appetizers – Page 7 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

4-34: Italian Roasted Vegetables

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 14, 2016October 13, 2020appetizers, asparagus, black pepper, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, eggplant, favorites, gluten-free, green beans, green bell peppers, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Hutton house, inexpensive, Italian, lunch, mushrooms, olive oil, pared, party food, red bell peppers, revisited, roasted, Rozie house, salt, side dish, snacks, tender-crisp, Thanksgiving, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow bell peppers, zucchini

This one’s short and sweet. I’ve made 4-34: Italian Roasted Vegetables a few times before, once as part of a big dinner party I cooked for when I was about 13 (6-22: Crispy Chicken Drumsticks and 9-20: Meat Roly-Poly were part of that as well) and Thanksgiving 2000 based on my mother’s notations on the back of the card. I know I’ve used the concept multiple times in other instances, even if I wasn’t following this exact recipe.

This is more a method than a particular recipe–you can use pretty much whatever vegetables you want with this one. Now’s a perfect time for this recipe–farmer’s markets are open and there’s lots of good stuff out there to roast. 🔥

9-10: Lean Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses May 13, 2016July 5, 2020appetizers, basil, black pepper, boiled, bread crumbs, canola oil, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dried herbs, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, ground meat, ground turkey, herbs and spices, Italian seasoning, lunch, meatballs, minced, olive oil, panko, parsley, party food, salt, sautéed, tomato sauce, untested, veal, white bread, white pepper, yellow onions

Here’s another one of those 1980s attempts at “healthy”. 9-10: Lean Meatballs with Tomato Sauce calls for the use of veal, which doesn’t immediately resonate with me as being “healthy”. A quick and dirty Google search comes up with veal having less calories than pork but more cholesterol than beef. Calories were the enemy in the 1980s, so I suppose that’s part of their justification for deeming veal meatballs “healthy”.

I’m not a huge fan of veal, and considering there’s a whole lamb & veal section to this book that I’ve only begun to scratch the surface of, we’re going to keep these meatballs “healthy” and swap veal for turkey. My mom was (and still is) a huge proponent of ground turkey, so this is probably a swap she or I would have made if we’d made this before.

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?

1-16: Mushrooms Escargot

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 29, 2016January 28, 2020appetizers, bacon fat, black pepper, bread crumbs, broiled, butter, dairy-free, easy, escargot, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, melted, minced, mushrooms, panko, pared, parsley, party food, side dish, Silpat, snacks, snails, stuffed, untested, vegetables, vegetarian

Here’s another mushroom recipe for you. 1-16: Mushrooms Escargot is similar to the last recipe I did, 2-2: Mushrooms à la Grecque, in that it’s a fancy name for a pretty well-known dish. Simply Delicious does that a LOT. This one is essentially stuffed mushrooms, something most everyone’s familiar with.

This recipe in-and-of itself doesn’t contain or use actual snails, but it’s suggested you can add them if you want. I didn’t go quite that far (although I’m not opposed to the idea), but the mushrooms provide a similar experience that’s not quite as…exotic. 🐌

2-2: Mushrooms à la Grecque

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 28, 2016February 5, 2020à la Grecque, appetizers, black pepper, boiled, diced, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, gluten-free, Greek, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lunch, marinated, mushrooms, olive oil, parsley, party food, peppercorns, salt, shallots, side dish, snacks, thyme, untested, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, white wine, yellow onions

“À la Grecque” means “in the Greek way” in French, and 2-2: Mushrooms à la Grecque is a French preparation of vegetables (in this case mushrooms) in a seasoned oil and wine marinade. Simply Delicious considers this a salad, so I guess we’ll go with that description as well.

This is essentially marinated mushrooms, a pretty classic dish. This one’s pretty simple, it holds well, and most people are into it, so it makes a good party dish too. 🍄

3-20: Italian Tomato Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 25, 2016March 14, 2020alphabet, appetizers, basil, bay leaves, blanched, boiled, chili sauce, creamy, crushed tomatoes, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, garlic, herb salt, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Italian, lunch, olive oil, pared, parsley, pasta/noodles, salt, sautéed, simmered, soups, tomatoes, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, whipping cream, whole wheat flour, yellow onions

It’s been a while since I’ve covered something out of Group 03: Soups on here–the last one was 3-14: Creamy Corn Chowder back in January. 3-20: Italian Tomato Soup is pretty simple when it comes to ingredients…and flavor. I ended up inadvertently turning my batch into what was essentially Spaghetti-Os, but even that wasn’t terrible.

This soup is pretty basic–Simply Delicious has you add a bit of cream to make it more of a bisque-type tomato soup. If it’s not tomato season, no worries–you can make this with canned tomatoes too. 🍅

9-30: South American Meatballs

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses April 9, 2016July 6, 2020appetizers, beef, black pepper, bread crumbs, canola oil, chili powder, coated, coconut, diced, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fried, grated, green bell peppers, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, herbs and spices, lemons, limes, lunch, meatballs, milk, pan-fried, panade, panko, paprika, parsley, party food, pork, purée, salt, Silpat, South American, tomato paste, untested, vegetables, yellow onions, zested

There are LOTS of different ways to prepare meatballs–at least 20 according to this Serious Eats piece. So far, the only meatball recipe I’ve covered on here is 9-4: Swedish Meatballs, although 9-44: Wok-Fried Beef Patties are pretty close. A quick Google search brings up albondigas for “South American meatballs”. Prior to 9-30: South American Meatballs, my only experience with either of these concepts is something similar to this recipe that you get at Mexican restaurants. And none of it involves coconut. 🌴

Coconut is the main thing here–it’s meatballs with coconut all up in there. It’s not a bad taste, just an an acquired one. Paprika is usually associated with Hungarian (European) cuisine, but its origins are in the Americas, brought over during all of that New World/Old World business in the 16th century.

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.

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.

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.