salt – Page 28 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

9-4: Swedish Meatballs

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses January 18, 2016July 5, 2020Alton Brown, appetizers, beef, black pepper, bread crumbs, butter, deglazed, dinner, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, grated, gravy, ground beef, ground meat, lunch, meatballs, pan-fried, party food, reduced, salt, Swedish, untested, veal, white bread, white pepper, yellow onions

There seem to be a lot of differing interpretations of Swedish meatballs out there. Serious Eats runs into the same dilemma and ups the meatball’s game with umami and acidic flavors; Alton Brown stays simple and sticks to earthier allspice and nutmeg. Both soak the white bread in milk (panade) before adding it to the meat mix, whereas 9-4: Swedish Meatballs swaps the milk for water and keeps the spices restrained simply to salt and pepper. This doesn’t bode well.

Simply Delicious, you can’t call it an “original recipe” when the only original thing about it is how bland and unseasoned it is. I made these as a requested dish for someone else, and was provided only ground beef (their preference) as opposed to a mix of meats with which to make them. As a result, they were even LESS exciting–it’s a good thing the requestor digs bland food.

5-11: Country Omelette

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 17, 2016October 14, 2020bacon, black pepper, breakfast, butter, carrots, cast-iron, cheese, cooked chicken, diced, dinner, easy, eggs, French, green bell peppers, ground meat, ham, inexpensive, lunch, omelette, parsley, potatoes, red bell peppers, salt, sausage, sautéed, untested, yellow onions

This is another backlogged one from November 2015 like 14-12: Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce. You’ve probably already seen the results of 5-11: Country Omelette, but I maintain that I CAN make a good omelette–this was just not one of them.

Country omelettes are a thing, usually referred to country French omelettes. As is my problem a lot of times, I had pan difficulties which led to this one not turning out well. Maybe it’s time to do some pan shopping.

12-4: Pasta with Mushrooms

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses December 26, 2015July 27, 2020al dente, black pepper, boiled, butter, chives, creamy, crème fraîche, dinner, dried herbs, dried spices, easy, farfalle, half-and-half, herb salt, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, mushrooms, paprika, parsley, pasta/noodles, rotini, salt, sautéed, sour cream, spaghetti, thyme, untested, vegetarian, yellow onions

There’s been way too many cookies, both online and IRL. 12-4: Pasta with Mushrooms is a relatively healthier and easy dinner option to help ease you into post-holiday life (or just an idea for dinner tonight).

I don’t know about you, but these kind of meals with a bit of protein (chicken, fish, etc.) is pretty much our go-to for dinner these days. Maybe I’ve been cooking in schools too long already–my mind instantly goes to two veg-fruit/one protein/one grain for meal planning. I suppose there are worse habits.

17-67: Coconut Crescents

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 25, 2015November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, breakfast, butter, Christmas, coconut, cookie cutters, cookies, crescents, dessert, dough, eggs, fairly easy, filling, gift ideas, granulated sugar, grated, holiday baking, inexpensive, kneaded, lemons, melted, milk, oranges, pastry, powdered sugar, proofed, salt, snacks, untested, vegetarian, XMAS 15, yeast, zested

Merry Christmas! 🌲 Or if it’s not Christmas when you’re reading this, hope you’re having a nice day. 😃 The final component of my holiday assortment this year was 17-67: Coconut Crescents, and since they turned out somewhat nicely (unlike some of the other components), I thought it best to end this holiday baking burst on a high note.

I included these in my assortment to vary some texture (not all cookies) and to make at least one that used a yeast dough. These can be really versatile–just swap coconut for something else like a strawberry filling or sprinkle something like brown sugar on top.

17-31: Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 24, 2015September 13, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking soda, brown sugar, butter, chocolate, Christmas, Christmas Eve, cocoa powder, cookies, creamed, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, gift ideas, Glendale apt, holiday baking, oatmeal, oatmeal raisin, orange juice, pecans, raisins, revisited, rolled oats, salt, snacks, unsweetened, vanilla extract, vegetarian, walnuts, XMAS 15

The only chocolate-containing component in my holiday baked goods assortment, 17-31: Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies are honestly pretty good any time of year. So if you’re reading this at some other time of year besides Christmas Eve, don’t feel like you can’t make these.

I found a way to mess these up as well (seems like this year I had a hard time with some things that should have been really easy), but I’ve made them before previously to this, and both times (then and now) they’re still definitely very edible and good.

17-61: Vanilla Chip Cookies

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 22, 2015November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking soda, brown sugar, butter, chocolate chips, Christmas, coconut, cookies, creamed, easy, eggs, fail, fairly expensive, gift ideas, golden raisins, granulated sugar, holiday baking, macadamia nuts, salt, shredded, sifted, untested, vanilla chips, vanilla extract, vegetarian, white chocolate, XMAS 15

I had high hopes for these. They sounded great. And to be honest, it still might have been my fault these went badly. 17-61: Vanilla Chip Cookies were part of my big batch of assorted baked goods that I made as gifts for people this year–you can find the others linked at the end of this entry.

Maybe I overworked them. Maybe my dough was too warm. Maybe it was my oven or my pans. Something just didn’t work out here. After the jump, I’ll show you what happened.

12-22: Nasi Goreng

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses December 1, 2015July 28, 2020amchur powder, Asian, bean sprouts, canola oil, cashews, chili powder, chutney, coconut, condiments, crushed red pepper, curry powder, dairy-free, dinner, eggs, fairly easy, fish sauce, fried, galangal, garlic, garlic powder, ginger, granulated sugar, ham, Indian, Indonesian, inexpensive, julienned, lunch, omelette, pan-fried, paprika, pineapple, rice, salt, sautéed, scrambled, shredded, sliced, soy sauce, spice blends, spicy, Tabasco sauce, Thai, untested, yellow onions

Here’s something a bit different from the Pasta and Rice chapter. Simply Delicious has a lot of international recipes, some more authentic than others. 12-22: Nasi Goreng is a take on a popular Indonesian fried rice dish, a sweeter and spicier variation of the ubiquitous Chinese take-out version.

This recipe doesn’t give you much in the way of creating Nasi Goreng spices if you don’t have access to or want to use a premixed blend. After the jump, I’ll include a Nasi Goreng spice blend I used and a link to the book from which I pulled it.

2-17: Spicy Potato Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters November 23, 2015March 10, 2020apple cider vinegar, blender, chili powder, chilled, chopped, curry powder, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dressing, dried spices, easy, egg-free, emulsion, food processor, German, gluten-free, herb salt, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lemon juice, lemons, lunch, marinated, paprika, party food, peeled, picnic, potato salad, potatoes, red onions, salads, salt, side dish, spice blends, spicy, sunflower oil, sweet mustard, tossed, untested, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

This was an accompaniment to 12-11: Italian Macaroni & Cheese when I went to a get-together recently. 2-17: Spicy Potato Salad is similar to a German potato salad in style–it uses vinegar & spices as the dressing instead of mayonnaise.

The main difference between this version and most traditional German potato salads is that this one lacks bacon. But if you miss the bacon that much, feel free to go crazy and add it on back in there.

12-11: Italian Macaroni and Cheese

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses November 21, 2015July 27, 2020al dente, black pepper, boiled, carrots, Cheddar, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, cooked chicken, dinner, fairly easy, grated, half-and-half, ham, inexpensive, Italian, julienned, layers, lunch, macaroni, Parmesan, party food, pasta/noodles, quiche lorraine, salt, shredded, smoked ham, untested

Before you make up your mind on 12-11: Italian Macaroni & Cheese, I must let you know that it is not what you are expecting. If you are envisioning just another creamy cheesy béchamel-based sauce, this is NOT that.

This has ham in it and NO cheese in the sauce. All the cheese is on top. The noodles are suspended in a cream and egg base similar to a quiche filling. Jump behind the cut and see what this wacky mac & cheese is all about.

17-53: Spiced Whole Wheat Muffins

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 19, 2015November 8, 2020all-purpose flour, allspice, autumn, baked goods, baking powder, breakfast, canola oil, cinnamon, cocoa powder, dates, dessert, dried fruit, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, fall, gift ideas, ginger, granulated sugar, mace, milk, muffins, nutmeg, nuts, pumpkin spice, raisins, salt, snacks, spice blends, unsweetened, untested, vegetable oil, vegetarian, whole wheat flour

Another recipe that I intended to cover earlier (when it was more relevant). Whatever, you can totally still eat 17-53: Spiced Whole Wheat Muffins in mid-to-late November.

The recipe card says “not-too-sweet”…they’re not kidding. These are good, but only if you have some preserves or butter to go along with it. On their own, they’re a bit…dry.