bay leaves – Page 2 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

3-4: New Orleans Bean Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 26, 2016March 14, 2020American, apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, black pepper, boiled, brown sugar, butter, Cajun, carrots, celery, chopped, Creole, cubed, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, garlic, ham, herbs and spices, inexpensive, julienned, lemon juice, lunch, melted, minced, molasses, New Orleans, pan-fried, parsley, peeled, pinto beans, red kidney beans, salt, sautéed, smoked ham, soups, thyme, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetables, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, yellow onions

Simply Delicious has a few New Orleans/Southern recipes–3-4: New Orleans Bean Soup is one of them. There are a lot of different takes on a “New Orleans Red Bean Soup” that exist out there–most of them have more exciting ingredients than this version. 🎺

I made another “New Orleans” recipe at the same time as this one–you can go back and read 12-29: New Orleans Beans and Pasta for what is essentially a pasta version of this dish. Either one is a hearty and relatively inexpensive meal. Since the two share a lot of ingredients, consider making both–they store and reheat well. 💰

13-12: Eggplant-Rice Casserole

Adam Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses September 24, 2016October 28, 2020almonds, bay leaves, blanched, boiled, butter, canola oil, casserole, chopped, cinnamon, creamy, curry powder, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, eggplant, garlic, ginger, gluten-free, herbs and spices, inexpensive, long-grain, lunch, melted, peeled, raisins, red bell peppers, rice, salt, sautéed, side dish, sour cream, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

🍆 13-12: Eggplant-Rice Casserole is a heavier preparation of eggplant than my other eggplant recipe, 13-16: Arabian Moussaka, this rice and eggplant dish is two, two, two dishes in one. I’ll show myself out for that dumb, old reference… 👋

There were lots of colors in this dish: purple 🍆, orange, green, yellow, white, and a few shades of beige.

1-19: Flambéed Mushrooms

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters July 31, 2016October 4, 2020appetizers, bay leaves, brandy, cognac, dairy-free, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, flambé, French bread, garlic, gluten-free, Grand Marnier, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, lemon juice, minced, mushrooms, olive oil, party food, rosemary, salt, sautéed, untested, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian

🔥 Flambé! 1-19: Flambéed Mushrooms isn’t something I would normally serve because most people I know are not huge fans of mushrooms. I really enjoy using the lighter to flambé these mushrooms! 🔥

Mushrooms and garlic are one of my favorite flavor combinations. I really enjoy stuffed mushrooms and these taste similar, just without the breadcrumbs and butter. If you’re looking for something more similar to stuffed mushrooms, check out 1-16: Mushrooms Escargot. 🐌

3-3: French Onion Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters July 29, 2016August 10, 2021all-purpose flour, appetizers, bay leaves, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, boiled, bouquet garni, broiled, butter, caramelized, Cheddar, cheese, consommé, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, French, French bread, grated, Gruyère, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Jarlsberg, lunch, melted, parsley, salt, sautéed, side dish, simmered, soups, Swiss, thyme, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, white wine, yellow onions

It’s the middle of summer right now, so soup’s probably not your first thought. However, I continue to be surprised that how no matter how hot outside it is, people still enjoy soup. So here’s a classic: 3-3: French Onion Soup.

Simply Delicious cites Les Halles (the Parisian farmers’ market, not the NY restaurant where Anthony Bourdain worked) as the originator of French onion soup. I wasn’t able to directly verify that with 5 minutes of lazy Googling, but I did find a food timeline that gives a bit of the dish’s history–I suppose their claim is totally still possible.

8-5: Beef Stew Provençale

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses July 12, 2016October 4, 2020bay leaves, beef, beef stew, black olives, boneless, braised, butter, carrots, casserole, celery, chuck roast, crushed tomatoes, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, gluten-free, herbs and spices, julienned, linked, lunch, melted, pan-fried, parsley, Provençale, red wine, red wine vinegar, salt, sautéed, sirloin, slow cooker, stews, untested, vegetables

Editor’s note: AHOY-HOY to everyone visiting from HungryBrowser.com! If you’d like to know more about this site, please visit THE COOKBOOK PROJECT–it’ll tell you what this is all about. I’m not the only author on this site–my husband Adam wrote the post below (it’s kind of a teamwork thing–there’s a LOT of recipes in this book). Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to check out some of the other recipes we’ve done! — 11/01/17

Beef Stew – Another classic recipe that Simply Delicious cannot get quite right. This dish tastes delicious, but isn’t quite what I would consider a beef stew. It’s almost like a simple Boeuf Bourguignon.

I used a slow cooker instead of the oven for cooking this dish. I apologize that some of the photos are blurry from trying to shoot down into that very slow cooker. Without any other photos in focus, I chose to display some of them in this post just for posterity.

11-26: Fish Gumbo

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses April 27, 2016July 7, 2020all-purpose flour, basil, bay leaves, boiled, Cajun, canola oil, catfish, cayenne pepper, celery, chicken broth, chili powder, chopped, crab, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, fish, flaked, garlic, green bell peppers, green onions, gumbo, herbs and spices, krab, lunch, minced, mussels, New Orleans, parsley, red bell peppers, rice, roux, salt, scallops, seafood, shrimp, simmered, soups, stews, thyme, tomato paste, tomatoes, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables

I’ve often talked during this project about my mother and her predilection towards recipe experimentation. One of these instances was where she attempted to make gumbo–I’m not sure where she got the recipe from, but I remember the family failing to choke down poorly cooked okra and my father making a quick run to KFC while she surreptitiously got rid of the rest.

The mere mention of gumbo usually brings this unsavory memory back, and so I attempted 11-26: Fish Gumbo with a fair amount of trepidation.

Roux is something I’ve covered several times throughout this project, and it’s an essential flavor and texture component of gumbo. Letting a roux brown deepens its flavor, and there’s a fine line between too light and over cooked.

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. 🍅

9-12: Shepherd’s Pie

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses February 2, 2016July 5, 2020apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, boiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, garlic, gluten-free, ground beef, ground meat, half-and-half, Hutton house, inexpensive, mashed potatoes, nutmeg, paprika, pared, parsley, potatoes, red bell peppers, revisited, salt, sautéed, Swiss, vinegar, yellow onions

Here’s one with my mom’s writing on it. 9-12: Shepherd’s Pie promises to be a new take on an old classic and I had a LOT of potatoes to get rid of. Don’t buy a 20-lb bag of potatoes from Costco because it’s “such a good deal”.

I can’t say I’m particularly a fan of shepherd’s pie, but I had all the ingredients and a lot of potatoes to burn up. It stores/freezes well, and this version uses red peppers and beef instead of carrots/peas/corn and lamb (that’s why it’s shepherd’s pie–because of the sheep/lamb). 🐑

6-30: Scottish Chicken Casserole

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses February 2, 2016June 18, 2020bay leaves, black pepper, bone-in, breasts, butter, casserole, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, dinner, dried herbs, drumsticks, Dutch oven, egg-free, fairly easy, gluten-free, inexpensive, melted, paprika, parsley, pot-roasted, potatoes, salt, scalloped, Scottish, seared, thighs, thyme, untested, wings, yellow onions

As I mentioned in 9-12: Shepherd’s Pie, I had a LOT of potatoes to get rid of after buying too many at Costco. So here’s another potato recipe for you: 6-30: Scottish Chicken Casserole.

EDIT: This seems to be a popular one–not sure why, since it’s not very exciting. Easy, but not thrilling. If that’s what you’re here for, game on. If you want to know more about this site/me, read this. Thanks for visiting!

Offhand, I have no idea why it’s “Scottish”, other than it seems similar to a lot of food you get in the UK. A cursory Google search turned up this recipe, which seems kind of like this one. This other recipe (from the same search) gives a bit more history, linking it to a classic French (and Scottish) casserole-type dish.

7-26: Maple-Glazed Pork Chops

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses May 15, 2014June 19, 2020autumn, bay leaves, black pepper, butter, cast-iron, cinnamon, dinner, dried herbs, dried spices, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fall, glazed, gluten-free, maple syrup, melted, nuts, pecans, pork, pork chops, salt, scored, seared, untested, walnuts

Finally–something that’s not chicken. The first pork recipe we’ll cover here is 7-26: Maple-Glazed Pork Chops.🍁

My mom was NOT a pork eater and I grew up quasi-Jewish, so there wasn’t a lot of pork being cooked in my childhood, spare the occasional ham steak or rack of ribs here and there at my dad’s request.

The key here is to make sure you use REAL maple syrup, not table syrup. Big difference.