peeled – Page 5 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

8-27: Classic Beef Stew

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses April 28, 2020July 2, 2020all-purpose flour, allspice, bay leaves, beef, beef stew, boiled, bone-in, boneless, butter, carrots, chuck roast, dinner, Dutch oven, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, Italian parsley, lunch, parsley, peeled, roux, salt, sautéed, seared, sliced, slow cooker, stew meat, stews, untested, yellow onions

I came clean in 11-9: Fried Jumbo Shrimp that we’ve been eating plant-based for about 2 years now–most entries that I’ve published since mid-2018 feature me essentially attempting to convert these old recipes into meatless/vegan options. 8-27: Classic Beef Stew will be no different.

I realize that not everyone chooses to eschew meat/dairy, and I’m not here to proselytize or debate it with you. I didn’t write these recipes–the goal of this project has always been to take these existing recipes and attempt to cook them ALL, somehow. The recipes are still here, in their original form–it’s up to you (and me) how to interpret them.

11-9: Fried Jumbo Shrimp

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses April 20, 2020July 7, 2020all-purpose flour, Asian, batter, beer, boiled, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chilled, Chinese, Chinese/dark soy sauce, cornstarch, crispy, dairy-free, deep fryer, deep-fried, dinner, egg-free, expensive, fairly hard, fish, fried, leeks, lunch, mushrooms, party food, peeled, sautéed, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, sweet-and-sour sauce, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth

As I mentioned in my last post, this project just passed the 6-year mark, and a lot has changed since I first started it–careers, cities, kitchens, vehicles, family, presidents, even dietary preferences.

For the last two years, we’ve been sticking to a plant-based diet, with the very occasional seafood or dairy indulgence (however, traditional meat itself is totally gone). We’ll still go out for a real sushi dinner here and there (although, not lately due to coronavirus), and every so often, I’ll make a recipe like 11-9: Fried Jumbo Shrimp with real shrimp as a treat.

“Fruit from the sea” as a description for shrimp seems strange to me, even though I know Simply Delicious didn’t coin the term. “Fried Jumbo Shrimp” is what they use to lure you into mediocre chain restaurants–it’s not quite haute cuisine.

I’m not doing a good job of selling you on this dish, am I? Well, since fried food doesn’t travel well as takeout, maybe you’d like to take this “opportunity” to learn how to fry your own?

1-3: Melon with Smoked Turkey

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 14, 2020February 18, 2024appetizers, black pepper, breasts, canola oil, cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes, chicken, chicory lettuce, chilled, chopped, cooked chicken, curly endive, Dijon mustard, dressing, easy, escarole, fairly inexpensive, galia, garnish, honey, honeydew, hors d'oeuvres, Italian parsley, lemon juice, lettuce, lunch, melon, mint, peeled, Prosciutto, red bell peppers, Romaine lettuce, salt, sliced, smoked chicken, smoked ham, smoked turkey, tarragon, tomatoes, turkey, untested, vegetable oil

Believe it or not, 1-3: Melon with Smoked Turkey is one of my last few remaining Group 01: Hot and Cold Appetizers recipes left to cover. I’ve put this one off for a while because I’m not a big fan of melon (other than watermelons)–but when the weekly CSA box keeps bringing them to you, you have to do something with them.

Theirs looks super fancy–mine looks like a sloppy mess. I suppose if I were actually serving this for a party I would have tried harder. Melon + meat = appetizer isn’t a new equation–even Pillsbury has their own version. Most versions include prosciutto instead of turkey, which is the variant I’m more familiar with.

7-37: Easy Sweet-and-Sour Pork

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses April 13, 2020April 13, 2020Asian, black pepper, boneless, brown sugar, carrots, Chinese, cornstarch, dairy-free, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, frozen, garlic, ginger, gluten-free, green bell peppers, green onions, leeks, marinated, minced, pan-fried, peeled, pineapple, pork, pork loin, pork shoulder, red wine vinegar, salt, sautéed, scallions, sherry, sliced, slurry, snow peas, soy sauce, stir-fry, sweet peas, sweet-and-sour, sweet-and-sour sauce, tamari, tender-crisp, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables

Sweet-and-sour is not new for Simply Delicious–there’s already 6-27: Sweet-and-Sour Chicken and 11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp if you’re in the mood for a different protein besides pork. However, 7-37: Easy Sweet-and-Sour Pork is the only one to advertise itself as “easy”.

Pork is probably the most common version of sweet-and-sour that you see in Chinese restaurants–there’s even a vegan version of it you can buy in most stores. In case you’re looking for something more refined (but maybe not as easy or meatless), here’s Serious Eats’ take on it.

14-9: Glazed Crêpes with Pears

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 23, 2020March 23, 2020all-purpose flour, batter, broiled, butter, canola oil, cored, crêpes, dessert, dusted, eggs, fairly easy, fruit, glazed, Grand Marnier, granulated sugar, griddle, hot desserts, inexpensive, liqueur, liquor, melted, milk, pears, peeled, powdered sugar, salt, untested, vegetable oil, vegetarian

I think 14-9: Glazed Crêpes with Pears might be my final untested crêpe recipe from Simply Delicious–but there may be others in there. I’ll even give you a quick spoiler (since this recipe is kind of boring…another spoiler) for upcoming posts–there are more recipes out there than what I had originally. I know because I found (and purchased) some in a local Goodwill.

I’ve still got quite a few posts to go before I dig into some of the *NEW* recipes (and show you the book they came in), but for now, you can read about yet another crêpe recipe after the jump. But this time, with pears! And glaze!

12-28: Tri-Color Risotto

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses February 26, 2020February 26, 2020beef bouillon, beef broth, blanched, boiled, Cheddar, cheese, chopped, easy, fairly inexpensive, green bell peppers, grind, long-grain, olive oil, peeled, pine nuts, red bell peppers, rice, risotto, saffron, salt, sautéed, shallots, shredded, untested, whipping cream, white wine, yellow bell peppers, yellow onions

If you haven’t figured it out by now, there’s a bit of a lag between when I make these recipes and when I actually post about them. It helps me to reread the recipe to figure out what I’m doing in a lot of these photos. While rereading the recipe for 12-28: Tri-Color Risotto, I realized I didn’t even make it right.

That’s my first explanation for what happened here. My second is that I don’t like cooking rice in a pan–I’m spoiled by rice cookers.

My third is that this isn’t risotto–it’s pilaf.

14-22: Strawberry-Peach Cobbler

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 25, 2020February 26, 20204th of July, à la mode, apples, baking powder, biscuit cutters, biscuits, butter, cobbler, cookie cutters, cored, dessert, dough, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, fruit, gift ideas, granulated sugar, hot desserts, hulled, nectarines, party food, pastry, peaches, peeled, salt, sliced, strawberries, summer, untested, vegetarian, whipping cream

Finally, we’ve reached the first recipe (for this project) made in my new (to you) kitchen: 14-22: Strawberry-Peach Cobbler. It was summer and 4th of July, so something with fruit that goes well with ice cream was bound to be a hit.

Speaking of 4th of July, I made 2-37: Chicken-Salami-Rice Salad for a party that I attended with a guy that I had just started dating. 10 years later, this is the first recipe I cooked in my very first house, that I bought with that same guy (who I ended up marrying not long after I made that first recipe).

Told you this book has some memories.

7-21: Jambalaya

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses January 13, 2020August 30, 2021American, American South, andouille, basil, black pepper, blanched, boiled, brown rice, Cajun, canola oil, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, Creole, cubed, dinner, fairly easy, fairly expensive, French, garlic, green bell peppers, long-grain, lunch, minced, New Orleans, peeled, pepperoni, pork, Provençale, rice, salt, sausage, sautéed, shrimp, smoked ham, Spanish, spicy, Tabasco sauce, thyme, tomatoes, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetable oil, West African, wild rice, yellow onions

Cajun and Creole cooking are not something I’ve had a ton of experience with, so 7-21: Jambalaya is somewhat unfamiliar territory. I didn’t grow up eating a lot of New Orleans cuisine, other than my mother’s ill-fated attempt at making gumbo once.

It’s not a difficult recipe (quite the opposite, actually), but I don’t feel like I have a solid understanding of the difference between what makes it good and what makes it great. That’s something that comes with experience, both as a taster and as a creator.

I couldn’t have even told you that there are two types of jambalaya, Creole and Cajun. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia, the difference between the two is the absence or presence of tomatoes. Simply Delicious identifies this version as Creole, which is correct–that’s the version that has the tomatoes in it, which this one does. 🎺🍅

9-23: Fruity Sausage Kebabs

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses December 3, 2019July 6, 2020apples, bananas, broiled, canola oil, coconut oil, cored, cubed, curry powder, dinner, easy, franks, fruit, grill pan, grilled, hot dogs, inexpensive, kebabs, lunch, party food, peeled, pineapple, Polynesian, sausage, skewered, sliced, soy sauce, untested, vegetable oil, yellow mustard

It’s fruit, and it’s sausage–on a kebab. Not much more to 9-23: Fruity Sausage Kebabs than that. We gave up our BBQ grill a few years ago after our apartment changed owners and haven’t purchased a new one yet since we bought our house. However, that’s okay: you can do these kebabs with just a toaster oven or broiler.

9-23: Fruity Sausage Kebabs is the last recipe I have (as of now) for Group 9: Ground Meat & Sausage. I assume there are other ones out there (since my numbers jump around a bit, especially at the end), but this is it for this group for me. Every so often, I’ll get email requests for particular recipes, and it’s always for ones I don’t have–apologies for that, this project was never intended to be a complete listing of all of the available recipes.

8-54: Beef Beignets

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses October 26, 2019July 2, 2020all-purpose flour, American, appetizers, batter, bay leaves, beef, beer, black pepper, Cajun, canola oil, chilled, chopped, coated, cooked beef, Creole, cubed, dairy-free, deep fryer, deep-fried, dinner, eggs, fairly easy, French, fried, garlic, hors d'oeuvres, inexpensive, leftovers, lunch, marinated, New Orleans, peeled, port wine, red wine, shallots, snacks, thyme, untested, vegetable oil

When I think of beignets, I think of New Orleans. 🎷 I’ve never been to the real Café Du Monde in New Orleans, but I have been to the Mint Julep Bar in New Orleans Square at Disneyland which serves beignets (very delicious ones).

8-54: Beef Beignets are NOT like the ones at Disneyland or Café Du Monde–they’re more like Mongolian Beef before you toss it in sauce.

I looked around for similar types of recipes to confirm that this wasn’t just a Simply Delicious invention–and I really couldn’t find too many. There’s nothing wrong with battering beef and frying it–just don’t call it a beignet.