brown sugar – Page 2 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

1-15: Chinese Spring Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters November 5, 2019January 27, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, Asian, bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, brown sugar, butter, canola oil, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, Chinese, Chinese cabbage, cornstarch, deep fryer, deep-fried, egg wash, eggrolls, eggs, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, filling, griddle, ground meat, ground pork, hors d'oeuvres, mushrooms, pancakes, party food, salt, sautéed, sherry, soy sauce, spring rolls, sweet-and-sour, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetable oil

Simply Delicious has made numerous attempts at Chinese-American cuisine, and we can add 1-15: Chinese Spring Rolls to that list as well. There’s some interesting history behind the terms spring roll and egg roll–it goes much deeper than just what the wrapper is made of.

The terms are used interchangeably here, and seemingly in most other places as well. The biggest takeaway from the spring vs. egg roll debate is that spring rolls are originally from China, but have been Americanized along the way (while egg rolls were always American).

They tend to have a thinner wrapper than egg rolls, and are often also associated with the transparent rice paper rolls you tend to see in Vietnamese and Thai restaurants.

11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp

Adam Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses February 17, 2019October 27, 2020apple cider vinegar, Asian, bamboo shoots, brown sugar, canola oil, carrots, celery, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, Chinese, chopped, cornstarch, dairy-free, dinner, dry mustard, fairly easy, fairly expensive, julienned, lunch, peanut oil, peeled, pineapple, pineapple juice, red raspberry vinegar, restaurant-style, sautéed, seafood, sesame oil, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, soy sauce, sweet-and-sour, sweet-and-sour sauce, untested, vegetables, vinegar, water chestnuts, yellow onions

11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp is another of those dishes that I’d love to order from a restaurant and would not think to make at home. Simply Delicious has quite a few Chinese restaurant-style dishes, including 6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken, 6-11: Chinese Duck, and 11-36: Hong Kong Shrimp.

It just so happens that Sweet and Sour Sauce is my favorite version of any dish on a Chinese menu. Shrimp is a decent choice.

11-36: Hong Kong Shrimp

Adam Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses July 18, 2018October 27, 2020almonds, Asian, bamboo shoots, black pepper, brown sugar, canola oil, celery, Chinese, cooked shrimp, corn oil, dried spices, easy, fairly expensive, ginger, green bell peppers, green onions, herbs and spices, Hong Kong, julienned, leeks, lunch, mushrooms, nuts, olive oil, piquant, red bell peppers, roasted, salt, sautéed, scallions, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, soy sauce, stir-fry, tender-crisp, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables

Sometimes when you use recipes from old cookbooks, they can seem a bit “tone-deaf” when it comes to modern-day sensibilities about race and culture. Despite a questionable name, 11-36: Hong Kong Shrimp contains many ingredients commonly found in Chinese food.

I love the porcelain bowls they served the example dish in. The wooden chopsticks are also a great touch. What a great photo!

6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses January 22, 2018October 14, 2020Asian, basted, braised, brown sugar, cabbage, canola oil, chicken, chili sauce, Chinese, Chinese cabbage, cornstarch, dairy-free, dinner, drumsticks, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, ginger, grated, herbs and spices, lunch, minced, mirin, peeled, pineapple, pineapple juice, rice wine vinegar, salt, sautéed, shredded, soy sauce, sweet-and-sour, sweet-and-sour sauce, Tabasco sauce, tender-crisp, thighs, untested, vegetables, white wine vinegar

The quote from the front of the recipe card for 6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken is as true as anything I could write about this recipe:

“Cook chicken legs and thighs the Chinese way, in a sweet-and-sour sauce. This is such a simple way of preparing bargain chicken and the result is just terrific.“

Sweet-and-sour sauce tastes great when you make it fresh, but it’s just as easy to buy the thick, red sauce in a jar and call it good.

17-11: Scones

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 5, 2017January 29, 2021all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking powder, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, buttermilk, cakes, coffee, cut in, dessert, dough, easy, egg wash, eggs, English, gift ideas, inexpensive, jam/jelly/preserves, marmalade, milk, pastry, quick breads, salt, scones, scored, Silpat, slit, snacks, tea, untested, vegetarian, whole wheat flour

Scones have a lot of different methods of preparation, usually depending on varying geographical interpretations. There’s even different pronunciations of the word “scone”–some rhyme it with “tone”, while others rhyme it with “gone.”

Simply Delicious‘ take, 17-11: Scones, seems to most closely adhere to the British version of scones in that they make theirs into round cakes, score them, and then break them apart into triangle shapes after baking. The North American versions tend to be individually-sized, round, and more often than not closely resemble what we refer to as biscuits.

One of my first memorable experiences with scones were at an 18th birthday tea party I attended in the last few months of senior year of high school–we had just come back from a Spring Break trip to England & Ireland, and I came to the tea party prepared with white gloves and pinkies up. They had scones with clotted cream & jam, finger sandwiches, and lots of flowery, delicate pots of tea. ☕️

Wouldn’t have been my choice for an 18th birthday party (I spent a good portion of mine in my freshman dorm room hungover from the Halloween extravaganza the night before), but it was definitely unique.

17-65: Giant Caramel Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 16, 2017November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking cups, breakfast, brown sugar, brunch, butter, caramel, chopped, cinnamon, dark corn syrup, dough, easy, eggs, filling, gift ideas, granulated sugar, herbs and spices, inexpensive, melted, nuts, pastry, pecans, proofed, rolls, salt, Silpat, snacks, untested, vegetarian, yeast

A recent Sunday brunch called for a special treat: 17-65: Giant Caramel Rolls. Similar to “sticky buns“, these rolls have been taunting me for a while. I decided to make a batch and drop them off for brunch–that way most of them gets eaten by everyone else.

Don’t get me wrong–there’s still two in my freezer as I type this. But that’s better than ALL of them. Plus, there wasn’t room for all of them–I still had 16-14: Orange-Almond Cake in there, too. The rest of these ended up in my mom’s freezer instead.

17-25: Almond Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 31, 2016September 5, 2020all-purpose flour, almond paste, almonds, baked goods, baking cups, baking soda, breakfast, brown sugar, buns, butter, Christmas, cinnamon, dessert, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, filling, food processor, gift ideas, granulated sugar, herbs and spices, holiday baking, kneaded, melted, milk, nuts, party food, proofed, rolls, sliced, snacks, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, XMAS 16, yeast

17-25: Almond Rolls are kind of a bonus holiday baking (XMAS 16) post for me–only one person received the bulk of these, as they made up part of a week-long Secret Santa gift-giving event that my work puts on. 🎄🎁 My giftee for Secret Santa not only got these, but a batch of 17-9: Brownies with toasted hazelnuts both in the batter and on top, as well as a batch of my family’s chocolate chip cookie recipe with red & green M&Ms swapped in for semisweet bits. 🍪🎅

These almond rolls are similar to cinnamon rolls/buns, and like the recipe that Simply Delicious provides for cinnamon rolls, these ones lack a glaze/icing as well. However, given the sweetness of the filling and the fact that these are a gift for someone, I’ll forgo adding icing on my own this time. 🍰

17-20: Macadamia Chip Cookies

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 27, 2016August 31, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking soda, brown sugar, butter, chocolate, chocolate chips, chopped, cookies, dessert, easy, eggs, fairly expensive, gift ideas, holiday baking, macadamia nuts, nuts, party food, semisweet, snacks, untested, vanilla chips, vegetarian, white chocolate, XMAS 16

I went pretty cookie-heavy last year when I baked for the holidays, so this year (XMAS 16) I only included one cookie recipe: 17-20: Macadamia Chip Cookies. These ones got pretty rave reviews as well (17-42: Luscious Lemon Bars received the most accolades this year), and I definitely found myself sneaking a few before I packed up and shipped off everyone’s treat packages. 🎁

Simply Delicious is right about one thing: these cookies do make a great gift, and they ship well. Macadamia nuts are a smooth, mild nut that most people won’t be offended by, and the combination of white and semisweet chocolate are the best of both worlds.

9-9: Pork Meat Loaf with Horseradish

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses December 19, 2016February 1, 2021all-purpose flour, allspice, Asian, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, broiled, brown sugar, butter, Chinese/dark soy sauce, cloves, cornstarch, creamy, dinner, dried spices, egg-free, fairly easy, five-spice powder, glazed, grated, ground meat, ground pork, half-and-half, herbs and spices, horseradish, inexpensive, loaf pan, lunch, meatloaf, nutmeg, parsley, pork, roux, salt, sliced, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, untested

I don’t often have ground pork on hand, but I happened to pick some up at a supermarket sale a few months ago and had been holding it in the freezer for a Simply Delicious recipe–I knew there were a few that called for it. 9-9: Pork Meat Loaf with Horseradish would have been a silly recipe to sub in ground beef for (my usual move), so this one will get the honor of being used with actual pork. 🐖

You guys, this picture does not look promising. Meatloaf is already difficult to get excited about, and I’m not sure if a creamy horseradish sauce is going to be enough to save it. Despite the copy reeking of desperation at the bottom of the recipe card (does this look “extravagant” to you?), I’m still willing to give it a shot. 🙈

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.