turkey – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

2-9: Pasta Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 30, 2022March 30, 2022apples, boiled, Cheddar, cheese, chicken, cooked chicken, cooked turkey, diced, dressing, easy, garlic, green onions, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, julienned, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, new book, parsley, party food, pasta salad, pasta/noodles, peeled, pickles, relish, salads, sliced, smoked chicken, smoked ham, smoked turkey, sour cream, tomatoes, turkey, untested

Howdy, y’all–it’s been a minute since we’ve last met. Like everyone else in the world, things can get busy/stressful/overwhelming for me at times and then unfortunately this project takes a backseat. I’ve still been making recipes here and there though, and I’ve got a few built up to share with you. I can’t promise a robust posting schedule (count me as partly responsible for the death of blogs) but I’ll do my best.

To kick things off, here’s 2-9: Pasta Salad, one from the new book. Ugh, I WANT that kitschy 70s flower/watering can picture–if I found it in a thrift store, it’d definitely be coming home with me. I’ll take those FABULOUS flower-shaped plates too.

I love that this is such a time-capsule of an era where we fully embraced carbs–I don’t know of too many people today that would classify pasta as “nutritious”. We were just on the precipice of the ridiculous food pyramid of the 1990s at this point, where we were advised to eat 6-11 servings of carbs a day and stay far, far away from anything fatty (low-fat/high-sugar EVERYTHING was the result).

I also feel like Simply Delicious couldn’t figure out anything exciting to say about pasta salad, so they attempted to turn it into a half-assed history lesson. “He might have done it, maybe not, who knows! Have some pasta anyway!”

My elementary school education (which occurred around the same time) went pretty much the same way. Oh, the late 80s/early 90s.

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

6-42: Turkey Pot Roast

Jamie Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 8, 2020December 24, 2020black pepper, bone-in, boneless, bouquet garni, breasts, carrots, chervil, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, dinner, Dutch oven, easy, fairly inexpensive, garlic, herbs and spices, lemon juice, lemons, parsley, peeled, pot-roasted, potatoes, red potatoes, salt, simmered, tarragon, TGV 2019, Thanksgiving, thyme, turkey, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Looking for a smaller Thanksgiving option this year than the traditional 6-29: Stuffed Turkey? Here’s part of what I made for last year’s meal–6-42: Turkey Pot Roast. If you’re cooking for less people this year (or any year) and still want something Thanksgiving-ish, this might be a good option.

I didn’t want to make a full turkey for only two meat eaters (me not being one of those two), so I combined this recipe along with some additional leg and thigh pieces into enough turkey to complete the holiday without having to make more than we needed.

This is also MUCH easier to do than a full turkey, especially if you’ve never attempted one of those before and don’t want 2020 to be your first run at it. 6-9: Orange-Glazed Turkey Breast is another “smaller” turkey option if you’re just looking for a taste of turkey instead of a glut of it.

2-31: Smoked Chicken Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 27, 2020December 16, 2020basil, breasts, canola oil, cheese, cherry tomatoes, chicken, dinner, dressing, dried herbs, dry mustard, easy, fairly inexpensive, granulated sugar, herbs and spices, lunch, Mozzarella, oregano, parsley, Provolone, rolls, salads, salt, sandwiches, sliced, smoked chicken, smoked turkey, spinach, sunflower oil, thyme, tomatoes, turkey, untested, vegetable oil, white wine vinegar

Given the header picture, I suppose it’s not much of a secret that I’ve made some adaptations to 2-31: Smoked Chicken Salad. Namely, that I’ve changed it from a salad to a sandwich. Here’s the thing–it’s a sad salad as written, but can be made into a pretty decent sandwich that doesn’t require anything different than what’s already required/recommended.

See those rolls in the back of the picture (the ones suggested in the blurb above)? Here’s the quick and dirty: cut one open, take the (very few) salad ingredients, stack inside, eat. Not much more to it than that, but if you’d like to see how that went for me in greater detail, please continue reading.

1-3: Melon with Smoked Turkey

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters April 14, 2020February 18, 2024appetizers, black pepper, breasts, canola oil, cantaloupe, cherry tomatoes, chicken, chicory lettuce, chilled, chopped, cooked chicken, curly endive, Dijon mustard, dressing, easy, escarole, fairly inexpensive, galia, garnish, honey, honeydew, hors d'oeuvres, Italian parsley, lemon juice, lettuce, lunch, melon, mint, peeled, Prosciutto, red bell peppers, Romaine lettuce, salt, sliced, smoked chicken, smoked ham, smoked turkey, tarragon, tomatoes, turkey, untested, vegetable oil

Believe it or not, 1-3: Melon with Smoked Turkey is one of my last few remaining Group 01: Hot and Cold Appetizers recipes left to cover. I’ve put this one off for a while because I’m not a big fan of melon (other than watermelons)–but when the weekly CSA box keeps bringing them to you, you have to do something with them.

Theirs looks super fancy–mine looks like a sloppy mess. I suppose if I were actually serving this for a party I would have tried harder. Melon + meat = appetizer isn’t a new equation–even Pillsbury has their own version. Most versions include prosciutto instead of turkey, which is the variant I’m more familiar with.

9-45: Country-Style Sausage Medley

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses March 22, 2018October 18, 2020all-purpose flour, basil, black pepper, boiled, braised, butter, cabbage, carrots, chervil, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chives, country-style, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, easy, franks, green onions, ground chicken, ground meat, ground turkey, herbs and spices, hot dogs, inexpensive, leeks, lunch, parsley, peeled, salt, sausage, sliced, snow peas, tender-crisp, thyme, turkey, turnips, untested, vegetables

“Country-Style” carries multiple definitions and connotations. The author of 9-45: Country-Style Sausage Medley surmised that a dish containing this many varieties of vegetables must be “country-style”. Chicken sausage is a low calorie option, however, it lacks the punch of flavor a good beef sausage can provide.

This dish contains a lot of vegetables already. If I had to add any other vegetables, I might substitute the cabbage for Brussels sprouts.

6-39: Chicken Pot Stickers

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses June 12, 2017October 14, 2020appetizers, Asian, canola oil, chicken, chili oil, chili sauce, Chinese, Chinese/dark soy sauce, chopped, cooked shrimp, cornstarch, dairy-free, dim sum, dinner, dips, dumplings, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, ginger, green onions, ground chicken, ground turkey, gyoza, hors d'oeuvres, Japanese, lunch, minced, pan-fried, party food, pot stickers, rice vinegar, rice wine, salad shrimp, scallions, sherry, shrimp, side dish, snacks, soy sauce, stuffed, turkey, untested, water chestnuts, wonton skins

6-39: Chicken Pot Stickers are another case of a food that I “can” make, but would choose not to after seeing all of the mess and work involved.

“Steamed, stuffed dumplings” sound delicious. Mine came out a little more fried than steamed, still delicious.

2-20: Potato and Sausage Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 22, 2017March 10, 2020American, appetizers, beets, boiled, capers, chicken, chilled, chives, chopped, creamy, Dijon mustard, dinner, dressing, easy, fingerlings, franks, garnish, ham, herbs and spices, horseradish, hot dogs, inexpensive, lunch, mayonnaise, pan-fried, parsley, party food, peeled, pickled, picnic, pork, potato salad, potatoes, red potatoes, roasted, sausage, side dish, sliced, smoked ham, sour cream, turkey, untested, vegetables, wieners, yellow onions, yellow potatoes

Simply Delicious has a few variations on potato salad–2-17: Spicy Potato Salad is closer to a German variation, using a vinegar dressing instead of mayonnaise. This recipe, 2-20: Potato and Sausage Salad not only uses mayonnaise, but includes your choice of cured meat to accompany it–I went with chicken sausage, but you can use hot dogs, spicy links, or anything similar.

I caught a typo here–they mention capers in this blurb above, but dropped it from the actual ingredients list after the jump. I never realized it and now wish I had–capers would have been a welcome addition to this potato salad, especially instead of beets.

17-18: Golfer’s Rolls

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 20, 2017August 31, 2020alfalfa sprouts, all-purpose flour, anise, apples, avocados, baked goods, breads, Brie, butter, cardamom, Cheddar, cheese, Colby Jack, cooked chicken, cream cheese, cucumbers, dark corn syrup, dough, dried herbs, dried spices, egg-free, fairly easy, fennel, frozen, ham, herbs and spices, hummus, inexpensive, kneaded, light corn syrup, lukewarm, lunch, mayonnaise, melted, milk, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, picnic, proofed, Provolone, rolls, rye flour, sandwiches, sausage, sliced, smoked ham, Swiss, toasted, turkey, untested, vegetarian, yeast

If you’re looking for something you could use for making lunches in advance, 17-18: Golfer’s Rolls could be an option. My suggestion? Use a creamier, softer cheese like they do in their picture (Simply Delicious shows Brie) or add some mayonnaise/avocado/hummus at the time of eating because these rolls can get a little dry.

Simply Delicious advocates freezing these rolls after filling them like sandwiches, and then bringing them with you somewhere (like a golf course). While my new co-workers like to play golf a lot, I only ended up bringing these to lunch at my desk. ⛳️

2-4: Chef’s Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters February 22, 2017February 17, 2020American, appetizers, bacon, black pepper, canola oil, Cheddar, cheese, chopped, cooked chicken, cubed, diced, dinner, dressing, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, garlic, gluten-free, grated, ham, hard-boiled, herbs and spices, iceberg lettuce, julienned, lemon juice, lunch, mushrooms, New York, parsley, radicchio, radishes, restaurant-style, Romaine lettuce, salads, salt, sliced, slit, spinach, tomatoes, turkey, untested, vegetables, watercress

2-4: Chef’s Salad is another somewhat classic American restaurant dish to serve with your 1-18: Club Sandwich. Wikipedia gives it a similar history–most accounts trace it back to early 20th century New York, although a few credit it to originating in 17th century England. This iteration is pretty similar to most you’ll find in modern-day restaurants–the beauty of the chef salad is that the ingredients are at the discretion of the chef. ‍

I NEED that creepy statue in the Simply Delicious picture. Google has nothing decent for me when I search “hippopotamus chef“, but you never know–someday one of my thrift store treasure hunt trips may pay off.

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