party food – Page 13 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

13-11: Vegetarian Pizza

Adam Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses June 11, 2016October 28, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, canola oil, cheese, cottage cheese, dinner, dough, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, grated, green onions, herb salt, herbs and spices, Italian, Italian seasoning, kneaded, leeks, lunch, melted, minced, mushrooms, olive oil, Parmesan, party food, pizza, proofed, salt, sautéed, soy sauce, Swiss, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yeast

Just like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I appreciate a good slice of pizza. 🍕 I wouldn’t normally order a vegetarian pizza. Does the Meat Lovers’ special come with 4 or 5 different meats on it?

I haven’t made pizza dough before. I briefly made bread when we scored a bread machine from a thrift store. After using the bread machine 2 or 3 times, I got to see why all of those bread machines are abandoned at the thrift store. Either my process was not good or the machine stopped working correctly after about 2 loaves of bread.

2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters June 10, 2016July 8, 2020appetizers, black pepper, Cheddar, cheese, chopped, Dijon mustard, dinner, dressing, easy, egg-free, French, garlic, Gruyère, ham, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, julienned, lettuce, lunch, marinated, minced, mushrooms, olive oil, paprika, party food, red wine vinegar, salads, salt, side dish, sweet peas, tomatoes, untested, vegetables

It’s been a while since we’ve done a salad. This recipe, 2-24: Parisian Ham-Mushroom Salad sounded fancy, and I had found myself with mushrooms, ham, and lettuce. Simply Delicious leans heavily on French cuisine, so it’s not surprising to see them attempt a French salad. But is this an actual French dish, or just something made up for Americans (like the classic “Chinese” example, General Tso’s chicken)?

I Googled a bit to see if there was an actual ham & mushroom salad that was a known part of French cuisine, and I actually was able to track down a somewhat similar recipe from Raymond Blanc, a well-renowned French chef. He published a Gruyere, ham, & mushroom salad recipe in a few of his cookbooks, noting that it came from his French hometown near the Franche-Comté region (not near Paris).

17-4: Cinnamon Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 9, 2016August 23, 2020all-purpose flour, American, baked goods, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon, dessert, dried spices, egg wash, eggs, filling, gift ideas, glazed, granulated sugar, grated, kneaded, melted, milk, Mother's Day, parchment paper, party food, pastry, proofed, rolls, salt, Silpat, snacks, untested, vegetarian, whole wheat flour, yeast

I realize it’s now June, but here’s a recipe I made for Mother’s Day this year, at the request of my very own mother. What can I say…it takes a while to actually sit down and write these things sometimes. We were doing brunch at their house this year, and she wanted us to bring cinnamon rolls, so I solved two problems at once by making 17-4: Cinnamon Rolls.

This particular recipe doesn’t include an icing/glaze with it, but if you want one (as I knew my mom would), I used this recipe from food.com and it works just fine. Let’s be honest–the ones in their picture are probably NOT what you pictured when you thought of cinnamon rolls. Whether you’re thinking of their picture or mine, this recipe (with a few tweaks) will probably suit your needs.

9-15: Peppercorn Beef Burgers

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses June 9, 2016October 20, 2020beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, boiled, brandy, bread crumbs, burgers, butter, chopped, creamy, dinner, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, flambé, Grand Marnier, griddle, ground beef, ground meat, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lemon juice, liquor, lunch, melted, milk, pan-fried, panko, party food, peppercorns, salt, sautéed, sour cream, soy sauce, steak sauce, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions

Hello readers, I’m Adam, your usual author’s husband, chiming in with a guest post. Jamie has these Simply Delicious recipes hung on our kitchen cabinets like a restaurant rail full of orders. There were some easy level recipes that I thought I could cook while Jamie was busy trying to finish her backlog of blog entries. 9-15: Peppercorn Beef Burgers are my first such attempt at preparing a recipe and photographing the process. I have to say that I had a lot of fun (I lit the sauce on fire!🔥) and you’ll see a few more guest posts from me coming up.

I’ve made more than a few burgers in my day, but the sauce on these patties did elevate the dish to a higher level.

10-14: Lamb on Skewers

Jamie Martin Group 10: Lamb & Veal, Section 2: Main Courses May 29, 2016July 6, 2020appetizers, barbecue, basil, blender, boneless, broiled, celery, chicken, chilled, chopped, cubed, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, food processor, garlic, gluten-free, Greek, green bell peppers, grilled, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, kebabs, lamb, leg of lamb, lunch, marinated, mushrooms, olive oil, party food, pork, red bell peppers, rice, shallots, skewered, tomatoes, untested, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, white wine, yellow onions

Lamb and veal were not big in my house growing up, but I’ll eat a bit of lamb every so often these days. I’ve only covered one other lamb recipe so far–10-12: Basil-Baked Lamb. This recipe, 10-14: Lamb on Skewers, actually was made in tandem with that one, since my cut of boneless leg of lamb was too large for that recipe. These skewers can be made with pork, chicken, or just veggies–making them great for a party or event where you have a lot of different dietary preferences.

Making skewers/kebabs is a really good way to use up an extra (or oddly shaped/not pretty) cut of meat, as well as a way to make tough cuts of meat easier to eat. Another benefit: those who have a difficult time eating large pieces of meat (like old people and little kids) might have an easier time with smaller pieces (be careful of choking, though). One more benefit: you cook your vegetables at the same time as your meat–add some rice and you’ve got the whole meal.

5-6: Cheese Soufflé

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 28, 2016April 29, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, breakfast, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cornstarch, creamy, dinner, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, French, Gouda, grated, Gruyère, inexpensive, Jarlsberg, lunch, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, party food, salt, shredded, side dish, soufflés, stand mixer, untested, vegetarian, whipped

Soufflés are one of the stereotypical fancy foods–a harried chef attempting to keep one from falling due to its delicate, temperamental nature used to be a common comedy trope.

The two most common variations are the dessert version (like a chocolate one) and the savory version (like this recipe, 5-6: Cheese Soufflé). I’ve covered one savory soufflé dish already from this book: 4-11: Potato Soufflé with Onions.

This would be a good recipe to add some green onions or chives to–I think it would add some nice color to the soufflé without weighing it down. Simply Delicious shows this recipe in individual ramekins, but I’m going to make it all in one big soufflé dish–I have to justify its existence in my cabinet.

9-24: Tangy Double Meat Patties

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses May 26, 2016July 6, 2020all-purpose flour, anchovies, barbecue, black olives, black pepper, breakfast, burgers, butter, chili sauce, chives, chopped, deglazed, demi-glace, diced, Dijon mustard, dinner, easy, eggs, garlic, green olives, green onions, griddle, grilled, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, ground turkey, ham, horseradish, inexpensive, ketchup, lunch, mushrooms, pan-fried, parsley, party food, pickles, salt, sautéed, shiitake, stuffed, tangy, untested, yellow mustard, yellow onions

We’ve covered the fact that burger patties are a common recipe for using ground meat–9-25: Juicy Grilled Meat Patties, 9-44: Wok-Fried Beef Patties, and 9-31: Savory Turkey Patties are just a few of the methods outlined by Simply Delicious. 9-24: Tangy Double Meat Patties are another variation, this time with a flavorful filling of your choice.

Snappy is such a great adjective for describing food. I don’t think anything past about 1988 has been described as such, but if you dig into the 1950s-60s era of cookbooks (of which I have a ton), it’s all over the place.

17-55: Scottish Shortbread

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 17, 2016November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, almond extract, anise, baked goods, butter, coconut, cookie cutters, cookie press, cookies, creamed, dough, easy, egg-free, flavorings, food coloring, gift ideas, grated, inexpensive, lemons, Mother's Day, oranges, party food, powdered sugar, rum, Scottish, shortbread, snacks, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, walnuts, zested

Here’s another good cookie press recipe. It’s a long way away from the holiday season, and cookie cutters/presses tend to get a bit dusty during the spring & summer months. I had a bunch of shapes for the press that weren’t holiday-related, so I decided to get creative with some colors & flavor extracts and use 17-55: Scottish Shortbread to play with the press.

Theirs look really thick–mine came out thinner since I used the press. These would probably work well with differently-shaped cookie cutters too, not just rounds. As I learned, they also work well with food coloring and flavor extracts.

I ended up using these for Mother’s Day gifts, and made a mix of three colors/shapes to bag up and mail/hand out. 💐

1-28: Picnic Tuna Sandwiches

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 15, 2016February 5, 2020appetizers, avocados, black pepper, breads, butter, celery, cheese, chilled, chopped, diced, easy, eggs, hard-boiled, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, lemon juice, lunch, mayonnaise, paprika, party food, Pepper Jack, pickles, picnic, radishes, red onions, salt, sandwiches, sour cream, tuna, untested, whole wheat bread, yellow mustard

Leave it to Simply Delicious to try to make tuna sandwiches sound fancy. 1-28: Picnic Tuna Sandwiches is a basic method for constructing a sandwich, using tuna fish, presumably for a picnic. It’s really all in the title.

I suppose you have to learn how to make tuna salad somehow–maybe you grow up with parents who don’t like it and you never learn. That’s not what happened in my case (my mother adores tuna salad), but I suppose it’s the case for some people, and so recipes like this must exist. Reminds me of this xkcd comic.

4-34: Italian Roasted Vegetables

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 14, 2016October 13, 2020appetizers, asparagus, black pepper, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, corn, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, eggplant, favorites, gluten-free, green beans, green bell peppers, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, Hutton house, inexpensive, Italian, lunch, mushrooms, olive oil, pared, party food, red bell peppers, revisited, roasted, Rozie house, salt, side dish, snacks, tender-crisp, Thanksgiving, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow bell peppers, zucchini

This one’s short and sweet. I’ve made 4-34: Italian Roasted Vegetables a few times before, once as part of a big dinner party I cooked for when I was about 13 (6-22: Crispy Chicken Drumsticks and 9-20: Meat Roly-Poly were part of that as well) and Thanksgiving 2000 based on my mother’s notations on the back of the card. I know I’ve used the concept multiple times in other instances, even if I wasn’t following this exact recipe.

This is more a method than a particular recipe–you can use pretty much whatever vegetables you want with this one. Now’s a perfect time for this recipe–farmer’s markets are open and there’s lots of good stuff out there to roast. 🔥