my new findings):

They might be trying to attempt nikujaga (Japanese “beef stew”), but it’s missing potatoes which are a crucial (and easy to obtain) part of that dish.
They’re attempting some sort of pan-Asian sautéed beef/Asian veggies dish that you’d be more likely to find in a dead mall’s food court and just calling it Japanese casserole.

I’m guessing it’s the latter, but if you’d like to decide for yourself, keep reading.

Oh, and that dead mall link above? That’s another one of our projects…

2-16: Roast Beef Salad with Beans

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 3, 2020October 12, 2020apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, beef, black pepper, chilled, dairy-free, dressing, easy, egg-free, emulsion, fairly inexpensive, garnish, gluten-free, green beans, lettuce, marinated, olive oil, parsley, pearl onions, roast beef, salads, salt, sliced, string beans, tarragon, tomatoes, untested, vinegar, white beans, white wine vinegar

In case you hadn’t had enough of weird bean salads with 2-19: Country Bean Salad, I present to you its estranged cousin, 2-16: Roast Beef Salad with Beans.

RIP buffet luncheons (and large groups). Although if this is what’s on the menu, I’d have passed on it anyway.

5-17: Crab-Filled Crêpes

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 2, 2020October 2, 2020all-purpose flour, batter, black pepper, breakfast, brunch, butter, Cheddar, cheese, crab, crêpes, dill, dried herbs, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, filling, griddle, herbs and spices, krab, lunch, melted, milk, roux, salt, seafood, shellfish, shredded, untested

You thought I’d run out of crêpe recipes by now, didn’t you? Here’s yet another for you (#7, at the time of this posting), 5-17: Crab-Filled Crêpes. Simply Delicious has featured both sweet and savory crêpe recipes, and this one would probably be EXCELLENT for a nice brunch.

WAY, way back, when I first started this project (April 2014), crêpes were a new frontier–something I’d never done before. You can read about it in 5-24: Meat-Filled Crêpes.

Now, they’re easy. Time changes so many things.