oregano – Page 2 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

9-14: Chili Con Carne

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses August 27, 2016October 20, 2020American, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, canola oil, chili peppers, chili powder, cloves, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, garlic, gluten-free, green bell peppers, ground beef, ground meat, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, minced, oregano, paprika, pared, peeled, pinto beans, red bell peppers, salt, sautéed, simmered, Tex-Mex, untested, vegetables, white beans, yellow onions

This recipe card gave me an excuse to cook up a big ol’ batch of 9-14: Chili Con Carne, not that I needed an excuse. I’ve made a few pots of chili in my day, but not one quite like this. My favorite episode of the Simpsons, entitled El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer), features a chili cook-off as a vital plot point. The infamous space coyote scene still cracks me up to this day. ?

With the peppers featured prominently on the front of the recipe card, Simply Delicious has pointed out the one major issue I had with this dish. WHO PUTS BELL PEPPER IN CHILI? ? Jamie and I enjoy a little spice in our chili. I’ve always wanted to try adding a pepper akin to the “Merciless Pepper of Quetzalacatenango … grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum.” ?

12-27: Chicken Broccoli Lasagna

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses August 24, 2016July 28, 2020at work, basil, boiled, broccoli, canola oil, casserole, cheese, chicken, chopped, creamy, crushed tomatoes, diced, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, frozen, garlic, grated, ground chicken, ground meat, ground turkey, healthy, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lasagna, lunch, melted, minced, Mozzarella, oregano, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, Ricotta, salt, shredded, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Here’s something a bit different…and I’m not talking about the recipe. In fact, 12-27: Chicken Broccoli Lasagna itself is pretty boring. But here’s what’s interesting: I made this recipe at work, for work. This one will be a bit of a glance into what I do all day–my other kitchen, if you will.

I usually use ground turkey for ground meat recipes (there’s a few kids with special dietary preferences) and I’ve made lasagna before for work, so this one seemed like a perfect recipe to try to scale up for the amount I need for a daily meal. “Healthy” is what parents are looking for these days when it comes to school lunches–another way this recipe is a good fit. ?

EDIT: Full disclosure–this was written in 2016, and I now have a career in a completely non-culinary related field. However, this still serves as a fun reminder of a previous “life”. Enjoy!

1-9: Four Seasons Pizza

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 9, 2016October 2, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, artichoke hearts, autumn, baked goods, black olives, cheese, cooked shrimp, dinner, dough, dried herbs, engagement party, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, fall, green olives, ham, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Italian, kneaded, lunch, Mozzarella, mushrooms, mussels, olive oil, oregano, party food, pizza, revisited, salt, seafood, shrimp, sliced, spring, summer, Tarzana apt, tomato sauce, toppings, vegetables, whole wheat flour, winter, yeast

1-9: Four Seasons Pizza is a weird little pizza. This appetizer uses ingredients from the 4 different seasons (from my interpretation): ham for spring, olives for summer, mushroom for autumn, and shrimp for winter. The marinated artichoke heart in the middle reminded me of the sun. ?

As I stated in the 13-11: Vegetarian Pizza post, I do enjoy pizza. I made these 4 small pizzas and was able to freeze 2 of them whole to eat later. ?

6-43: Cheesy Chicken Cutlets

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses June 25, 2016June 18, 2020basil, boneless, breasts, butter, canola oil, cheese, chicken, chiffonade, coated, dinner, dried herbs, easy, eggs, fried, fried chicken, gluten-free, grated, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, Italian seasoning, lettuce, lukewarm, lunch, marinated, melted, olive oil, oregano, pan-fried, Parmesan, radicchio, red wine vinegar, salads, salt, Silpat, skinless, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, white wine vinegar

Here’s yet another boneless/skinless chicken breast recipe born of the health-conscious 1980s. We ate a LOT of chicken breast when I was growing up, so I’m surprised my mom never busted 6-43: Cheesy Chicken Cutlets out for yet another version.

I’m sorry, but it’s ALWAYS seemed just a bit morbid to dip chicken in egg. I realize it’s often a big part of one of my favorite things (fried chicken), but it still always nags. I’ll leave it there–you do the math if you want to. ?

17-38: Olive Bread

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 12, 2016September 20, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, baked goods, basil, black olives, breads, breakfast, brushed, buns, cheese, chipotle, crescents, crispy, dairy-free, dinner, dough, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, garlic, Greek, herbes de Provence, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, inexpensive, kalamata, kneaded, lunch, olive oil, oregano, parchment paper, Parmesan, party food, proofed, revisited, rolls, rosemary, salt, sandwiches, side dish, Silpat, sliders, snacks, Tarzana apt, vegetarian, yeast

Here’s one I’ve made a couple of times before. 17-38: Olive Bread is a nice, easy bread to make, especially if you don’t have a ton of experience with the process. I think sometimes yeast doughs can be intimidating to beginners, but this one hasn’t failed me yet–even when I was still just beginning to make bread. If you’re looking for a more “plain” type easy bread, check out 17-6: Best Ever White Bread. However, if you like those olive batard breads from the bakery section of the market, you’ll love this one.

I’ve made this twice before, once in its intended form (but with more olives because I LOVE olives) and again soon after, but in a smaller bun-size with chipotle peppers & garlic instead of olives. I used them for slider buns for burgers intended for a New Years’ party, judging from the date on the card. What will I change about this recipe this time?

6-49: Cheese-Glazed Chicken Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses March 6, 2016June 18, 2020black pepper, boneless, bread crumbs, breasts, butter, cheese, chicken, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, garlic salt, glazed, grated, lunch, melted, Monterey Jack, oregano, panko, Parmesan, parsley, party food, rolls, salt, stuffed, tenderized, twice-baked, untested

I had mentioned in 6-35: Chicken Diable that I had another recipe that I needed to save some of the chicken breasts for–6-49: Cheese-Glazed Chicken Rolls was it. I don’t usually keep chicken breasts around (I think they’re dry and not particularly flavorful), so when I do have them, it’s best to try to knock out as many recipes as possible.

Simply Delicious has a lot of variations of “light chicken breast dinners”–it was the 1980s. If you’re interested in some of these, check out 6-4: Easy Stuffed Chicken Breasts, the aforementioned 6-35: Chicken Diable, or 6-40: Peppercorn Chicken Breasts.

11-4: Calzone with Seafood

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses February 25, 2016July 7, 2020all-purpose flour, calzone, caramelized, cheese, crab, diced, dinner, dough, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garlic, Italian, kneaded, krab, lunch, melted, minced, Mozzarella, mussels, olive oil, oregano, pared, pizza, proofed, salt, sautéed, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, stuffed, untested, vegetables, yeast, yellow onions

Here’s one from the Fish & Seafood chapter, which I haven’t delved into for awhile. 11-4: Calzone with Seafood sounds rather strange on paper, and was in fact strange in reality. If you’re picturing a pizza-like calzone with tomato sauce…think again.

If you’ve come here from a search engine looking for a good seafood calzone recipe (which apparently a lot of you do), here’s the TL;DR–the crust and overall cooking method are decent on this recipe, but be prepared to come up with your own fillings. Oh, and if you’re wondering what the heck this site is, read this.

They’ll mention later that the dough is really what they want you to get out of this recipe–the filling is a variable. Knowing that now (after I followed their suggestions), I would have definitely made some adjustments.

12-8: Penne with Broccoli

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses January 26, 2016July 27, 2020all-purpose flour, basil, blanched, boiled, broccoli, butter, Cheddar, cheese sauce, dinner, easy, inexpensive, lunch, milk, mushrooms, oregano, pared, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, penne, roux, salt, sautéed, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

As you’ve probably figured out, I don’t always write these immediately after I’ve cooked the dish. I usually remember a lot about them though, and I make a lot of mental notes as I go, especially now that I’ve done 80+ of these at this point.

I don’t remember a damned thing about 12-8: Penne with Broccoli. I’m pretty sure the only thing I remember was that it was pretty unmemorable.

My guess is it’s one of those one-pan-skillet-easy-weeknight-dinner kind of things that gets you to eat vegetables by covering them in cheese and noodles. Not that that’s bad, but it’s nothing new.

7-50: Parma Schnitzel

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses October 7, 2014June 19, 2020all-purpose flour, basil, black pepper, bread crumbs, breaded, butter, coated, crushed tomatoes, dinner, dredged, dried herbs, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, fried, ham, Italian, lunch, oregano, pan-fried, paprika, Parmesan, pork, pork loin, pork shoulder, reduced, salt, schnitzel, tenderized, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, white bread, yellow onions

Schnitzel has been a favorite of mine ever since I went on a trip with my family to Israel when I was 13 (I chose that instead of the party–I never say no to a chance to travel, especially abroad). Obviously, they didn’t serve a lot of pork schnitzel there, but 7-50: Parma Schnitzel is a good version all the same.

This is a quasi-Italian-style schnitzel, which according to Wikipedia, is one of the few countries that schnitzel is not a cuisine of. Well, this one’s good anyway.