8-30: Hungarian Goulash

8-30: Hungarian Goulash

We’ve just passed the 7-year anniversary of starting this project (April 16)…and I’m still nowhere near done. This is going to take me the rest of my life at this rate, I think.

A dish that WON’T take you the rest of your life to complete (notice my flawless segue there) is 8-30: Hungarian Goulash. It’s supposedly a dish for cold days, which are quickly becoming few and far between here in California now that it’s almost May. However, if you’ve still got a touch of cold where you are (or maybe your hemisphere is heading towards winter instead of summer), this might be a good option.

Hungarian goulash is very well-known outside of Simply Delicious…in fact, it’s Hungary’s national dish. ?? Many countries have versions of it due to various Hungarian diasporas over the last few centuries. You may know the modern American version better as American chop suey, slumgullion, or maybe Hamburger Helper?


Read more

7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek

7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek

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?


Read more

14-24: Wine-Baked Apples

14-24: Wine-Baked Apples

Yet another apple dessert recipe for you today. I made 14-24: Wine-Baked Apples at the same time as 14-2: Apple Strudel, since if I’m going through the work of breaking down apples, I’m getting at least two entries out of it.

The blurb above mentions this being a “new” way to bake apples–it doesn’t seem that far off from the “oldways, to be quite honest.


Read more

19-19: Root Vegetables I

19-19: Root Vegetables I

I haven’t done a Cooking School entry in forever, so here’s 19-19: Root Vegetables I for your reading pleasure. You can expect 19-20: Root Vegetables II sometime in the near-to-distant future (EDIT: done, linked).

Wikipedia has a pretty extensive list of root vegetables, so if Simply Delicious doesn’t discuss what you’re looking for, they’ve got you covered. It’s a good time for root vegetables, so think about how you can incorporate some into your mealtime rotation if you’re interested.


Read more

17-30: Stollen

17-30: Stollen

Still catching up on a few old ones–but maybe you can file this one away for later on this year. 17-30: Stollen is a traditional German sweet fruit bread that is typically eaten around Christmas time. After two back-to-back years of holiday treat bundles comprised of multiple Simply Delicious creations (good way to burn them off quickly), I’ve pretty much finished off that type of recipe…at least when it comes to baked goods.

Stollen isn’t a Simply Delicious creation–Wikipedia has a pretty extensive entry on it. There’s some other pretty solid recipes out there as well, if you’d like to compare them to this one. I find comparing multiple versions (from trustworthy/reputable sources) of a well-known dish helps me understand what’s essential about it (what I find common amongst all the recipes) and what’s up for interpretation (where they differ). ???


Read more

17-40: Apple Rolls

17-40: Apple Rolls

Editor’s note: Happy New Year! We start the new year by finishing up a bit of old business from last year! 

My second apple recipe for this year’s holiday gifts (XMAS 16) is 17-40: Apple Rolls. These “not too sweet” rolls contain an apple wedge wrapped inside a savory dough, covered with sesame seeds. I made a double sized batch of these rolls. Thankfully, the instructions are very good and I’ve practiced with yeast enough times to make a pretty decent dough.

I wish I had taken the advice from the front of the card and used chopped pecans instead of sesame seeds.


Read more

17-49: Apple Muffins

17-49: Apple Muffins

My contribution to this year’s holiday baking (XMAS 16) consists of two recipes which include my favorite fruit: Apples! ? ? ?

I ended up multiplying this recipe by 3, which gave us more than enough apple muffins for the holiday gifts. ?

The notes on the front of the card are from Jamie’s mom. I made this recipe once before when I had a lot of apples laying around.


Read more

7-24: Cran-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

7-24: Cran-Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Simply Delicious contains the best recipes for pork tenderloin. I particularly enjoy this preparation, 7-24: Cran-Glazed Pork Tenderloin, which uses cranberry sauce–my favorite part of the Thanksgiving (or Christmas) meal. ?

Pork and wine taste great when combined together. Instead of marinating the pork as in 7-18: Pork Tenderloin in Wine Sauce, the cranberry sauce and wine are put in the pan to create a sauce to coat the pork tenderloin in flavor. ?


Read more

7-18: Pork Tenderloin in Wine Sauce

7-18: Pork Tenderloin in Wine Sauce

Marinade is a “sauce, typically made of oil, vinegar, spices, and herbs, in which meat, fish, or other food is soaked before cooking in order to flavor or soften it”. Port wine is not an ingredient I normally keep in the house, but I have marinated a pork tenderloin before so 7-18: Pork Tenderloin in Wine Sauce shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.

Meat that soaks in a marinade comes out tender and delicious. Cooking with this method requires more preparation time. Leave the meat in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours for maximum tenderness. The minimum marinating time I recommend is around 1 hour. When I prepared this recipe, I tried to make it in one night, so the meat marinated in the refrigerator for only 2 hours.


Read more

6-9: Orange-Glazed Turkey Breast

6-9: Orange-Glazed Turkey Breast

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.


Read more