Back again with another beef-but-not-beef recipe for you–today’s is yet another one that’s been sitting in my queue for quite a while, 8-39: Tournedos with Blue Cheese Sauce. This one is pretty indulgent, whether you use “real” ingredients or not. With the price of everything these days, save this one for a special occasion.
Tournedos are slices taken from the smaller end of a tenderloin (essentially a filet mignon) and are typically paired with something fatty/rich (like bacon, foie gras, cream sauce) due to their leanness.
Hi there, back again with another “Asian” dish for you today. It’s interesting that Simply Delicious didn’t choose to name 8-45: Korean Sauteed Beef “Korean Beef Stir-Fry” instead (maybe because 8-25: Stir-Fried Beef is already in the book) —stir-fries seemed like they were all the rage in the late 20th century as a “healthy” dinner option. I suppose they still are popular today, but they don’t seem as “unusual” to make for dinner at home as they did back then.
I remember when my mom would bust out her wok every so often for a stir-fry back in the 1990s–it always seemed so much more interesting than when we would just cook in a regular pan on the stove. The blurb above suggests to serve it with noodles, but you can also do rice (or veggies, if you’re one of those actually healthy people–I clearly am not).
Fish kebabs are probably not high on your Christmas dinner idea list (unless you’re reading from the Southern Hemisphere), but that doesn’t mean that you still can’t file 11-24: Salmon and Halibut Kebabs away for when it warms up a bit. Or if you’re not crazy like us and still grilling outdoors in late December, you can do this one inside on the broiler as well.
I know, I probably can’t convince you to eat grilled fish in the middle of winter. But like I said–save this one for spring/summer when it warms up. It’s a perfect light meal for a warm night where you don’t want to heat up the kitchen.
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.
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.
Usually, I give Simply Delicious a hard time for their attempts at “cultural cuisine”–I had gone into 8-13: Japanese Beef Casserole with the same expectations. I even cooked the recipe with that thought in mind–that this was just another lame attempt at something “exotic” for the 1980s housewife crowd to try to excite their disaffected family about. I mean, read that description below and try to imagine how that would go in real life.
However, while researching for the write-up (the last part of this multi-step process), I found some interesting “similar” recipes. I’m still not sure if I’m right or wrong about this one.
Here’s my thoughts on the two things this recipe could be (given my new findings):
They might be trying to attempt nikujaga (Japanese “beef stew”), but it’s missing potatoes which are a crucial (and easy to obtain) part of that dish.
They’re attempting some sort of pan-Asian sautéed beef/Asian veggies dish that you’d be more likely to find in a dead mall’s food court and just calling it Japanese casserole.
I’m guessing it’s the latter, but if you’d like to decide for yourself, keep reading.
Oh, and that dead mall link above? That’s another one of our projects…
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.
Stir-fry is not a new concept for Simply Delicious, so you may feel a sense of déjà vu while reading this recipe if you’ve spent any considerable time on this site. 8-25: Stir-Fried Beef isn’t much more than you’re expecting, so if a quick and easy stir-fry is what you’re looking for, read on.
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.
Simply Delicious has made numerous attempts at Chinese-American cuisine, and we can add 1-15: Chinese Spring Rolls to that list as well. There’s some interesting history behind the terms spring roll and egg roll–it goes much deeper than just what the wrapper is made of.
The terms are used interchangeably here, and seemingly in most other places as well. The biggest takeaway from the spring vs. egg roll debate is that spring rolls are originally from China, but have been Americanized along the way (while egg rolls were always American).
They tend to have a thinner wrapper than egg rolls, and are often also associated with the transparent rice paper rolls you tend to see in Vietnamese and Thai restaurants.
