dinner – Page 3 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

8-15: Cajun-Style Sirloin

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses December 20, 2021December 20, 2021American, American South, beef, blackened, Cajun, cayenne pepper, cucumbers, curry powder, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, French, garlic, gluten-free, granulated sugar, Indian, minced, New Orleans, paprika, peeled, salt, sirloin, sliced, spice blends, spicy, strained, strainers, thyme, tomatoes, untested, yogurt

Looking for something different to do with a cut of beef sirloin? 8-15: Cajun-Style Sirloin is a pretty quick and easy way to prepare beef, and also comes with a bonus cucumber salad recipe as an accompaniment/garnish. The cucumber salad and yogurt topping give this dish almost a Middle Eastern feel–they’re used to cut the heat from the paprika, curry, and cayenne pepper used to season the meat.

I’ve yet to visit Louisiana myself in person, but Simply Delicious has a few different Cajun and Creole recipes to try that can take you there culinarily, at least. There’s even some non-Simply Delicious versions of this recipe out there, if you’re looking for variations. I’m still intrigued by the addition of the cucumber salad and yogurt topping for this version–that seems very avant garde for 1980s home cooking.

3-10: Potato-Onion Bisque

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 16, 2021December 16, 2021bisque, black pepper, blender, boiled, Cheddar, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, Christmas Eve, dinner, easy, food processor, green onions, half-and-half, herbs and spices, inexpensive, leeks, lunch, paprika, parsley, peeled, potatoes, purée, revisited, salt, shredded, sliced, soups, thyme, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetarian, white onions

This one was weird for me–not the recipe itself, but the fact that I could have sworn I’d already cooked 3-10: Potato-Onion Bisque for this project. Alas, that did not seem to be the case as I could not find pictures of it anywhere. Strange, as this seems like it would have been one of the ones I cooked way back in 2014 when this project first started. Maybe I did and just forgot to take pictures?

It IS getting cold out there (I mean, we’ve had to put on hoodies here in California–that’s winter weather as far as I’m concerned), so maybe a quick and easy soup might be a nice & warm lunch/dinner option?

9-8: Mushroom Beef Patties

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses November 29, 2021December 30, 2021all-purpose flour, beef, black pepper, burgers, butter, chopped, cornstarch, dinner, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, garnish, green onions, ground beef, ground meat, half-and-half, lunch, meal prep, melted, mushrooms, new book, parsley, roux, salt, sautéed, sliced, untested, yellow onions

I’ve done quite a few recipes lately that include mushrooms, and now we’re doing one that expressly features them: 9-8: Mushroom Beef Patties. Simply Delicious also has several “patty” recipes, and now here’s one with mushrooms. I know–really pushing the culinary envelope here with both mushrooms AND beef patties.

I had mentioned in my last Group 09 entry (9-23: Fruity Sausage Kebabs) that I believed that I had run out of recipes for this section. HOWEVER, after I obtained the NEW book, I was able to squeeze out at least one more for you. There’s still another one hanging out in the queue (9-11: Stuffed Peppers), so we’re not quite done with it yet.

11-17: Sole Fillets in White Wine Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses November 4, 2021November 3, 2021black pepper, boiled, butter, chopped, crab, dill, dinner, expensive, fairly easy, fish, fish bouillon, fish filets, fish stock, garnish, lemon juice, lemons, lobster, mounted, mushrooms, new book, party food, reduced, salt, sautéed, seafood, shallots, shellfish, shrimp, sole, steamed, untested, whipping cream, white wine, whitefish, yellow onions

Simply Delicious likes to try to mix it up with the types of fish recipes they offer, but a lot of them can actually use the same types of fish interchangeably. I made 11-25: Best Ever Sole Au Gratin with the recommended sole, but I also made 11-13: Flounder with Sauteed Vegetables with sole as well. 11-17: Sole Fillets with White Wine Sauce is a new one to add to the list (it’s even from the NEW book), and looks just as fantastically 1980s as the rest of them.

Simply Delicious claims this “elegant and luscious fish dish” could be the makings of a global phenomenon–big, if true. Wouldn’t be the first time something ocean-related took the world by storm.

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

13-22: Green Bean Pilaf

Jamie Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses October 28, 2021November 29, 2021black pepper, blanched, brown rice, butter, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, folded, gluten-free, green beans, mushrooms, new book, pilaf, rice, salt, sautéed, side dish, simmered, tarragon, tender-crisp, untested, vegan, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

Well, hello there. So it’s been a while, and my first recipe back is…rice with green beans? No wonder it took me so long to get back into this.

13-22: Green Bean Pilaf is exactly what it sounds like–a rice side dish with green beans that you could serve next to some sort of (presumably meat-based) main dish. It’s advertised as being vegetarian, but I feel that’s just by “default” since there’s no chunks of visible meat in it.

Man, does Simply Delicious enjoy their tarragon. It doesn’t seem like tarragon is super popular in modern dishes–is that because it’s not useful or because we don’t think of it as a relevant ingredient? Deep herb-related thoughts to consider on this Thursday afternoon. 🤔

3-6: Minestrone

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 31, 2021August 31, 2021al dente, basil, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, carrots, celery, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, diced, dinner, easy, frozen, garlic, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Italian, julienned, leeks, lunch, minced, new book, olive oil, pan-fried, parboiled, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, peeled, pork, potatoes, rice, salt, sautéed, simmered, smoked ham, soups, sweet peas, tomato bouillon, tomato paste, tomatoes, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, yellow onions

Minestrone soup has a few specific memories for me: I remember there always being cans of it in our pantry when I was a kid, and all of my favorite Italian restaurants growing up still have it on the menu. My dad was a big minestrone fan–both of those memories are tied pretty closely to him.

3-6: Minestrone comes from the new book, and it’s not surprising that Simply Delicious had a recipe for it–they tend to have their own versions of most of the “classics”.

I’m not sure I’d suggest serving this in what look like miniature barrels in the picture above (imagine trying to clean those). However, the colder weather is coming soon, and this recipe is a good (and cheap) way to meal-prep, eat your veggies, and stay warm all at the same time.

11-20: Pastry Fish with Shrimp

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses August 10, 2021August 10, 2021all-purpose flour, bass, black pepper, butter, chopped, cod, cooked shrimp, curry powder, dill, dinner, fairly easy, fairly expensive, fish, garnish, half-and-half, herbs and spices, parsley, party food, pastry, puff pastry, roux, salt, sautéed, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, spinach, untested, whipping cream, whitefish, yellow onions

If you happen to have a “pastry fish” laying around, here’s a good use for it (I know you’ve been waiting for someone to tell you what to do with it). 11-20: Pastry Fish with Shrimp is so 1980s that I think we can bring it back around again for a 2020s-era reboot–this just screams “novelty food that looks better than it tastes”.

Maybe I’ve just been watching too much Great British Baking Show (or Great British Bake Off, as it is known in its native UK) on Netflix lately, but this sounds like a wacky cooking challenge just waiting to happen.

20-8: Pie Crust

Jamie Martin Group 20: Basic Recipes, Section 4: Cooking School July 6, 2021July 6, 20214th of July, all-purpose flour, baked goods, blind bake, butter, chilled, cooking school, cornstarch, cottage cheese, cut in, dessert, dinner, dock, egg wash, eggs, filling, flaky, flute, food processor, granulated sugar, holiday baking, how-to, lattice, parbake, pastry, pastry wheel, pie crust, pie weights, pies, pot pie, quiches, shortening, summer, tart pan, vegetarian

I missed getting this one out in time for 4th of July, but summer’s far from over here in the U.S. If you happen to have some seasonal fruit or are looking for a lighter dinner option (I grew up on quiches and I love them), 20-8: Pie Crust can be a great base recipe for both of those. And of course, this isn’t limited to just summer–pie crusts are useful all year round.

You can even make up a bunch of pie crust dough balls using this recipe and freeze them individually–just pull one out when needed and let it defrost.

11-32: Shrimp and Cashew Stir-Fry

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses April 20, 2021April 24, 2021Asian, black pepper, canola oil, cashews, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, Chinese, cornstarch, dairy-free, devein, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, fish, frozen, garlic, green onions, Italian parsley, minced, mushrooms, salt, scallions, seafood, shelled, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, soy sauce, stir-fry, sweet peas, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables, wok

As another clue to the era from which it emanates, Simply Delicious offers a lot of stir-fry recipes, along with quite a few other “pan-Asian” options. 11-32: Shrimp and Cashew Stir-Fry isn’t much different from a lot of these other types of dishes, but if you like shrimp and cashews, this is your dish.

Simply Delicious suggests serving this with some steamed brown rice. I remember my mom pushing the brown rice on us in the 80s and 90s…it wasn’t great. I know it’s healthier for you, and there are some dishes where it works, but I’m just generally NOT a fan.