untested – Page 14 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

16-11: Meringue-Topped Chocolate Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 7, 2018July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, almonds, at work, baked goods, butter, chilled, chocolate, custard, dark chocolate, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grated, lemon peel, lemons, macadamia nuts, meringue, milk, nuts, party food, pi day, pie crust, pies, semisweet, sliced, toasted, toppings, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

A few months ago, we celebrated Pi Day in my office. Most of the pies were store-bought, but I decided to flip through Simply Delicious and see if there was anything worth contributing. I decided on 16-11: Meringue-Topped Chocolate Pie–everyone likes chocolate, and we had had a mishap with the lemon meringue pie on the way back from the store while preparing the day before.

If you’re not familiar with Pi Day, it takes place on March 14th, which when written as a numeric date is 3-14 (at least in the U.S. it is–some countries reverse the order). Pi (the mathematical constant represented by the Greek letter π) is usually rounded up to 3.14, so March 14th is celebrated with actual pies (and a bit of math) as a play-on-words. 😂

No one really needs an excuse to eat pie, but “It’s a math joke” is certainly an acceptable one.

7-17: Piquant Pork Chops

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses May 20, 2018October 28, 2020apples, barbecue sauce, broiled, brushed, butter, cast-iron, chili sauce, chopped, cloves, creamy, currants, curry paste, dinner, easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, fruit sauce, golden raisins, grated, Greek yogurt, grill pan, grilled, half-and-half, hot sauce, julienned, milk, Oriental, pan-fried, parsley, peeled, piquant, pork, pork chops, pork loin, pork shoulder, raisins, salt, sautéed, scored, slit, spicy, sriracha, steak sauce, untested, whipping cream, yellow onions, yogurt

Oh boy, yet another pork chops recipe. 7-11: Piquant Pork Chops tries to stand out by boasting a fruity, spicy take on the standard pork-chop-with-pan-sauce entries that have already been covered at length throughout this project.

I think it’s a bit hyperbolic to insist that just adding a “new” spice or sauce to pork chops radically changes it as a dish, but I suppose that for some people it can be a big deal to experience new things outside of the regular old tried-and-true.

14-14: Sliced Pineapple with Nut Meringue

Adam Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 10, 2018October 29, 2020blender, chopped, dessert, easy, egg whites, eggs, fairly inexpensive, food processor, frozen, fruit, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grated, hazelnuts, hot desserts, lemon juice, lemon peel, lemons, meringue, mint, nuts, party food, pineapple, piped, raspberries, raspberry sauce, sliced, snacks, stiff peaks, untested, vegetarian, zested

14-14: Sliced Pineapple with Nut Meringue is a unique desert. It was actually fairly tasty, just not something I would have thought to put together. This interesting dish has multiple textures, flavors, and temperatures which all interact nicely. I love raspberry, pineapple, and meringue, but I never thought to combine them, especially this way. 🍍

Meringue is probably one of my favorite applications of eggs in cooking. Egg whites only, but still a great use of eggs.

11-19: Oven-Baked Red Snapper

Jamie Martin Group 11: Fish & Seafood, Section 2: Main Courses May 9, 2018July 7, 2020black pepper, bread crumbs, butter, capers, chopped, crispy, diced, dinner, easy, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, fish, fish bouillon, fish filets, fish stock, garlic, herbs and spices, panko, parsley, red snapper, roasted, rockfish, salt, seafood, sliced, tomatoes, toppings, untested, white bread, white wine, yellow onions

Looking for an easy weeknight dinner? 11-19: Oven-Baked Red Snapper will remind you of the all-too-familiar crunchy oven-baked chicken, but with a lighter fishy twist. If you find yourself with some fish filets (red snapper not required), give this one a try.

Another way to look at this: a more elegant presentation of fish sticks. 🐟

12-33: Individual Beef Lasagna

Adam Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses April 23, 2018October 27, 2020beef, boiled, broccoli, canola oil, celery, cheese, cream of mushroom, creamy, dinner, dried herbs, fairly easy, fairly expensive, grated, half-and-half, herbs and spices, individual, lasagna, layers, leeks, lunch, melted, milk, mushrooms, olive oil, oregano, parsnips, pasta/noodles, peeled, roast beef, sautéed, sliced, untested, vegetables

Have you ever thought to make individual servings of lasagna? I’ve never thought to make lasagna in single servings and after attempting 12-33: Individual Beef Lasagna, I would not try it again. Join me, won’t you? Watch as I do my best to follow this recipe from deep within the minds of the wacky editors of Simply Delicious.

The example photo looks so elegant. The blue rimmed wine glass is excellent, I wish I had a set of those. The description is not hyperbolic when it says this is a completely new version of lasagna. It’s barely lasagna.

19-7: Fresh and Dried Herbs

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School April 22, 2018October 18, 2020apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, bouquet garni, celery, cheesecloth, chervil, chives, cloves, cooking school, dried herbs, fines herbes, French, garlic, healthy, herb salt, herb-roasted, herbes de Provence, herbs and spices, Italian parsley, Italian seasoning, lavender, lemons, limoncello, liqueur, nutmeg, orange peel, parsley, rosemary, sage, salads, smoked ham, spice blends, steeped, tarragon, tarragon vinegar, thyme, untested, vinegar, white wine vinegar

19-7: Fresh and Dried Herbs has been a recipe-in-the-making for a few months. I mention frequently that I often write these entries months after I complete the actual recipe, but this one actually took me that long TO complete.

Usually, these Cooking School cards don’t have too much in the way of actual recipes–often times it’s more like the card above, more recommendation than actual recipe. I’m not going to restate what they’ve written here–it’s all good advice. Jump behind the cut for some herb blend recipes as well as a DIY vinegar challenge and BONUS limoncello recipe.

17-30: Stollen

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods April 20, 2018December 24, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, biscuits, breads, brushed, butter, cake yeast, candied, Christmas, dessert, dough, fairly expensive, fairly hard, fruitcake, garnish, German, gift ideas, golden raisins, granulated sugar, kneaded, maraschino cherries, melted, milk, mixed fruit, orange peel, powdered sugar, proofed, raisins, Silpat, snacks, untested, vegetarian, winter, yeast

Still catching up on a few old ones–but maybe you can file this one away for later on this year. 17-30: Stollen is a traditional German sweet fruit bread that is typically eaten around Christmas time. After two back-to-back years of holiday treat bundles comprised of multiple Simply Delicious creations (good way to burn them off quickly), I’ve pretty much finished off that type of recipe…at least when it comes to baked goods.

Stollen isn’t a Simply Delicious creation–Wikipedia has a pretty extensive entry on it. There’s some other pretty solid recipes out there as well, if you’d like to compare them to this one. I find comparing multiple versions (from trustworthy/reputable sources) of a well-known dish helps me understand what’s essential about it (what I find common amongst all the recipes) and what’s up for interpretation (where they differ). 🇩🇪🎄

15-25: Coconut Custard with Mango

Adam Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods April 12, 2018October 29, 2020boiled, chilled, coconut, coconut milk, cold desserts, creamy, custard, dairy-free, dessert, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, gluten-free, granulated sugar, mango juice, mangoes, purée, ramekins, sieves, simmered, strained, untested, vegetarian, white wine

There are a few great songs about coconuts. Zazu in Disney’s The Lion King sings a cheeky, British song about the coconut. If the fruit pairing in this recipe were different, I’d also share this Harry Nilsson song that you may recognize if you’ve ever been to a chorus concert at an elementary school. Is coconut a fruit? a nut? a seed? Let’s find out together with 15-25: Coconut Custard with Mango.

The cracked coconut in the background is what you may think of when hearing the word “coconut”, however, the brown and white fleshy part is the seed of the fruit. Every part of the fruit of the coconut is used in many different applications all around the planet.

16-8: French Apple Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods April 5, 2018July 30, 2020all-purpose flour, American, apples, apricots, baked goods, baking powder, butter, chilled, cored, cut in, dessert, dough, eggs, fairly hard, fairly inexpensive, French, fruit, granulated sugar, individual, jam/jelly/preserves, party food, pie crust, pies, Silpat, sliced, tart, tart pan, Thanksgiving, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian

It’s the first days of spring, but I’m still catching up on old posts. Consider it “spring cleaning.” Here’s one from Thanksgiving 2017, 16-8: French Apple Pie. In 2016, I went all out for Thanksgiving and made most of the entire meal from Simply Delicious recipes. We had alternate plans for 2017, so only an easy-to-prepare ahead of time dessert was needed.

I’ve already covered a similar recipe to this one: 16-15: Tarte Tatin. Consider these a smaller, more rustic version. In regards to authenticity, as long as it’s apples on top and crust on bottom, it counts as a French apple pie according to Wikipedia. 🍏🇫🇷

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.