boneless – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

8-10: Beef Bourguignon

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses September 15, 2022September 15, 2022all-purpose flour, bacon, bay leaves, beef, beef stew, black pepper, boneless, butter, carrots, chopped, chuck roast, cubed, dried herbs, Dutch oven, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, French, garlic, herbs and spices, julienned, mushrooms, new book, pearl onions, peeled, red wine, roux, salt, sautéed, simmered, thyme, tomato paste, untested, yellow onions

I guess the best way to start this is…have you seen that Julie & Julia movie from a few years ago? If not, and you enjoy reading this blog (or even if you don’t), you DEFINITELY should go watch it. It’s essentially the idea that formed this website/project. In that movie, one of the featured Julia Child recipes is her Boeuf Bourguignon which is found in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, one of her most famous books and one of the most famous cookbooks in general.

With that being said, we come back to the fact that this is not a Julia Child cookbook project, it is a Simply Delicious one. So, I present to you Simply Delicious’ version of the dish: 8-10: Beef Bourguignon.

Simply Delicious isn’t wrong–this dish is essentially French beef stew (with a good amount of red wine in it). I’ve made Julia’s version a few times (let’s be honest, we ALL made it at least once after that movie came out), but I’ve yet to attempt the Simply Delicious version, mostly because it was a “new book” recipe and I didn’t know it even existed until a few years ago. Let’s see how they compare…

8-6: Quickly Sautéed Beef and Peppers

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses January 18, 2022January 18, 2022bacon, bacon fat, beef, black pepper, boneless, butter, chuck roast, cream sauce, creamy, Dijon mustard, easy, fairly inexpensive, green bell peppers, Italian parsley, julienned, new book, paprika, red bell peppers, salt, sautéed, sirloin, sliced, sour cream, untested, yellow bell peppers

Another day, another Simply Delicious “quick” dinner recipe featuring some sort of creamy sauce with mustard in it. This particular version is 8-6: Quickly Sautéed Beef and Peppers–I bet you can figure out the basic gist of this recipe just from the title.

They REALLY need you to know how quick this dish is–it’s not only in the title, it’s also in the description. Pepper steak is not a new concept, and is not too far off from this recipe in terms of ingredients and prep. Whip up some rice to serve it with, and you’ve got yourself a QUICK and easy dish.

6-12: Chicken à la King

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses December 27, 2021December 30, 2021all-purpose flour, American, boiled, bone-in, boneless, breasts, butter, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, cooked chicken, cooked turkey, cream of mushroom, cream sauce, creamy, deboned, diced, dinner, drumsticks, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, lunch, mushrooms, new book, paprika, pimento, pimiento, piquant, port wine, roux, salt, sautéed, sherry, simmered, sliced, Tabasco sauce, thighs, untested, whipping cream, white pepper, wings

Here’s another “traditional” recipe from Simply Delicious: 6-12: Chicken à la King. I’ve heard of this one before (you probably have too), but never ate it much as a kid despite it being chicken-based (the mushrooms were probably the dealbreaker for my mom). This is from the “new book“, so I didn’t even know Simply Delicious HAD a Chicken à la King recipe until recently.

Chicken à la King has been around for a while, but enjoyed a resurgence in mid-to-late 20th century America (probably due to all the Baby Boomers and a need to feed them cheaply/quickly). It seems “dated” to me at this point (and not necessarily in a good way), but probably was still pretty popular in some parts of the country at the time these books were published.

Combine this with 8-12: Beef Stroganoff, and you’ve got a pretty good handle on mediocre American cuisine from the 1980s.

11-24: Salmon and Halibut Kebabs

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses December 22, 2021December 20, 2021black pepper, boneless, broiled, brushed, canola oil, cubed, dinner, easy, fairly expensive, fish, fish filets, garnish, green bell peppers, grilled, halibut, kebabs, lemon juice, lemon peel, lemons, lime juice, lime peel, limes, lunch, marinated, olive oil, party food, peeled, red onions, salmon, salt, seafood, soy sauce, summer, sunflower oil, untested, vegetable oil, white wine, zested

Fish kebabs are probably not high on your Christmas dinner idea list (unless you’re reading from the Southern Hemisphere), but that doesn’t mean that you still can’t file 11-24: Salmon and Halibut Kebabs away for when it warms up a bit. Or if you’re not crazy like us and still grilling outdoors in late December, you can do this one inside on the broiler as well.

I know, I probably can’t convince you to eat grilled fish in the middle of winter. But like I said–save this one for spring/summer when it warms up. It’s a perfect light meal for a warm night where you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.

6-16: The Chef’s Special Chicken

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 3, 2021November 3, 2021all-purpose flour, bacon, black pepper, boiled, boneless, breasts, butter, Canadian bacon, chicken, chopped, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, green onions, half-and-half, leeks, lemon peel, lemons, lunch, melted, parsley, roux, salt, sautéed, sliced, turkey, untested, whipping cream

I’ll be honest–I have no idea why this is “special chicken”. But for me, 6-16: The Chef’s Special Chicken will be special because I made it with “chick’n” instead of the real thing. I guess that’s not all that special for me at this point, but maybe for you?

If you search for “chef’s special chicken”, you’ll get a million different types of recipes, so I’m not sure what makes this one especially traditional. Although this one I found is pretty much this same exact recipe, so I guess it’s not as unknown as I thought. That or someone ripped off Simply Delicious and called it their own.

In a restaurant when you see “chef’s special”, it usually translates to “this is about to go bad so let’s try to sell it tonight however we can”. #themoreyouknow

8-30: Hungarian Goulash

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses April 19, 2021April 19, 2021beef, black pepper, boneless, butter, chili sauce, chopped, chuck roast, cubed, cumin, Dutch oven, Eastern European, easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, green bell peppers, Hungarian, marjoram, minced, paprika, peeled, pork, pork shoulder, purée, red bell peppers, sautéed, simmered, sirloin, stews, tomato paste, tomatoes, top loin, untested, winter, yellow onions

We’ve just passed the 7-year anniversary of starting this project (April 16)…and I’m still nowhere near done. This is going to take me the rest of my life at this rate, I think.

A dish that WON’T take you the rest of your life to complete (notice my flawless segue there) is 8-30: Hungarian Goulash. It’s supposedly a dish for cold days, which are quickly becoming few and far between here in California now that it’s almost May. However, if you’ve still got a touch of cold where you are (or maybe your hemisphere is heading towards winter instead of summer), this might be a good option.

Hungarian goulash is very well-known outside of Simply Delicious…in fact, it’s Hungary’s national dish. 🇭🇺 Many countries have versions of it due to various Hungarian diasporas over the last few centuries. You may know the modern American version better as American chop suey, slumgullion, or maybe Hamburger Helper?

7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses January 11, 2021January 12, 2021Asian, black pepper, blanched, boneless, broccoli, cashews, Chinese, chopped, corn, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, ginger, grated, ham, inexpensive, leeks, lunch, meal prep, pork, pork chops, pork shoulder, salt, sautéed, sliced, snow peas, soy sauce, tender-crisp, untested, vegetables, winter

Looking for a way to use up some winter vegetables? Maybe your veggie box is heavy with leeks and broccoli these days–if so, maybe give 7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek a try. It’s got big “we have Chinese food at home” energy.

If malls were still a thing, you could probably find something similar at a generic Chinese/pan-Asian restaurant in the half-empty food court.

If you want to round out your combo plate for the full experience, you could make some 8-25: Stir-Fried Beef or 11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp to go with it. Maybe throw in some 6-39: Chicken Pot Stickers or 1-15: Chinese Spring Rolls on the side?

7-30: Mixed Meat Casserole

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses December 3, 2020December 3, 2020beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, boneless, cabbage, carrots, casserole, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, dairy-free, deglazed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, lamb, lamb shoulder, leg of lamb, new potatoes, parsley, pork, pork shoulder, potatoes, salt, sautéed, string beans, tender-crisp, untested, veal, veal shoulder, vegetables, yellow onions

7-30: Mixed Meat Casserole is exactly what it sounds and looks like–they’re not pulling any punches here. It’s like combination fried rice, a little bit of everything.

At least this is somewhat closer to the traditional idea of a casserole–Simply Delicious sometimes gets a little loose with what they categorize as a casserole.

6-42: Turkey Pot Roast

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 8, 2020December 24, 2020black pepper, bone-in, boneless, bouquet garni, breasts, carrots, chervil, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, dinner, Dutch oven, easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lemons, parsley, peeled, pot-roasted, potatoes, red potatoes, salt, simmered, tarragon, TGV 2019, Thanksgiving, thyme, turkey, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Looking for a smaller Thanksgiving option this year than the traditional 6-29: Stuffed Turkey? Here’s part of what I made for last year’s meal–6-42: Turkey Pot Roast. If you’re cooking for less people this year (or any year) and still want something Thanksgiving-ish, this might be a good option.

I didn’t want to make a full turkey for only two meat eaters (me not being one of those two), so I combined this recipe along with some additional leg and thigh pieces into enough turkey to complete the holiday without having to make more than we needed.

This is also MUCH easier to do than a full turkey, especially if you’ve never attempted one of those before and don’t want 2020 to be your first run at it. 6-9: Orange-Glazed Turkey Breast is another “smaller” turkey option if you’re just looking for a taste of turkey instead of a glut of it.

7-31: Lime Cayenne Pork Chops

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses May 26, 2020June 16, 2020black pepper, boneless, cayenne pepper, chopped, cilantro, citrus, deglazed, diced, dinner, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, garnish, grated, green onions, grill pan, grilled, Hutton house, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, meal prep, oranges, parsley, pork, pork chops, relish, revisited, salsa, salt, Southwestern, summer, supreme, tomatoes, vegetable oil, zested

In these trying times (are you tired of hearing that yet?), it’s important to make the food you have go as far as you can, and to reduce the amount of food being wasted. Even before “the Rona“, I’ve been spending many a Saturday (or Sunday) meal-prepping for the upcoming week, which has brought down our grocery bills (and our waistlines, but apparently not as quickly).

7-31: Lime Cayenne Pork Chops was part of a “pork chop” meal-prep week, prepared in tandem with 7-53: Cider-Braised Pork Chops and served with some mixed roasted potatoes courtesy of the CSA box. It’s “meat and potatoes”, but maybe with a healthier twist?

My mom apparently made this back in November 1993, and it was “good” and “easy”. I’m not sure who ranked it as such (since she doesn’t eat pork), but we’ll go with that recommendation.

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