slurry – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

8-28: Flemish Beef Casserole

Jamie Martin Group 08: Beef, Section 2: Main Courses November 16, 2022November 16, 2022bay leaves, beef, beef bouillon, beef broth, beer, Belgian, black pepper, boiled, bouquet garni, brown sugar, canola oil, casserole, chuck roast, cornstarch, dairy-free, deglazed, dinner, Dutch, Dutch oven, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, Flemish, French, garlic, herbs and spices, Italian parsley, lunch, minced, rosemary, round steak, salt, sautéed, simmered, slurry, strained, thyme, untested, vegetable oil, vinegar, yellow onions

Another day, another Simply Delicious casserole. Today’s version is 8-28: Flemish Beef Casserole, which doesn’t tell you much other than it’s going to involve beef and will be somewhat Flemish in nature. I didn’t grow up with a lot of casseroles (especially not Flemish beef ones), but they were (and still are, for the most part) popular because they are cheap, easy, and feed a lot of people.

Interesting that they claim it’s a family recipe, but it includes beer. Doesn’t bother me personally, but I know that doesn’t fly for some folks (mostly due to religious or other exceptions). I suppose most of the alcohol would cook off and not really have any effect, but even the mere inclusion of it can be a no-go for some.

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.

9-7: Cabbage Rolls

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses March 16, 2018October 18, 2020all-purpose flour, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, blanched, boiled, braised, butter, cabbage, cooked rice, creamy, deglazed, dinner, egg-free, fairly hard, folded, gravy, Greek, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, half-and-half, inexpensive, lunch, pan-fried, rice, rolls, salt, slurry, steamed, stuffed, stuffing, untested, vegetables, whipping cream

Cabbage is probably my least favorite cruciferous vegetable. Although cabbage is present in most Chinese food dishes and it doesn’t bother me in that format, however, just the thought of eating plain cabbage is not very appetizing to me. The meatloaf-like mixture inside 9-7: Cabbage Rolls was the most edible part of the dish. I like that they served it with a blurred out Heineken.

Anything that involves a stuffing and rolling procedure is usually best done in a big batch because they are a pain to put together.

7-13: Thai Pork Loin

Adam Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses June 8, 2017October 15, 2020Asian, boiled, bone-in, boneless, braised, butter, canola oil, chopped, cinnamon, cornstarch, cubed, deboned, deglazed, dinner, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fish sauce, green onions, herbs and spices, hot sauce, leeks, lunch, Oriental, peeled, pork, pork loin, salt, sautéed, scallions, sliced, slurry, soy sauce, sriracha, Thai, Thai soy sauce, untested, vegetables, white onions, yellow onions

Pork and pineapple are two of my favorite ingredients. Sweet and Sour Pork from almost any Chinese restaurant makes me happy. Simply Delicious finally put these two powerhouse ingredients together in this recipe for 7-13: Thai Pork Loin.

Looking at the size of the chunks in the sample photo, I see how I could have cut my ingredients differently, however, I still stand by the choices I made. The method of preparation I chose is what Jamie and I would prefer versus what the book tells you to do.

6-35: Chicken Diable

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses March 5, 2016June 18, 2020black pepper, boiled, boneless, bread crumbs, breasts, broiled, butter, cayenne pepper, cheese, chicken, chicken bouillon, coated, cornstarch, crispy, Dijon mustard, dinner, dredged, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, French, grated, lunch, melted, olive oil, panko, Parmesan, parsley, salt, shallots, sifted, simmered, slurry, tarragon, tarragon vinegar, tenderized, untested, vinegar, white pepper, white wine

Here’s a pretty basic “chicken with sauce” type recipe that can be fancy or not-so-fancy. “Chicken Diable” or “Chicken a la Diable”, as evidenced by the name, is essentially “the Devil’s chicken”, evoking images of spices and fire. 🌶 🔥 As Serious Eats notes in their version of the dish, the French have a very different idea of spiciness than some other cultures.

Everyone’s got their version of this dish–here’s Bon Appetit’s, and Google turns up many more results. Whether it’s actually spicy is up to you–if you actually like things spicy, prepare to have to add some heat to this one.