Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project – Page 28 – A recipe-by-recipe adventure working our way through a treasured set of 1980s subscription-based cookbooks.

16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 28, 2016November 5, 2020à la mode, all-purpose flour, apples, apricots, autumn, baked goods, baking powder, baking soda, boiled, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, cake pan, cakes, caramelized, cast-iron, cherries, chopped, cinnamon, cored, currants, dessert, diced, dried fruit, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fall, fruit, fruitcake, gift ideas, golden raisins, granulated sugar, grated, herbs and spices, hot desserts, melted, nuts, oranges, papaya, party food, pecans, peeled, pineapple, raisins, snacks, springform pan, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, torte, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

One of the two desserts I made for this year’s Thanksgiving (TGV 2016) was 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte (the other was 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe). I wanted something “of the season”, and this seemed like a cross between apple pie and fruitcake.

This was the second dish I made, starting off the Wednesday 11/23 portion of my holiday cooking marathon. Since this cake holds well at room temperature, I planned to just slightly underbake it, and then finish it off for 5-10 minutes in a preheated oven to warm it up for dessert on the day of the holiday.

If I hadn’t made this for Thanksgiving, I think it’d make a great gift (mailed or delivered in person) or potluck dish, especially for an office or somewhere where it would sit for a while. Even though Thanksgiving is over for the year, it’s totally still the season for a cake like this one.

Other dishes I made on this night (Wed. 11/23): the dressing for 1-10: Seafood Louisiana Cocktail, cranberry sauce, 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe, and a roasted garlic & herb butter to serve with 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls.

6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 27, 2016October 15, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, butter, canola oil, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chimichurri sauce, chopped, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, food processor, garlic, grated, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, minced, parsley, purée, red onions, salt, shallots, South American, sunflower oil, untested, white wine, zested

Two-packs of whole chickens were on sale at Costco and the other chicken in this pack was used to make 6-20: Rosemary Chicken. This recipe, 6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken required me to rub a few brain cells together to prepare the chicken as written on the card.

Lime flavor added to anything is a winner with me. Chicken and lime is a great combination, the white wine sauce added a unique twist.

4-27: Mushroom-Parsnip Au Gratin

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters November 26, 2016November 14, 2020all-purpose flour, au gratin, blanched, boiled, broiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, crab, creamy, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, food processor, grated, half-and-half, lunch, mandoline, melted, mushrooms, Parmesan, parsnips, peeled, salt, sautéed, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, side dish, sliced, Swiss, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, whipping cream

It’s been a hell of a month, y’all. Between my birthday at the very beginning, the election, an aunt passing away, unexpected horse-sitting, and planning/executing my very first self-made Thanksgiving dinner, I unfortunately didn’t do a lot of writing. However, our Thanksgiving this year (TGV 2016) was Simply Delicious-themed, as I used 7 recipes for this year’s feast.

I started the cooking marathon on Tuesday 11/22 with 4-27: Mushroom-Parsnip Au Gratin–I thought parsnips would make an interesting variation on the “vegetable” dish for Thanksgiving. I also cooked this one first because I knew I could cook it most of the way, and save the final broiling for right before the dinner was served.

I don’t know much about parsnips being the “poor man’s lobster” (a quick Google search reveals butter baking cod/haddock/etc. to be the most common modern use for that term), but I’d describe them as a cross between potatoes and carrots. Too potato-y to be a carrot, but too carrot-y to be a potato.

8-31: Roast Beef

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses November 1, 2016October 18, 202012-11-08 dinner, baked potatoes, beef, beef broth, black pepper, boneless, dairy-free, deglazed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, gluten-free, gravy, meat thermometer, party food, revisited, rib eye, roach motel apt, roast beef, roasted, salt, white pepper

This recipe is the best kind of recipe from Simply Delicious, an easy one. I’m not the most confident at preparing roast beef in this manner, however, the method shown in 8-31: Roast Beef is easy and can be applied to other cuts of meat such as lamb. 🍖

Simple is the best way to describe baking a roast beef in the oven.

Editor’s note: I’ve made this one before–it was part of my fancy dinner party I had in my first apartment after college. You know, before I had to surrender it to the roaches. 😯 I’ve continued to use it as a basic roast beef recipe, although now I like to do a beef broth/mixed-herb/red wine marinade before roasting.

3-33: Broccoli Wild Rice Soup

Adam Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 31, 2016October 4, 2020allspice, appetizers, blanched, blender, boiled, broccoli, butter, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chilled, chopped, creamy, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, Glendale apt, green bell peppers, green onions, healthy, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, milk, purée, revisited, salt, sautéed, scallions, side dish, soups, sour cream, sweated, thyme, vegetables, vegetarian, whipping cream, wild rice, yellow onions

This is not my first time to the broccoli soup rodeo, so 3-33: Broccoli Wild Rice Soup should be a snap. 🏇🏼 A while back, I made 3-21: Broccoli-Celery Soup and broccoli is still in season at the time I am writing this post.

Cold isn’t my favorite temperature when eating soup, but with so much sour cream, the soup may separate during reheating. ❄

6-20: Rosemary Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses October 30, 2016October 15, 2020bone-in, chicken, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, gluten-free, herb-roasted, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lemons, olive oil, roasted, rosemary, salt, untested

6-20: Rosemary Chicken is another “Easy” level recipe, my favorite kind of recipe from Simply Delicious. This isn’t my usual method to prepare chicken, but it is fun to try something new every once in a while. 😜

The editors of Simply Delicious are sometimes off on their estimate of cooking time. 45 minutes isn’t nearly long enough to bake a chicken at the temperature they recommend on this card. I found this out the hard way. 🍗

12-10: Cheesy Tagliatelle

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses October 29, 2016July 27, 2020al dente, all-purpose flour, basil, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, boiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cheese sauce, chopped, creamy, dinner, easy, fettuccini, frozen, garlic, grated, half-and-half, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Italian, lunch, melted, milk, minced, nutmeg, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, red bell peppers, roux, salt, sautéed, sesame seeds, side dish, sliced, spinach, sweet peas, tagliatelle, toasted, untested, vegetables, vegetarian

I’ve been meaning to make this one for a while–spinach fettuccine was my favorite as a kid (and is SUPER hard to find these days). I usually had it with Alfredo sauce, and the cheesy sauce in 12-10: Cheesy Tagliatelle is like a thinner, red pepper-ier version of that. 🍽

I’m not quite sure what the major difference between tagliatelle and fettuccini is–the TL;DR of a quick search indicates it has to do with fettuccini noodles being the same width as tagliatelle, but a bit thicker. The two come from different parts of Italy, but both roughly refer to the same concept.

5-5: Individual Ham Quiches

Adam Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 28, 2016October 14, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, breakfast, butter, cheese, chilled, creamy, cut in, dinner, dough, dried herbs, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, flute, food processor, French, green onions, half-and-half, ham, herbs and spices, individual, julienned, leeks, lunch, party food, pastry, pie crust, quiche lorraine, quiches, salt, sautéed, shredded, sliced, thyme, untested, vegetables

I wasn’t about to go out and buy mini quiche pans just to cook 5-5: Individual Ham Quiches. Taking the alternative route, I made this dish as one, full-sized quiche.

I believe the card puts it best. At this point I’m not quite “fortunate enough to own small oven-proof quiche pans,” so a full-sized pie pan will do. If you use a foil pie pan, there is a lot less cleanup when the quiche is done, just toss the foil pan in the recycling. ♻

4-18: French Vegetable Casserole

Adam Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 27, 2016October 13, 2020basil, black pepper, chopped, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, eggplant, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, Glendale apt, gluten-free, green bell peppers, herbs and spices, lunch, minced, olive oil, parsley, peeled, red bell peppers, revisited, salt, sautéed, side dish, simmered, sliced, squash, summer, thyme, tomatoes, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions, zucchini

Everything I needed to learn about making 4-18: French Vegetable Casserole was told to me by Remy the animated rat, star of Ratatouille. I know…the editors of Simply Delicious call this dish “French Vegetable Casserole” to make the name more palatable for Middle America. 🇫🇷

The card mentions that the dish is referred to as “ratatouille” in its area of origin.

Editor’s note: I did the underlining you see above when I realized this recipe was “ratatouille”. I’ve made this recipe before, a year or two prior to embarking on this project. I even watched Ratatouille on my laptop while I made it. 🐀

1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 26, 2016October 2, 2020appetizers, apples, black pepper, boiled, breakfast, carrots, chilled, cornichons, creamy, diced, easy, eggs, fairly expensive, frozen, ham, hard-boiled, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Italian, lemon juice, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, party food, pickles, potatoes, salt, smoked ham, snacks, sour cream, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

Artistic appetizers are amazing!🖕 I can’t get enough of them and Simply Delicious has interesting appetizer recipes that are easy to prepare like this one, 1-11: Ham Rolls with Italian Salad. 🇮🇹

Easy to prepare ahead of time, these rolls are light and delicious appetizers to serve for any occasion. ✅