sliced – Page 3 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

9-8: Mushroom Beef Patties

Jamie Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses November 29, 2021December 30, 2021all-purpose flour, beef, black pepper, burgers, butter, chopped, cornstarch, dinner, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, garnish, green onions, ground beef, ground meat, half-and-half, lunch, meal prep, melted, mushrooms, new book, parsley, roux, salt, sautéed, sliced, untested, yellow onions

I’ve done quite a few recipes lately that include mushrooms, and now we’re doing one that expressly features them: 9-8: Mushroom Beef Patties. Simply Delicious also has several “patty” recipes, and now here’s one with mushrooms. I know–really pushing the culinary envelope here with both mushrooms AND beef patties.

I had mentioned in my last Group 09 entry (9-23: Fruity Sausage Kebabs) that I believed that I had run out of recipes for this section. HOWEVER, after I obtained the NEW book, I was able to squeeze out at least one more for you. There’s still another one hanging out in the queue (9-11: Stuffed Peppers), so we’re not quite done with it yet.

6-16: The Chef’s Special Chicken

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 3, 2021November 3, 2021all-purpose flour, bacon, black pepper, boiled, boneless, breasts, butter, Canadian bacon, chicken, chopped, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, green onions, half-and-half, leeks, lemon peel, lemons, lunch, melted, parsley, roux, salt, sautéed, sliced, turkey, untested, whipping cream

I’ll be honest–I have no idea why this is “special chicken”. But for me, 6-16: The Chef’s Special Chicken will be special because I made it with “chick’n” instead of the real thing. I guess that’s not all that special for me at this point, but maybe for you?

If you search for “chef’s special chicken”, you’ll get a million different types of recipes, so I’m not sure what makes this one especially traditional. Although this one I found is pretty much this same exact recipe, so I guess it’s not as unknown as I thought. That or someone ripped off Simply Delicious and called it their own.

In a restaurant when you see “chef’s special”, it usually translates to “this is about to go bad so let’s try to sell it tonight however we can”. #themoreyouknow

11-32: Shrimp and Cashew Stir-Fry

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses April 20, 2021April 24, 2021Asian, black pepper, canola oil, cashews, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, Chinese, cornstarch, dairy-free, devein, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, fish, frozen, garlic, green onions, Italian parsley, minced, mushrooms, salt, scallions, seafood, shelled, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, soy sauce, stir-fry, sweet peas, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables, wok

As another clue to the era from which it emanates, Simply Delicious offers a lot of stir-fry recipes, along with quite a few other “pan-Asian” options. 11-32: Shrimp and Cashew Stir-Fry isn’t much different from a lot of these other types of dishes, but if you like shrimp and cashews, this is your dish.

Simply Delicious suggests serving this with some steamed brown rice. I remember my mom pushing the brown rice on us in the 80s and 90s…it wasn’t great. I know it’s healthier for you, and there are some dishes where it works, but I’m just generally NOT a fan.

7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses January 11, 2021January 12, 2021Asian, black pepper, blanched, boneless, broccoli, cashews, Chinese, chopped, corn, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, ginger, grated, ham, inexpensive, leeks, lunch, meal prep, pork, pork chops, pork shoulder, salt, sautéed, sliced, snow peas, soy sauce, tender-crisp, untested, vegetables, winter

Looking for a way to use up some winter vegetables? Maybe your veggie box is heavy with leeks and broccoli these days–if so, maybe give 7-39: Pork Chops with Broccoli and Leek a try. It’s got big “we have Chinese food at home” energy.

If malls were still a thing, you could probably find something similar at a generic Chinese/pan-Asian restaurant in the half-empty food court.

If you want to round out your combo plate for the full experience, you could make some 8-25: Stir-Fried Beef or 11-6: Sweet and Sour Shrimp to go with it. Maybe throw in some 6-39: Chicken Pot Stickers or 1-15: Chinese Spring Rolls on the side?

2-16: Roast Beef Salad with Beans

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 3, 2020October 12, 2020apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, beef, black pepper, chilled, dairy-free, dressing, easy, egg-free, emulsion, fairly inexpensive, garnish, gluten-free, green beans, lettuce, marinated, olive oil, parsley, pearl onions, roast beef, salads, salt, sliced, string beans, tarragon, tomatoes, untested, vinegar, white beans, white wine vinegar

In case you hadn’t had enough of weird bean salads with 2-19: Country Bean Salad, I present to you its estranged cousin, 2-16: Roast Beef Salad with Beans.

RIP buffet luncheons (and large groups). Although if this is what’s on the menu, I’d have passed on it anyway.

14-23: Almond-Baked Sliced Pears

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods September 30, 2020September 30, 2020à la mode, all-purpose flour, almonds, apricots, batter, butter, creamed, dessert, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, granulated sugar, hot desserts, lemon juice, meringue, nuts, peaches, pears, ramekins, sliced, stiff peaks, toppings, untested, vegetarian

A LOT of the dessert recipes in Simply Delicious feature almonds, and 14-23: Almond-Baked Sliced Pears is a perfect example of these type of “semi-fancy” recipes. I’m not sure why almonds are featured so heavily in the book (or 1980s cuisine in general), but I suppose it’s to lend a sense of haute cuisine to something that would be (in reality) executed in a home kitchen.

The 1980s were all about stylish and flashy veneers without much to back it up underneath, even when it came to food, and this recipe is a perfect encapsulation of it. The fancy top covers up the cheap canned pears underneath, dazzling you with a hint of something high-class to distract you from the less impressive core which makes up the bulk of the dessert. Maybe some things should have just stayed in the 80s.

1-31: Crab Cocktail

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 23, 2020August 23, 2020appetizers, avocados, chili sauce, chilled, cocktail, crab, cubed, dairy-free, diced, dill, dressing, easy, egg-free, emulsion, fairly expensive, flaked, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grated, hors d'oeuvres, horseradish, iceberg lettuce, krab, lettuce, lunch, mushrooms, olive oil, parsley, peeled, red wine vinegar, salads, seafood, shellfish, sliced, spicy, sunflower oil, tomatoes, untested

Feeling a bit of déjà vu? Maybe you’ve seen 1-31: Crab Cocktail before, or maybe you haven’t. I was doing some recent experimentation on the backend of my website, and long story short: I needed to do a rollback to an earlier version and this one got deleted. So I’m reposting/rewriting it again–however, you’ll miss whatever witty remarks I included with the first version.

I remember saying something about this being a good option for a meal instead of an appetizer (since there’s no parties allowed), and that you should picture yourself eating it near the coast with the breeze in your hair, since between COVID and wildfires, I don’t know if we’re ever getting to leave the house again.

2-3: Salad Niçoise

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters July 27, 2020November 24, 2020anchovies, black olives, black pepper, capers, chilled, dairy-free, dressing, eggs, emulsion, fish, flaked, French, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, green beans, minced, olive oil, peeled, potatoes, Romaine lettuce, salads, salt, seafood, sliced, summer, tuna, vinegar, white wine vinegar

Salads are usually a good choice when it’s hot out, and since we’re currently in the middle of summer (here in the U.S.), 2-3: Salad Niçoise (pronounced nee-swah) might be a good choice for an upcoming meal. Plus, it primarily uses readily-available canned/jarred ingredients, which can be helpful for both budgets and pandemic shopping.

Salade niçoise is a well-known dish (like the last recipe I covered, 14-8: Baked Alaska), and there are many different versions of it out there. Even Simply Delicious alludes to the different variations in their blurb above– although what they insist as a “must” (eggs, tuna, olives) seems to be up to interpretation.

2-21: Shrimp Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters July 1, 2020July 2, 20201980s, avocados, chilled, chives, chopped, cooked shrimp, crème fraîche, dressing, easy, eggs, fairly expensive, garlic, gluten-free, grated, hard-boiled, horseradish, lemon juice, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, minced, peeled, saffron, salad shrimp, salads, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, sliced, sour cream, stiff peaks, summer, untested, whipped, whipping cream

Summer 2020 has been quite the disappointment so far, and still being stuck at home is tough. If you’re looking for something to lift your spirits, 2-21: Shrimp Salad probably isn’t going to do it. However, if you close your eyes while you’re eating it, maybe you can pretend you’re on the beach instead of your couch.

This salad features not one but TWO cream-based dressings, so you know it’s fancy. I recently covered 2-5: Caribbean Seafood Salad which also features a shrimp-based salad. However, that one includes apples, bananas, and asparagus, so this one might be a safer choice.

8-37: Roast Beef in Puff Pastry

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses June 3, 2020June 3, 2020beef, brushed, butter, Cheddar, cheese, chilled, cooked beef, cooked chicken, cooked shrimp, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, garlic, green onions, leeks, lunch, minced, Monterey Jack, mushrooms, puff pastry, roast beef, sautéed, sliced, slit, snacks, turnovers, untested

I’ve already covered various types of turnovers (beef/spinach/crab), and 8-37: Roast Beef in Puff Pastry can now be added to that list, even if it’s not officially referred to by Simply Delicious as a turnover.

I wasn’t able to pinpoint when ready-to-bake puff pastry was first available in stores–my guess would be somewhere around the 1960s-70s, but I could be totally wrong.

Think of this recipe as a fancy Hot Pocket, because that’s essentially what it is. Look at you, all sophisticated with your fancy Hot Pocket.