sage – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

19-6: Fresh Herbs

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School August 3, 2022August 17, 2022basil, bouquet garni, chives, cooking school, fines herbes, garnish, herb salt, herb-roasted, herbes de Provence, herbs and spices, lavender, lemon balm, mint, new book, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, summer, tarragon, Thai basil, thyme, watercress

Since it’s summer, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to share my summer garden with you, courtesy of 19-6: Fresh Herbs. This one came from the new book, and is the prequel (of sorts) to 19-7: Fresh and Dried Herbs. I had lamented not being able to easily find fresh tarragon back when I wrote that one–well, now I grow it myself in my own backyard.

Growing my own herbs in my own garden for use in cooking was one of the top reasons I wanted to buy my own place, and the garden situation outside was one of my main factors when selecting a house (back when you could have preferences about things like that and didn’t just have to overpay for whatever was available).

I use my homegrown herbs for cooking all year round, and it’s quite the pleasure to be able to use just the amount needed fresh from my own backyard rather than buy overpriced herbs at the grocery store and then watch them wilt and die in my fridge.

19-7: Fresh and Dried Herbs

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School April 22, 2018October 18, 2020apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, bouquet garni, celery, cheesecloth, chervil, chives, cloves, cooking school, dried herbs, fines herbes, French, garlic, healthy, herb salt, herb-roasted, herbes de Provence, herbs and spices, Italian parsley, Italian seasoning, lavender, lemons, limoncello, liqueur, nutmeg, orange peel, parsley, rosemary, sage, salads, smoked ham, spice blends, steeped, tarragon, tarragon vinegar, thyme, untested, vinegar, white wine vinegar

19-7: Fresh and Dried Herbs has been a recipe-in-the-making for a few months. I mention frequently that I often write these entries months after I complete the actual recipe, but this one actually took me that long TO complete.

Usually, these Cooking School cards don’t have too much in the way of actual recipes–often times it’s more like the card above, more recommendation than actual recipe. I’m not going to restate what they’ve written here–it’s all good advice. Jump behind the cut for some herb blend recipes as well as a DIY vinegar challenge and BONUS limoncello recipe.

3-19: Soupe Saint Germain

Adam Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 31, 2017October 4, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, blender, boiled, butter, champagne, creamy, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fail, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, food processor, French, frozen, grated, half-and-half, herbs and spices, horseradish, lunch, milk, mounted, Prosecco, purée, roux, sage, salt, soups, sour cream, sparkling, sweet peas, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetarian, whipping cream, white wine, yellow onions

Working on the Simply Delicious Cookbook Project with Jamie has given me an opportunity to learn and expand my culinary palette. As with a lot of these dishes, I have never tried 3-19: Soupe Saint Germain before. This soup is made with ingredients I generally enjoy, but the end product was hardly enjoyable. The sparkling white wine was probably my least favorite component of the dish and not something I normally drink.

To the best of my recollection, I haven’t eaten many other classic French soups. My version of this dish may have been less than stellar due to a less than fresh bottle of sparkling white wine and my substitution of sour cream for cream.

Editor’s note: Potage St. Germain is essentially “pea soup”. There’s many variations out there, but not too many with sparkling wine in them. Since it’s New Years’ Eve, here’s an interesting alternative for all that Champagne you may have on hand…Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2018! 🥂

1-20: Prosciutto Appetizers

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 3, 2017January 28, 2020appetizers, basil, black pepper, blue cheese, cheese, chilled, chives, chopped, cream cheese, creamy, dollop, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, favorites, filling, gluten-free, Gorgonzola, ham, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, parsley, party food, Prosciutto, Roquefort, sage, salt, snacks, stuffed, stuffing, tarragon, toothpicks, untested

There’s not a lot to 1-20: Prosciutto Appetizers, but think of them as a fancier version of the classic appetizer roll-ups that feature some sort of cold cut wrapped around some sort of cream cheese. I originally intended to make these to bring with when we attended a fancy picnic-type event last year, but ran out of time before the day arrived.

Since I’m the only one who can eat these anyway, I ended up making them as a snack for myself when Adam was out of town a few weeks ago. I love Prosciutto ham, blue cheese, AND cream cheese, so these were snacks I was quite looking forward to.

6-29: Stuffed Turkey

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses December 8, 2016June 18, 2020all-purpose flour, American, basted, black pepper, bread crumbs, breasts, brushed, butter, carved, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chopped, cornbread, cubed, deglazed, diced, dinner, dried herbs, drumsticks, egg-free, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, giblets, gravy, half-and-half, herbs and spices, lemons, meat thermometer, melted, paprika, party food, roasted, roasting pan, rubbed, sage, salt, sautéed, side dish, skewered, sliced, soy sauce, stuffed, stuffing, tamari, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, thighs, thyme, toothpicks, trussed, turkey, twine, untested, vegetables, wings, yellow onions

This recipe, 6-29: Stuffed Turkey, is the WHOLE reason I originally decided to take on the challenge of cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year (TGV 2016)–when else was I going to get a chance to use the actual Thanksgiving recipe but on the holiday itself? I have cooked a Thanksgiving dinner before, but not in my own house, and not planned/shopped/organized for by myself. It was a fun challenge, and I have this card and project to thank for it.

Of course I made this recipe the day of Thanksgiving (Thursday 11/24), and it includes not only the turkey, but traditional stuffing and gravy as well. I cooked this in the afternoon, after making 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls and 1-5: Pigs in a Blanket in the oven that morning.

This year’s Thanksgiving was at least 2 weeks ago by the time you’re reading this, but I hope that if you had one this year it was a nice one, and that if you’re reading this sometime in the future preparing for the current year’s feast, that yours is nice as well. Mine was lovely despite what’s been a tumultuous year, and this recipe was definitely a big part of making my first solo Thanksgiving successful. Thanks for taking time out of your day to read even just a bit of what I’ve written, and thanks for participating in my project, even just for this brief moment.

I’ve been working on this project for just under 3 years now, and I’ve got at least that long to go to attempt to finish it–thanks for giving me a reason to keep this project alive, an outlet for writing, a focus for creative energy, art to share with my family and friends, and a priceless set of memories and experiences tied to a set of stinky old cookbooks that have always meant a lot to me, and mean even more now. Thank you.

10-10: Roast Leg of Lamb

Adam Martin Group 10: Lamb & Veal, Section 2: Main Courses October 12, 2016October 27, 2020black pepper, bone-in, boneless, cornstarch, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, garlic, gluten-free, gravy, herb-roasted, herbs and spices, lamb, leg of lamb, mint jelly, roasted, rosemary, sage, salt, sliced, slit, thyme, untested

Due to some infestation-related activity long ago, the Lamb and Veal category suffered some minor liquid damage. Some of the cards are virtually unusable, but this card, 10-10: Roast Leg of Lamb is just slightly mangled.

Despite the condition of the card, this preparation of leg of lamb is one of the best I’ve ever had. 🐏

7-7: Mushroom-Stuffed Pork Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses August 2, 2016June 19, 2020all-purpose flour, appetizers, beef broth, black olives, black pepper, boiled, braised, butter, chicken broth, chopped, creamy, deglazed, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, half-and-half, ham, herbs and spices, lunch, melted, mushrooms, parsley, party food, pork, pork shoulder, rolls, sage, salt, sautéed, shiitake, sliced, soy sauce, stuffed, tenderized, toothpicks, umami, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

If you haven’t figured it out by now, Simply Delicious uses mushrooms pretty heavily throughout their recipes–about 20% of the recipes I’ve covered so far have involved them. I wasn’t a big mushroom eater when I was a kid, but I’ve (slowly) begun warming up to them. 7-7: Mushroom-Stuffed Pork Rolls aren’t especially fancy, but they’re not a bad option for lunch, dinner, or even making in a large batch for a party.

This is the first recipe (of 160+ at this point) that uses sage, described as being “savory & slightly peppery.” I like using sage with mushrooms (along with parsley, rosemary, & thyme–the “essential herbs,” according to Simon & Garfunkel), as the earthy flavors of both complement each other well.🌿