untested – Page 23 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

1-10: Seafood Cocktail Louisiana

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 2, 2016December 31, 2019American, appetizers, Cajun, celery, chili sauce, chilled, cocktail, cooked shrimp, crab, dairy-free, dill, dressing, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, iceberg lettuce, lemon juice, lemons, liquor, lunch, New Orleans, parsley, party food, peeled, salads, seafood, shellfish, shredded, shrimp, sliced, snacks, spicy, Tabasco sauce, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, untested, vodka

I’m counting 1-10: Seafood Cocktail Louisiana as the fourth dish I made of this year’s 7-recipe Thanksgiving cooking marathon (TGV 2016) , but its components actually spanned a few days (and a few cooks). This was one of three appetizers I made for my Thanksgiving dinner–the others being a crudité & hummus platter and 1-5: Pigs in a Blanket.

My mom was always big on the idea of “shrimp cocktail” as being necessary for Thanksgiving dinner appetizers (it was always part of her family’s holiday dinner when she was growing up), so in order to honor that idea, I chose this recipe.

As I mentioned above, I’m counting this as the fourth dish I made–it spanned Wed. 11/23 and Thu. 11/24 as different components had varying levels of make-in-advance-ability. My sous chef made the dressing and prepped shrimp the first night, while I assembled the dish itself right before serving the next day.

15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 30, 2016July 30, 2020blackberries, blueberries, boysenberries, cake pan, chilled, chocolate, chocolate curls, coffee, cold desserts, cornstarch, creamy, dessert, egg whites, egg yolks, eggs, fairly expensive, fairly hard, folded, fruit, garnish, gelatin, gluten-free, Grand Marnier, granulated sugar, grated, melted, milk, orange juice, party food, pudding, raspberries, ring mold, rum, stiff peaks, strawberries, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, unsweetened, untested, vanilla extract, whipping cream

The other of two desserts that I made for this year’s Thanksgiving (TGV 2016) was 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe (the first was 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte). With my family, it’s REQUIRED that there be a chocolate dessert option when having a big dinner, so I decided to give this one a whirl–I thought it’d be a nice contrast of flavors and textures when compared to the other options (the aforementioned torte and a pumpkin pie my mom made). 🍫

This was the third dish I made, continuing the Wednesday 11/23 portion of my holiday cooking marathon. Since the pudding needed to chill, I thought letting it rest in the fridge overnight would give it the best chance of holding together when served the next day. 🍮

Other dishes I made on this night (Wed. 11/23): the dressing for 1-10: Seafood Louisiana Cocktail, cranberry sauce, 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte, and a roasted garlic & herb butter to serve with 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls.

10-1: Springtime Lamb Stew

Adam Martin Group 10: Lamb & Veal, Section 2: Main Courses November 29, 2016October 27, 2020all-purpose flour, boiled, bone-in, boneless, butter, carrots, dinner, Dutch oven, easy, fairly inexpensive, French, green beans, herbs and spices, lamb shoulder, lunch, parsley, peeled, potatoes, Provençale, red potatoes, salt, sautéed, seared, simmered, sliced, spring, stews, sweet peas, tender-crisp, thyme, untested, vegetables, white wine, yellow onions, zucchini

Stew happens to be one of my favorite dishes. 😍 It contains all the things I really enjoy: tender meat, vegetables, and gravy. That being said, even though it’s the opposite of springtime right now, 10-1: Springtime Lamb Stew was right up my alley.

I’ve never been to the Provence region of France to try this style of cooking in it’s natural habitat, so learn more from someone who has.

16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods November 28, 2016November 5, 2020à la mode, all-purpose flour, apples, apricots, autumn, baked goods, baking powder, baking soda, boiled, breakfast, brown sugar, butter, cake pan, cakes, caramelized, cast-iron, cherries, chopped, cinnamon, cored, currants, dessert, diced, dried fruit, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fall, fruit, fruitcake, gift ideas, golden raisins, granulated sugar, grated, herbs and spices, hot desserts, melted, nuts, oranges, papaya, party food, pecans, peeled, pineapple, raisins, snacks, springform pan, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, torte, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian, zested

One of the two desserts I made for this year’s Thanksgiving (TGV 2016) was 16-52: Apple Nut Saucepan Torte (the other was 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe). I wanted something “of the season”, and this seemed like a cross between apple pie and fruitcake.

This was the second dish I made, starting off the Wednesday 11/23 portion of my holiday cooking marathon. Since this cake holds well at room temperature, I planned to just slightly underbake it, and then finish it off for 5-10 minutes in a preheated oven to warm it up for dessert on the day of the holiday.

If I hadn’t made this for Thanksgiving, I think it’d make a great gift (mailed or delivered in person) or potluck dish, especially for an office or somewhere where it would sit for a while. Even though Thanksgiving is over for the year, it’s totally still the season for a cake like this one.

Other dishes I made on this night (Wed. 11/23): the dressing for 1-10: Seafood Louisiana Cocktail, cranberry sauce, 15-49: Chocolate Pudding Deluxe, and a roasted garlic & herb butter to serve with 17-5: Hot Seedy Rolls.

6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses November 27, 2016October 15, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, butter, canola oil, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chimichurri sauce, chopped, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly expensive, food processor, garlic, grated, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, minced, parsley, purée, red onions, salt, shallots, South American, sunflower oil, untested, white wine, zested

Two-packs of whole chickens were on sale at Costco and the other chicken in this pack was used to make 6-20: Rosemary Chicken. This recipe, 6-33: Lime-Marinated Chicken required me to rub a few brain cells together to prepare the chicken as written on the card.

Lime flavor added to anything is a winner with me. Chicken and lime is a great combination, the white wine sauce added a unique twist.

4-27: Mushroom-Parsnip Au Gratin

Jamie Martin Group 04: Potatoes & Vegetables, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters November 26, 2016November 14, 2020all-purpose flour, au gratin, blanched, boiled, broiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, crab, creamy, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, food processor, grated, half-and-half, lunch, mandoline, melted, mushrooms, Parmesan, parsnips, peeled, salt, sautéed, seafood, shellfish, shrimp, side dish, sliced, Swiss, TGV 2016, Thanksgiving, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetable broth, vegetables, vegetarian, whipping cream

It’s been a hell of a month, y’all. Between my birthday at the very beginning, the election, an aunt passing away, unexpected horse-sitting, and planning/executing my very first self-made Thanksgiving dinner, I unfortunately didn’t do a lot of writing. However, our Thanksgiving this year (TGV 2016) was Simply Delicious-themed, as I used 7 recipes for this year’s feast.

I started the cooking marathon on Tuesday 11/22 with 4-27: Mushroom-Parsnip Au Gratin–I thought parsnips would make an interesting variation on the “vegetable” dish for Thanksgiving. I also cooked this one first because I knew I could cook it most of the way, and save the final broiling for right before the dinner was served.

I don’t know much about parsnips being the “poor man’s lobster” (a quick Google search reveals butter baking cod/haddock/etc. to be the most common modern use for that term), but I’d describe them as a cross between potatoes and carrots. Too potato-y to be a carrot, but too carrot-y to be a potato.

6-20: Rosemary Chicken

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses October 30, 2016October 15, 2020bone-in, chicken, dairy-free, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, gluten-free, herb-roasted, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lemons, olive oil, roasted, rosemary, salt, untested

6-20: Rosemary Chicken is another “Easy” level recipe, my favorite kind of recipe from Simply Delicious. This isn’t my usual method to prepare chicken, but it is fun to try something new every once in a while. 😜

The editors of Simply Delicious are sometimes off on their estimate of cooking time. 45 minutes isn’t nearly long enough to bake a chicken at the temperature they recommend on this card. I found this out the hard way. 🍗

12-10: Cheesy Tagliatelle

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses October 29, 2016July 27, 2020al dente, all-purpose flour, basil, Béchamel sauce, black pepper, boiled, butter, Cheddar, cheese, cheese sauce, chopped, creamy, dinner, easy, fettuccini, frozen, garlic, grated, half-and-half, herbs and spices, inexpensive, Italian, lunch, melted, milk, minced, nutmeg, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, red bell peppers, roux, salt, sautéed, sesame seeds, side dish, sliced, spinach, sweet peas, tagliatelle, toasted, untested, vegetables, vegetarian

I’ve been meaning to make this one for a while–spinach fettuccine was my favorite as a kid (and is SUPER hard to find these days). I usually had it with Alfredo sauce, and the cheesy sauce in 12-10: Cheesy Tagliatelle is like a thinner, red pepper-ier version of that. 🍽

I’m not quite sure what the major difference between tagliatelle and fettuccini is–the TL;DR of a quick search indicates it has to do with fettuccini noodles being the same width as tagliatelle, but a bit thicker. The two come from different parts of Italy, but both roughly refer to the same concept.

5-5: Individual Ham Quiches

Adam Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 28, 2016October 14, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, breakfast, butter, cheese, chilled, creamy, cut in, dinner, dough, dried herbs, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, filling, flute, food processor, French, green onions, half-and-half, ham, herbs and spices, individual, julienned, leeks, lunch, party food, pastry, pie crust, quiche lorraine, quiches, salt, sautéed, shredded, sliced, thyme, untested, vegetables

I wasn’t about to go out and buy mini quiche pans just to cook 5-5: Individual Ham Quiches. Taking the alternative route, I made this dish as one, full-sized quiche.

I believe the card puts it best. At this point I’m not quite “fortunate enough to own small oven-proof quiche pans,” so a full-sized pie pan will do. If you use a foil pie pan, there is a lot less cleanup when the quiche is done, just toss the foil pan in the recycling. ♻

3-4: New Orleans Bean Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters October 26, 2016March 14, 2020American, apple cider vinegar, bay leaves, black pepper, boiled, brown sugar, butter, Cajun, carrots, celery, chopped, Creole, cubed, diced, dinner, dried herbs, easy, egg-free, garlic, ham, herbs and spices, inexpensive, julienned, lemon juice, lunch, melted, minced, molasses, New Orleans, pan-fried, parsley, peeled, pinto beans, red kidney beans, salt, sautéed, smoked ham, soups, thyme, untested, vegetable bouillon, vegetables, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, yellow onions

Simply Delicious has a few New Orleans/Southern recipes–3-4: New Orleans Bean Soup is one of them. There are a lot of different takes on a “New Orleans Red Bean Soup” that exist out there–most of them have more exciting ingredients than this version. 🎺

I made another “New Orleans” recipe at the same time as this one–you can go back and read 12-29: New Orleans Beans and Pasta for what is essentially a pasta version of this dish. Either one is a hearty and relatively inexpensive meal. Since the two share a lot of ingredients, consider making both–they store and reheat well. 💰