fairly expensive – Page 9 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

10-17: Lamb Chops with Mozzarella

Jamie Martin Group 10: Lamb & Veal, Section 2: Main Courses July 27, 2016July 6, 2020basil, black pepper, broiled, butter, cast-iron, cheese, chiffonade, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, Feta, garlic, gluten-free, Greek, green olives, grilled, herbs and spices, lamb, lamb chops, lemons, Mediterranean, melted, Mozzarella, olive oil, pan-fried, pimento, restaurant-style, salt, scored, slit, untested

I definitely did NOT eat a lot of lamb or veal growing up, but cooking through these recipes has given me the opportunity to try out some different dishes these days. On a recent Costco trip we found lamb chops on sale, so I decided to use them for 10-17: Lamb Chops with Mozzarella.

This seems like a strange trend that Simply Delicious is perpetuating–7-2: Pork Chops with Tomatoes is essentially the same idea except with pork, Cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and green beans. Take meat, stack a slice of cheese and random fridge/pantry items on it, call it a recipe. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

1-7: Trader Vic’s Crab Turnovers

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters July 25, 2016July 20, 2020appetizers, Asian, black pepper, canola oil, cheese, chili powder, chili sauce, cocktail sauce, crab, cream cheese, creamy, crispy, deep fryer, deep-fried, Dijon mustard, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, favorites, filling, fried, garlic, garlic powder, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, lobster, lunch, party food, pastry wheel, Polynesian, puff pastry, salt, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, snacks, Tiki, Trader Vic's, turnovers, untested, Worcestershire sauce

I had mentioned in 9-26: Crispy Beef Turnovers and 13-13: Spinach Turnovers that there was a third turnover recipe that I had intended to make (for a trio of turnovers), but that the third recipe required a different cooking method (deep-frying versus baking), so I chose to shelve it until I could do it right.

Well, I happened to have a (borrowed, since returned) mini deep-fryer in my possession recently, so 1-7: Trader Vic’s Crab Turnovers (the fabled third turnover recipe) was finally about to become a reality.

8-11: Sirloin Steak Baked In Foil

Adam Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses July 20, 2016October 18, 2020beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, blanched, boiled, broiled, butter, chopped, deglazed, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, foil pouch, garlic, gluten-free, julienned, lunch, mushrooms, pan-fried, paprika, party food, red wine, salt, sautéed, sirloin, steak, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

I have never cooked steak using the method in this recipe, 8-11: Sirloin Steak Baked in Foil, before and I probably would never cook them this way again. I like all the extra garnish, but it is a pain to cut and prepare that many vegetables for people to pick around to get to the main ingredient, the BEEF. 🐮

I used the red wine suggestion on the card, but I felt like I should have used beef broth to keep the beef-y flavor. This recipe also keeps a trend going, sticking with the foil pouch cooking method that Jamie used in the previous recipe on here, 6-25: Salmon-Filled Chicken Breasts.

6-25: Salmon-Filled Chicken Breasts

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses July 19, 2016June 17, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, breasts, chicken, chicken bouillon, chopped, creamy, crème fraîche, dill, dinner, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, foil pouch, grated, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, salmon, salt, smoked salmon, sour cream, stuffed, tarragon, untested

I’ve been saving some lox in the freezer from a past brunch for this recipe, 6-25: Salmon-Filled Chicken Breasts. There’s not a lot of salmon recipes in Simply Delicious (despite salmon’s popularity in the 1980s & 90s), and this may be one of the only smoked salmon ones that I have in my collection for this book.

Definitely not the first time Simply Delicious has given a recipe for stuffed chicken breasts–see 6-4: Easy Stuffed Chicken Breasts for another take on the same idea. However, if you like smoked salmon like I do, you may have some extra laying around–here’s a use for it. 🐟

11-25: Best Ever Sole Au Gratin

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses June 27, 2016July 7, 2020all-purpose flour, au gratin, black pepper, butter, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, cooked shrimp, creamy, dinner, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, fish, fish bouillon, fish stock, grated, lunch, mashed potatoes, melted, mushrooms, pared, Parmesan, revisited, roux, Rozie house, salt, sautéed, seafood, shrimp, sole, stuffed, twice-baked, vegetables, whipping cream, white wine, yellow onions

This recipe is already setting high expectations with the title 11-25: Best Ever Sole Au Gratin, and I’m not here to completely dash those hopes. This is a pretty decent fish recipe, as those go (I’m usually wary of home-cooked fish recipes), but it’s nothing spectacular, despite Simply Delicious’ assertions. 🐟

This one gets fancy with the piping bag and tips for the potatoes. I still haven’t replaced my piping/pastry bag set-up since it all failed during the making of 17-52: Apricot Macaroons for the holidays last year (2015). Since I’ve yet to replace it, I’ll have to get creative again.

6-11: Chinese Duck

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses May 31, 2016June 17, 2020Asian, black pepper, bone-in, brown sugar, cast-iron, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, Chinese, Chinese/dark soy sauce, dairy-free, deglazed, dinner, duck, Dutch oven, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garlic, ginger, granulated sugar, grated, herbs and spices, honey, lemons, minced, pan-fried, parsley, simmered, soy sauce, untested

Here’s a first for me: I’ve never attempted to break down a duck before this recipe, 6-11: Chinese Duck. I’ve cooked with duck a handful of times, but this is definitely the most involved with it that I’ve ever gotten. There’s one more duck recipe in this book, so expect a return sometime in the future.

I found myself with a duck after my husband took a trip past a local butcher a few weeks ago, so I decided to take a stab at one of the two recipes in the book. I assumed this would be similar to the Chinese dish Peking duck, and in true Simply Delicious style, it doesn’t quite come as close as recipes today can get you.

10-12: Basil-Baked Lamb

Jamie Martin Group 10: Lamb & Veal, Section 2: Main Courses May 16, 2016July 6, 2020basil, beef bouillon, beef broth, boneless, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, dairy-free, dinner, Dutch oven, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, garlic, gluten-free, herb-roasted, herbs and spices, lamb, lamb shoulder, leg of lamb, meat thermometer, minced, pared, parsley, potatoes, roasted, salt, scalloped, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

I’ve done over 100 recipes at this point (closing in on 150 in the next few weeks), and this is the FIRST recipe from Group 10: Lamb & Veal. This is probably due to the fact that neither of those have ever featured heavily in my diet or culinary rotation. However, in the interest of science everything must be covered. So here we go–the first lamb recipe: 10-12: Basil-Baked Lamb.

Um, yeah. In the very first entry (where I explained what this whole project is about), I had mentioned that these books got a bit trashed when I had a bad roach infestation in my first apartment after college. This section was one of the casualties from overzealous roach spray distribution and poor post-massacre clean-up. A lot of the pages got stuck together, and due to their lack of regular use, stayed that way for far too long. Luckily for this one, the recipe part of the card is still somewhat legible.

6-32: Savory Buffet Chicken

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses April 30, 2016June 18, 2020apples, Asian, blender, breasts, chicken, coconut, coconut milk, creamy, crushed tomatoes, curry powder, dairy-free, dinner, Dutch oven, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garlic, gluten-free, grated, herbs and spices, Indian, lunch, minced, olive oil, Oriental, salt, sautéed, sesame seeds, tahini, thighs, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions

Indian never goes well for Simply Delicious. 11-16: Indian Fried Fish was a bust, and 12-22: Nasi Goreng was less than exciting. This recipe, 6-32: Savory Buffet Chicken doesn’t openly identify itself as Indian-inspired, but it’s pretty similar to another clandestinely-influenced recipe, 6-8: Curried Chicken.

“Oriental” is a term you don’t really hear any more (as I mentioned in 7-11: Oriental Pork Stir-Fry), and the language seems a bit flowery for the 1980s. However, this project is not about that stuff–it’s about the food. Let’s press on.

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.

7-1: Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses April 20, 2016June 18, 2020black pepper, blanched, bread crumbs, butter, cheese, chopped, coated, creamy, dinner, dredged, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, garlic, garlic powder, grated, herb salt, herbs and spices, lunch, mushrooms, pan-fried, panko, Parmesan, parsley, parsnips, pork, pork tenderloin, sautéed, side dish, steamed, stews, tenderized, untested, vegetables, whipping cream, white wine

Oh boy, another pork tenderloin recipe. This is the last of my Costco pack, but I’m going tomorrow, so who knows what I’ll come home with. 7-1: Pork Tenderloin with Mushrooms is the first card in Group 07: Pork, and a pretty straightforward recipe. Other pork tenderloin recipes I’ve covered so far include 7-27: Pork Tenderloin in Creamy Sauce, 7-34: Grilled Pork Slices with Garlic, and 7-36: Pork Tenderloin with Curry Sauce.

This recipe includes parsnips, a root vegetable related to carrots and parsley. Parsnips are usually winter vegetables, but I think you could probably still get away with it in mid-April.