January 2017 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

18-10: Pasta II

Jamie Martin Group 18: Basic Techniques, Section 4: Cooking School January 29, 2017September 30, 2020al dente, all-purpose flour, boiled, butter, canola oil, carrots, cheese, cheese sauce, conchiglie, cooking school, dough, durum wheat flour, eggs, farfalle, herbs and spices, Italian, meat sauce, Parmesan, pasta machine, pasta/noodles, penne, ravioli, rotini, salt, seafood, semolina, soups, spinach, stuffed, stuffing, tomato sauce, tomatoes, tortellini, vegetable oil, vegetarian

Back with another Cooking School follow-up to 18-19: Pasta I from a few weeks ago. 18-10: Pasta II discusses proper pasta making techniques & cooking methods on its front face, as well as offering some tips on using fresh and dried varieties. On the back side, the deep dive into the myriad of pasta shapes that started with 18-9: Pasta I continues–this card covers smaller forms like penne, farfalle, and tortellini.

Most of this advice is pretty generic–here’s a basic pasta dough recipe, and pasta cooking methods are outlined pretty well here. I’ve made both plain dough as well as some with spinach and sun-dried tomato–it’s a lot of work, but the taste difference is pretty noticeable. I don’t currently have a pasta machine, but I’d love to add one to my already-too-large collection of kitchen appliances and tools.

After the jump, read about some more pasta shapes–there’s some links to a few additional pasta dishes we’ve already covered here as well.

17-50: Cornmeal-Jalapeño Biscuits

Adam Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 11, 2017November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, baked goods, baking powder, baking soda, biscuit cutters, biscuits, breakfast, butter, buttermilk, chopped, cilantro, cookie cutters, coriander, cornmeal, cumin, cut in, dough, easy, egg-free, gift ideas, granulated sugar, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, inexpensive, jalapeño peppers, lunch, melted, minced, parsley, party food, salt, side dish, Silpat, snacks, untested, vegetarian

Making biscuits is quick and easy, especially when following this recipe for 17-50: Cornmeal-Jalapeño Biscuits from Simply Delicious. One of my favorite rainy-day activities, I enjoy baking because the warm oven heats up the house nicely. The only feeling that can beat it is sitting by the fireplace.🔥

A recipe like this could be cooked similar to a cornbread in a cast iron skillet placed near a fireplace hearth. That would be really old school, but I prefer using this biscuit method because each biscuit is baked with its own crunchy, delicious crust.

This recipe is so versatile. You can make the biscuits small for appetizer-sized portions or you can make dinner sized biscuits as a side dish.

18-6: Basic Pots and Pans

Jamie Martin Group 18: Basic Techniques, Section 4: Cooking School January 10, 2017September 30, 2020blanched, boiled, braised, cast-iron, cooking school, double boiler, Dutch oven, grill pan, pan-fried, pot-roasted, restaurant-style, sautéed, simmered, steamed

Back again with another Cooking School entry from the back of Simply Delicious. 18-6: Basic Pots & Pans is a featured topic discussing different types of cookware that can be used, with tips on handling, usage, & storage. Pot & pan types are controversial for some cooks, and what one person stands by may be another’s no-go. 👩‍🍳

In this entry, I really only plan to show you what I’ve got going in my own kitchen as of the time I wrote it, and I’ll probably pepper in some links to different pieces on cookware. I can’t claim any real authority on any of this stuff besides my own personal experience and knowledge, but I can at least maybe add one more opinion out there. 🍳

9-37: Ground Meat and Bean Dinner

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses January 9, 2017October 19, 2020apples, bay leaves, black olives, boiled, canola oil, chopped, cinnamon, cloves, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dried herbs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, gluten-free, green olives, ground beef, ground meat, herbs and spices, lunch, party food, pinto beans, red bell peppers, red kidney beans, salt, sautéed, simmered, soaked, stews, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, white beans, yellow onions

This dish is a dish that just “isn’t quite”. Isn’t quite good, isn’t quite bad. Like a bootleg chili, 9-37: Ground Meat and Bean Dinner is a Simply Delicious mess of a dish that isn’t quite chili and isn’t quite a casserole. 🌶

Unusual flavors is an understatement. Apples, cloves and cinnamon are a very old school meat and flavor combination. The broadest definition of meat is a solid food so pretty much everything used to be called meat. Merriam Webster Dictionary features an archaic definition of meat: “the edible part of something as distinguished from its covering (as a husk or shell)”. Fruit meat, nut meat, vegetable meat, the fleshy part that provides sustenance is technically a meat under this really old definition.

17-45: Light Coffee Rolls

Adam Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 7, 2017November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, almonds, baked goods, breads, breakfast, butter, chopped, coffee, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly easy, gift ideas, granulated sugar, grated, inexpensive, kneaded, melted, milk, nuts, party food, proofed, rolls, salt, sliced, snacks, untested, vegetarian, yeast

17-45: Light Coffee Rolls were made as part of a gift box for a family friend. These coffee rolls can hardly be described as “light” in my opinion. The batch I made came out rather heavy, but buttery and delicious. 😋

The rolls were best served fresh from the oven, upon cooling, the rolls got heavier and less airy.

16-54: Lemony Cottage Cheese Pie

Adam Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 5, 2017November 5, 2020all-purpose flour, almonds, baked goods, breakfast, butter, cheese, chopped, cottage cheese, cream cheese, creamy, dessert, dough, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, filling, flute, granulated sugar, grated, hot desserts, inexpensive, kneaded, lemons, melted, nuts, pie crust, pies, springform pan, stiff peaks, tart pan, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

Whenever I think of lemons, I can’t help but think of Lemongrab from Adventure Time, my favorite, lemon-insipred, animated character. From my research, there are two other major characters who are lemon-themed, Lemon Meringue from “doll commercial hidden in a cartoon” Strawberry Short Cake and Honey Lemon, one of the main characters from Big Hero 6, a 3D animated feature film released by Disney in 2014 . I haven’t had a chance to check this movie out yet, but if it ever pops up on Netflix, I’d watch it. Now that my rant about cartoon characters is complete, enjoy this entry about 16-54: Lemony Cottage Cheese Pie, a really weird lemony pie. 🍋

Serving this pie on top of a tapestry featuring a creepy little girl must somehow enhance the flavor of this otherwise weird lemony pie. The background tapestry is probably the most interesting and tasteful part of the entire photograph.

18-9: Pasta I

Jamie Martin Group 18: Basic Techniques, Section 4: Cooking School January 4, 2017September 30, 2020angel hair, butter, cannelloni, cheese sauce, cooking school, fettuccini, lasagna, layers, mafalde, manicotti, meat sauce, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, spaghetti, spinach, stuffed, tagliatelle, tomato sauce, vegetarian, vermicelli

Simply Delicious dedicates its last few chapters to “Cooking School“, comprised of informational cards on various techniques, ingredients, & basic recipes that any serious cook should learn to master. 18-9: Pasta I is the first in a two-part series about pasta, the second being 18-10: Pasta II. This particular card covers a few different shapes of pasta, including spaghetti, fettuccini, & lasagna. 🍽

18-9: Pasta I only begins to scratch the surface of different types of pasta–there are so many more out there. The important takeaways from this particular set of tips are the different kinds of sauce that go with the various shapes, as well as how to identify some common variances in the shapes. 18-10: Pasta II goes more into the cooking and serving of pasta, as well as listing a few more shape/sauce combinations if you’re looking for a bit more from Simply Delicious on the topic. 📚

6-41: Chicken Breasts with Tomato Salsa

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses January 3, 2017October 15, 2020basil, black pepper, boneless, breasts, broiled, cast-iron, chicken, chopped, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, garlic, gluten-free, green onions, grill pan, grilled, healthy, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Italian, lime juice, limes, lunch, minced, olive oil, party food, Roma/plum tomatoes, salsa, salt, scallions, skinless, thyme, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

I like dishes that are easy enough to prepare on a weekday night. 6-14: Chicken Breasts with Tomato Salsa teaches you to make a simple salsa to put on top of some tasty chicken breasts. 🍗

I really enjoy dishes like this for dinner: simple and flavorful ingredients which combine to make a nutritious, Simply Delicious meal.

18-3: Good Kitchen Knives

Jamie Martin Group 18: Basic Techniques, Section 4: Cooking School January 2, 2017September 30, 2020carved, chiffonade, chopped, cooking school, cored, deboned, diced, garnish, julienned, knives, minced, pared, peeled, scored, slashed, sliced, slit

It’s a new year, and it’s also been a long time since I’ve covered any of the Cooking School portion of the back of the Simply Delicious cookbook. One of the featured topics is 18-3: Good Kitchen Knives, essential tools for any cook. I’ve had a lot of terrible knives, and I’ve got a long way to go until I make jaws drop with my knife collection, but I’ve got a few that are not too shabby. 🔪

I’m going to try NOT to make this a “look at all my cool knives” kind-of-a-thing, because honestly, my collection isn’t all that Internet-impressive–I don’t have a ton of trendy Japanese pieces or massive cleavers, because I just don’t cook that way too often. Plus, I feel about knives like I feel about cars–give me a broken-in cheap old workhorse over a shiny speedster you’re afraid to scratch up any day of the week. 🚙

17-40: Apple Rolls

Adam Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods January 1, 2017November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, apples, autumn, baked goods, breakfast, butter, buttermilk, chopped, Christmas, cinnamon, cored, dried spices, egg wash, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fall, gift ideas, granulated sugar, herbs and spices, melted, nuts, pecans, peeled, rolls, sesame seeds, snacks, untested, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, winter, XMAS 16, yeast

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.