March 2016 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

7-34: Grilled Pork Slices with Garlic

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses March 30, 2016June 18, 2020barbecue, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, blanched, boneless, broiled, canola oil, deglazed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, garlic, gluten-free, grated, grilled, lemons, lunch, melted, olive oil, party food, pork, pork loin, salt, sautéed, untested, vegetable oil, zested

Since the last entry was a garlic & beef entry (8-20: Juicy Steak with Garlic Topping), here’s another garlic recipe for you, this time with pork: 7-34: Grilled Pork Slices with Garlic. I used a cast-iron grill pan for this, but you could use a BBQ or even just do a pan-sear if that’s what you’ve got.

This is some serious garlic game–whole cloves, in fact. But they’re right–blanching them does make them pretty mild and yummy. If you’re willing to risk some garlic breath, this recipe is a pretty decent one to check out.

8-20: Juicy Steak with Garlic Topping

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses March 29, 2016July 2, 2020beef, black pepper, boneless, Boursin, Brie, broiled, brushed, butter, canola oil, cheese, chives, cream cheese, creamy, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, garlic, gluten-free, grilled, herbs and spices, minced, pan-fried, parsley, restaurant-style, salt, sirloin, steak, top loin, untested

In 8-17: Pan-Fried Steak with Onions, I talked about using a different method to cook steaks than what’s usually written in these recipes–namely, the restaurant method where you sear the meat on the stove and finish cooking in the oven. If you want some practice with that method, 8-20: Juicy Steak with Garlic Topping is a decent (and garlicky) recipe for it.

Honestly, it sounds like even Simply Delicious couldn’t think of anything especially creative or memorable to say about this dish. It’s not much more than steak with some garlicky cheese on top, but if that interests you, read on.

4-9: Asparagus with Italian Butter Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 29, 2016October 13, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, asparagus, black pepper, blanched, boiled, butter, butter sauce, chervil, chives, creamy, dinner, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, herbs and spices, Italian, Italian parsley, melted, milk, mounted, parsley, roux, salt, sautéed, side dish, spring, steamed, tarragon, tender-crisp, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, whipping cream, white wine, yellow onions

Late March/early April is right around the time asparagus begins its short season, so if you happen to find yourself with some in the near future, here’s a recipe for you: 4-9: Asparagus with Italian Butter Sauce. I served this as a side dish along with 8-20: Juicy Steak with Garlic Topping.

There’s such a short window of time when asparagus is in season–you start seeing it around March-April, and it’s done around early summer, in June-July. We’ve recently signed back up for our CSA box after a break, and asparagus was waiting for us in the first one.

7-27: Pork Tenderloin in Creamy Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses March 23, 2016June 18, 2020black pepper, boneless, butter, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, creamy, deglazed, Dijon mustard, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, half-and-half, melted, pan-fried, pork, pork loin, pork shoulder, pork tenderloin, salt, tarragon, tenderized, untested, whipping cream

I had mentioned in 7-36: Pork Tenderloin with Curry Sauce that I had an abundance of pork tenderloin due to a Costco sale. As I work my way through the freezer (mostly because I keep adding new things into it), I find myself with another pork tenderloin–this time, we’ll try it as 7-27: Pork Tenderloin in Creamy Sauce.

There’s not a HUGE difference conceptually between this one and 7-36: Pork Tenderloin with Curry Sauce–the major differences are just spices & condiments added to the final sauce. Otherwise, this is another perfectly serviceable weeknight dinner option, or even a decent meal for entertaining.

8-17: Pan-Fried Steak with Onions

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses March 16, 2016July 2, 2020beef, black pepper, brown sugar, butter, canola oil, caramelized, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, gluten-free, maple syrup, melted, pan-fried, restaurant-style, salt, sautéed, sirloin, soy sauce, steak, tamari, top loin, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables, yellow onions

Here’s a decent way to do a nice restaurant-style steak at home. 8-17: Pan-Fried Steak with Onions–with a few of my tweaks–is (hopefully) bound to impress whomever you’re cooking for.

I’m a hippie when it comes to some things, but I just love a good steak. My dad is a steak man, and his parents before him. I’ve made quite a few in my day, in a lot of different ways. This is probably the easiest, quickest, and most consistent method. Plus, it won’t set off your smoke detector or require you to go outside.

19-16: Butter, Margarine, & Oils I

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School March 13, 2016January 21, 2023butter, canola oil, coconut oil, cooking school, how-to, margarine, olive oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil

Fat is a big part of cooking–it’s where you get most of your flavor. As part of the Cooking School portion of Simply Delicious, 19-16: Butter, Margarine, & Oils I is the first part in a two-part series on common cooking fats and the role they play in the culinary process.

After the jump, Simply Delicious gets into discussing saturated vs. unsaturated fat and into some light comparison of butter, margarine, and oil. Keep in mind that these cards are from the 1980s, and that thoughts and theories on nutrition have changed somewhat over time.

1-13: Crusty Toast with Mushrooms

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 12, 2016December 31, 2019appetizers, breakfast, butter, chanterelle, chives, creamy, diced, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, fried, garlic, Glendale apt, green onions, hors d'oeuvres, lunch, melted, minced, mushrooms, pan-fried, parsley, party food, revisited, salt, sautéed, snacks, sour cream, thyme, toasted, vegetables, vegetarian, white bread, yellow onions

Well folks, this is the 100th cooked recipe I’ve made for this project, which is just shy of 2 years old at this point. I chose 1-13: Crusty Toast with Mushrooms to be the 100th recipe for a reason–it was one of two recipes (along with 1-33: Artichoke & Roasted Pepper Dip) that inspired me to do this project in the first place.

I made this for a birthday party I’ve mentioned before along with 1-8: Delicious Cocktail Snacks and 16-37: Double Decadent Brownie Torte. It’s a great appetizer and a delicious snack.

16-37: Double Decadent Brownie Torte

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 11, 2016November 6, 20204-6-09 dinner, all-purpose flour, baked goods, birthday, brownies, butter, cakes, chilled, chocolate, chocolate chips, cornstarch, creamy, custard, dessert, easy, egg yolks, eggs, fairly inexpensive, frosted, gift ideas, glazed, granulated sugar, Kahlúa, light corn syrup, macadamia nuts, melted, party food, pastry, pastry cream, pecans, revisited, roach motel apt, semisweet, strawberries, torte, vanilla extract, vegetarian, walnuts, whipping cream

I had mentioned in 1-8: Delicious Cocktail Snacks that I had attended a birthday party recently–I used 16-37: Double Decadent Brownie Torte as part of the birthday cake that I made for it. This is one I’ve made before, and this time I kept some of the changes I made the first time.

I noted that I made this with Kahlúa whipped cream the first time. I did that this time too, along with a Kahlúa pastry cream to layer between 2 layers of torte.

7-5: Spareribs

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses March 11, 2016June 18, 2020appetizers, barbecue, black pepper, brown sugar, brushed, canola oil, chili sauce, diced, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, gluten-free, lemons, lunch, minced, paprika, party food, pork, ribs, roasted, salt, spareribs, untested, Worcestershire sauce, yellow mustard, yellow onions

There’s a couple of rib recipes in Simply Delicious, but this one’s probably the most basic. It’s still a bit too cold out to BBQ, but 7-5: Spareribs gives you a pretty decent oven method of cooking ribs. As is usually the case, the inspiration for these came from needing room in my freezer after picking ribs up on sale somewhere a month or two ago.

Simply Delicious seems to echo my sentiments. However, their choice of the creepy pig doll for the recipe picture was less than optimal. Anyway, this is pretty easy to do, not that hard to clean up, and works pretty well. Sounds like a winner to me.

1-8: Delicious Cocktail Snacks

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 9, 2016December 24, 2019all-purpose flour, appetizers, blue cheese, butter, Canadian bacon, Cheddar, cheese, chilled, chopped, cocktail, cooked chicken, diced, Dijon mustard, dough, fairly easy, fairly expensive, foie gras, grated, ham, hors d'oeuvres, liver pâté, mayonnaise, melted, Monterey Jack, Parmesan, party food, pepperoni, red bell peppers, salad shrimp, shrimp, Silpat, smoked ham, snacks, spinach, toppings, tuna, twice-baked, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

I recently attended a birthday party, and was tasked with making some of the dishes for the party (as is usually the case). Seeing as some of the guests were “old-school” about their dining preferences, I decided to use up some of the more “old-school” recipes. 1-8: Delicious Cocktail Snacks looks exactly like something a waiter would be carrying around at a fancy cocktail party in an old movie.

So retro. These were pretty easy to make, and actually held really well in the fridge before the party. I reheated them at the party and it worked great–just a thought if you need something for a party that you can make earlier, transport and/or reheat later.

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