appetizers – Page 9 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

3-2: New England Clam Chowder

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 13, 2015March 14, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, bacon, black pepper, boiled, chopped, chowder, clam juice, clams, diced, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, garnish, half-and-half, inexpensive, lunch, minced, New England, parsley, peeled, pork, potatoes, red potatoes, rendered, restaurant-style, roux, salt, salt pork, sautéed, seafood, shellfish, shucked, simmered, soups, The Simpsons, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions

3-2: New England Clam Chowder is one of two recipes that I cooked and photographed before I took an extended break from cooking for this project. Therefore, my memories of the process of this dish may be a little fuzzy, but I think I’ll make some sense of it.

Clam chowder is something that I’ve loved since I was a kid. My husband is from New England and when we go back to visit, it’s always an anticipated treat. We made a pretty decent clam chowder in the restaurant I worked at, too, and this recipe comes pretty close.

Of course, it’s mandatory that it be referred to as chowdah–say it right!

4-30: Cheese-Stuffed Potato Croquettes

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 13, 2014April 14, 2022appetizers, black pepper, boiled, bread crumbs, breaded, canola oil, cheese, chicken fat, crispy, deep fryer, deep-fried, dinner, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fail, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fried, hors d'oeuvres, Italian, lunch, mashed potatoes, Mozzarella, pan-fried, panko, Parmesan, potatoes, rendered, side dish, snacks, sticks, string cheese, stuffed, tomato sauce, untested, vegetarian

This one…was challenging. And it seemed so simple! 4-30: Cheese-Stuffed Potato Croquettes are essentially mozzarella sticks with a mashed potato/panko coating. These turned from a quick snack into a multi-day attempt.

Now, before I scare you off this recipe: it was 100% my fault it went south. I tried to improvise in several places, and it proved to be my downfall each time. Sometimes you can take liberties, and sometimes you can’t.

Here’s how you learn those lessons.

5-12: Deviled Eggs

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 12, 2014October 14, 2020appetizers, black olives, boiled, capers, chopped, deviled, diced, easy, eggs, gluten-free, ham, hard-boiled, hors d'oeuvres, inexpensive, lettuce, party food, smoked ham, snacks, sour cream, stuffed, untested

5-12: Deviled Eggs is somewhat different take on a pretty traditional dish. Deviled eggs are very commonplace in American cuisine, and there are varying reasons for the name.

Deviled eggs (to me) usually have mustard and mayo mixed with the yolks, and some paprika sprinkled on top. These eggs have NONE of those things (except the egg parts).

4-22: Zucchini Pancakes

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 10, 2014October 13, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, black pepper, breakfast, butter, cornstarch, crispy, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, eggs, fried, grated, inexpensive, lunch, melted, pan-fried, pancakes, parsley, salt, shredded, side dish, snacks, summer, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions, zucchini

In 13-10: Zucchini Piccata, I had mentioned that I ended up with more zucchini than I could use in that recipe. Here’s what I did with the rest: I made 4-22: Zucchini Pancakes. I’ve made recipes similar to this before, but this one’s pretty standard.

These things are pretty good even if you’re not that into vegetables. Think of it as a healthier version of 4-17: Crispy Potato Pancakes.

3-8: Gazpacho

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 6, 2014March 14, 2020appetizers, black pepper, blanched, blender, celery, cherry tomatoes, chilled, chives, croutons, cucumbers, dairy-free, diced, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, food processor, garlic, gluten-free, heirloom tomatoes, inexpensive, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, olive oil, pared, parsley, party food, peeled, picnic, purée, red bell peppers, restaurant-style, salt, slit, soups, Spanish, summer, The Simpsons, tomatoes, untested, vegan, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetarian, yellow onions

First of all, ANY mention of 3-8: Gazpacho must immediately be followed with a reference to this episode of the Simpsons.

“It’s tomato soup served ICE cold!”

Yes, Lisa. Yes it is. 🍅

It was the end of summer and we had a ton of tomatoes. It’s a winning combination. 🏆

9-44: Wok-Fried Beef Patties

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses October 5, 2014July 6, 2020appetizers, Asian, beef, brown sugar, burgers, canola oil, chili peppers, cornstarch, dinner, fairly easy, fried, garlic, granulated sugar, green bell peppers, ground beef, ground meat, honey, inexpensive, lunch, pan-fried, pared, party food, peeled, red bell peppers, rice wine, sautéed, sherry, soy sauce, spicy, untested, vegetable oil, wok

There’s not a lot of NEW options when it comes to ground meat. Tacos, stroganoff, lasagna, burgers, meatloaf, etc. This one isn’t exactly new either, but hey–we can always use another ground meat recipe.

Even Simply Delicious knows they aren’t treading on new ground here. However, here’s the one warning about working with a wok: have a HOT stove. If you don’t–woks don’t work so well.

13-10: Zucchini Piccata

Jamie Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses October 4, 2014July 30, 2020appetizers, basil, black olives, black pepper, boiled, bread crumbs, breaded, capers, coated, crispy, crushed tomatoes, deep fryer, deep-fried, dinner, dredged, dried herbs, easy, eggs, inexpensive, Italian, lunch, olive oil, pan-fried, Parmesan, piccata, red onions, reduced, salt, side dish, simmered, snacks, summer, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, zucchini

If you still have any zucchini or tomatoes lying around from a late summer harvest, this is a great vegetarian recipe with which to use those up. 🍅

Also note the new background: my first entry from my new (hopefully somewhat permanent) kitchen. 🙂

I styled mine in more of a fried zucchini-appetizer way, but the casserole way works too.

3-13: Velvety Carrot Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters June 16, 2014March 14, 2020allspice, appetizers, autumn, blender, carrots, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, crème fraîche, diced, dinner, dried spices, easy, fall, food processor, garnish, Glendale apt, gluten-free, half-and-half, inexpensive, lunch, milk, nutmeg, purée, salt, side dish, soups, sour cream, thyme, untested, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

I think one of my favorite parts of old cookbooks is the adjectives they use to describe their dishes. I like to imagine a team of writers/cookbook jockeys staying late into the night, trying to dream up the perfect word to engage some adventurous cook into what would be an otherwise mundane-sounding recipe. How do you make carrot soup sound exciting?

That’s where “velvety” comes in. I present–3-13: Velvety Carrot Soup.

Oh, Simply Delicious. I admire you for trying to get me so excited about your carrot soup, that you put smiley face dollops of sour cream on your camera bowls.

When you have a LOT of carrots to get rid of and you’re looking for something velvety, Simply Delicious has you covered.

8-18: Tangy Beef Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses June 15, 2014July 2, 20201980s, all-purpose flour, appetizers, beef, black pepper, boneless, braised, butter, chopped, chuck roast, cranberries, creamy, dinner, fairly expensive, fairly hard, garnish, gravy, green bell peppers, green onions, jam/jelly/preserves, leeks, lunch, minced, mushrooms, pared, parsley, pork shoulder, red bell peppers, round steak, roux, salt, sautéed, tangy, toothpicks, untested, veal, vegetable broth, whipping cream

Catching up after a few weeks of IRL obligations. Let’s get back to it.

This was one of the 4 recipes cooked in the batch I mentioned in 17-28: Pound Cake. I was making a large amount of food to store up while I was gone for a week, and one of those recipes was 8-18: Tangy Beef Rolls. Sounds deliciously 80s.

Book 2, Group 2 (Main Courses), Subgroup 8 (Beef) gives us card #18: Tangy Beef Rolls. How do you resist something beef-related that describes itself as “tangy”? Mine didn’t come out as classy as the one in this picture, but it was still definitely edible. And somewhat tangy.

4-13: Fennel au Gratin

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 28, 2014October 13, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, au gratin, black pepper, blanched, broiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cheese sauce, dips, easy, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, fennel, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, salt, side dish, untested, vegetables, vegetarian

Fennel has been a challenge ever since we started receiving CSA boxes a year or two ago. I really never cooked with it before and even now, finding recipes to use with it (that I’ll eat) is difficult.

If you’ve never had fennel, it tastes like black licorice. You eat the bulb part, and usually cut off the stalks & feathery parts. I usually save those parts and put them in when I make chicken stock.

We ended up with two very large fennel bulbs, and so I decided to make 4-13: Fennel au Gratin, because you can’t go wrong when you cover things in cheese.

We paired this with some English cheddar tortilla/gluten-free something-or-other chips as well as put it on top of some veggie patties–both were pretty good. It worked well as a dip–it might be too cheesy as a side dish, unless you added more fennel.