walnuts – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

19-23: Nuts

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School February 18, 2024February 18, 2024almond extract, almond meal, almond milk, almond oil, almond paste, almonds, brazil nuts, cashews, coconut, coconut flour, coconut milk, coconut oil, cooking school, hazelnut oil, hazelnuts, ingredients, macadamia nuts, nuts, peanut oil, peanuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, vegan, vegetarian, walnut oil, walnuts

Do you enjoy nuts? I wasn’t a big fan of them growing up, but find myself warming up to them in my adult years. 19-23: Nuts is another entry from Simply Delicious’ Cooking School, and it outlines a lot of different types of nuts, ranging from the more common to some less frequently used kinds. Nuts are found in all types of cuisines, and are a good source of protein and other healthy stuff.

In case Simply Delicious isn’t enough for you, here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry for nuts. Compare that to the “nut” wisdom from 35 years ago you can find after the jump.

15-14: Knickerbocker Glory

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods June 28, 2021June 28, 20214th of July, American, chilled, chopped, cocktail, cold desserts, dessert, dollop, easy, fairly inexpensive, frozen, fruit, garnish, gluten-free, ice cream, maraschino cherries, mason jars, New York, nuts, powdered sugar, purée, raspberries, raspberry sauce, sorbet, stiff peaks, summer, sundaes, toppings, untested, vegetarian, walnuts, whipped, whipping cream

Hi there–it’s been a while, but things got busy recently. Here’s one that’s been half-finished in my draft queue for way too long.

We got onto a “ridiculous desserts” kick recently, and made 15-14: Knickerbocker Glory along with its similar cousin, 15-7: Banana Split. If you’re still holding off on going out somewhere for ice cream, either one of these are pretty easy to make at home and are definitely ridiculous. Not quite on the level of “cake hanging off of a milkshake for Instagram“, but also definitely not something you’d eat very often.

“Knickerbocker glory” is a real thing that Simply Delicious didn’t just make up, and has been around for about a hundred years at this point. They were allegedly invented in the US (at the Knickerbocker Hotel), but seem to be a much bigger deal in the UK these days than they are here. They’re even mentioned in Harry Potter!

Since Independence Day is just around the corner, maybe you can make these as an “American” summer treat–especially if it’s super hot where you are right now.

15-7: Banana Split

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods March 23, 2021March 22, 2021American, bananas, chocolate, chocolate sauce, cocoa powder, cold desserts, dessert, easy, fruit, granulated sugar, ice cream, inexpensive, maraschino cherries, melted, sundaes, toasted, untested, vegetarian, walnuts, whipped, whipping cream

Y’all, we have been locked inside for over a year at this point, so it was only a matter of time before the recipes that looked silly to me before now started looking like a good time. What better time to enjoy 15-7: Banana Split than when the only “safe” entertainment you can get these days is picking up ingredients for it while wearing two masks at the grocery store?

Nope, that’s not a cat hair on your screen–it was on my scanner when I scanned the card. Stop trying to get it off.

In case you are unfamiliar with the very American concept of a banana split, here’s Wikipedia’s rundown on it.

14-2: Apple Strudel

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 11, 2020August 10, 2021all-purpose flour, applejack, apples, Austrian, autumn, brandy, butter, Calvados, chilled, cinnamon, cornstarch, dessert, dough, dusted, fairly hard, fall, filling, food processor, gift ideas, granulated sugar, grated, hot desserts, inexpensive, lemon peel, lemons, liquor, melted, nuts, orange peel, oranges, pastry, peeled, phyllo dough, powdered sugar, raisins, rum, salt, strudel, untested, vegetable oil, Viennese, walnuts, zested

I’ll be honest–I’ve started this entry for 14-2: Apple Strudel a bunch of times, and I can’t think of anything exciting to say about it. There’s a lot of apple desserts in this book, and they all just start to blend together for me after a while. Even then, apple strudel is pretty a well-known dish to begin with, so odd are low that you’re going to learn anything new about it from reading Simply Delicious’ take on it.

It took me until NOW (and by now I mean as I’m pushing the keys to type this) to realize that there was actually powdered sugar coating the one pictured above, and they didn’t just peel the first layer of the outside off and say “yep, looks good to me”.

14-17: Pears with Mint Chocolate

Jamie Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 1, 2020December 1, 2020broiled, brown sugar, chocolate, dessert, dollop, easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, garnish, ginger, Grand Marnier, granulated sugar, grapes, hot desserts, liqueur, mint, pears, poached, untested, walnuts, whipping cream

In case you hadn’t had your fill of weird pear desserts with 15-41: Pear Halves with Chocolate Topping and 14-21: Pear Pandowdy, I have a third one for you: 14-17: Pears with Mint Chocolate. To add to the weirdness, even Food Network considers this a recipe.

It does look nice, but I don’t know about the taste claims. Is it the pear that they think makes this taste so good, or the mint chocolate/whipped cream/liqueur?

2-18: Luncheon Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 19, 2020October 28, 20211980s, blue cheese, boiled, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, croutons, dressing, easy, emulsion, Feta, gluten-free, granulated sugar, grapes, healthy, inexpensive, lemon juice, lemons, lettuce, lunch, melted, nuts, olive oil, Romaine lettuce, salads, salt, sautéed, tarragon, untested, vegetarian, Waldorf, walnuts, white wine vinegar

Reporting LIVE (to print), from an undisclosed location in Northern California, USA, currently sheltering-in-place and teleworking due to COVID-19/coronavirus/the apocalypse. It’s getting crazy out there, y’all–stay safe and healthy. And wash your hands.

Since we’re all stuck inside for a while, and I’ve got a big backlog of these to get through (over 50), here’s one more thing to pass the time. 2-18: Luncheon Salad is pure 1980s–turn up the vaporwave (for A E S T H E T I C), find your best matching sweatsuit, and crack open a Tab.

I don’t remember feeling like this salad was a treat–more like a punishment. If you can find some cottage cheese in the store right now, go for it–just don’t invite your friends. #socialdistancing

17-14: Nutty Muffins

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods September 15, 2017August 31, 2020all-purpose flour, almonds, at work, baked goods, baking cups, baking powder, breakfast, butter, candied, chopped, cinnamon, citrus, creamed, dessert, dried fruit, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, gift ideas, granulated sugar, hazelnuts, melted, milk, muffins, nuts, oranges, pecans, peeled, reduced, simple syrup, snacks, tangerines, toppings, untested, vegetarian, walnuts, zested

Here’s one of the last few recipes left from the chapter on baked goods, Group 17: Baked Goods. I made 17-14: Nutty Muffins for work–I thought they’d make a nice accompaniment to everyone’s morning coffee. ☕️

See? Even Simply Delicious shows them being served with coffee. Wikipedia offers a deeper dive on the history of muffins if you’re interested/bored. There’s a difference between these types of muffins (referred to as “quickbread” muffins or “American” muffins due to the fact that they’re very similar to a cupcake or other types of sweet, dense, cake-like bread) and the traditional “English” muffins that you get with Eggs Benedict or an Egg McMuffin.

2-8: Chicken Salad

Adam Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 19, 2017October 4, 2020appetizers, black pepper, chicken, chicken salad, chopped, chutney, cooked chicken, creamy, cucumbers, diced, dinner, dressing, dry mustard, easy, fairly expensive, garnish, gluten-free, herbs and spices, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, mushrooms, nuts, parsley, pecans, peeled, Romaine lettuce, salads, salt, side dish, sliced, sour cream, tangy, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, walnuts, watercress

Simply Delicious has the best decor in these photos. The wooden salad plate, white wine, and hand carved chicken plant box add a lot of character to this photo accompanying 2-8: Chicken Salad, it all screams 1980’s “chic”. Their final photo looks a lot more appetizing than my stark modern plating.

Such a luncheon treat! The chutney and mustard give the salad dressing a tangy flavor that compliments the chicken really well.

17-47: Italian Fruit Bread

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods December 21, 2016September 21, 2020all-purpose flour, apricots, baguette, baked goods, breads, breakfast, cake yeast, chopped, Christmas, dairy-free, dried fruit, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, fruit, fruitcake, gift ideas, herbs and spices, holiday baking, Italian, kneaded, olive oil, party food, pine nuts, proofed, raisins, rosemary, salt, snacks, untested, vegan, vegetarian, walnuts, XMAS 16, yeast

Get ready for another big batch of baked goods–it’s time for this year’s adventure (XMAS 16) into holiday baking (aka everyone’s presents for Christmas this year). Last year I made 6 Simply Delicious recipes as gifts, and this year came out to a total of 7. 🎅 I’m going to attempt to cover them in the order they were made, and the first recipe of the batch was 17-47: Italian Fruit Bread. 🇮🇹

This recipe seems similar to a panettone, although not as sweet or flaky and shaped differently. Despite the variations, I still thought it made a nice Christmas gift, especially only just including a few slices in each gift bag. 🎁

2-13: Waldorf Salad

Adam Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 22, 2016November 16, 2020American, appetizers, apples, celery, celery root, chilled, creamy, diced, dinner, easy, gluten-free, grapes, inexpensive, julienned, lemon juice, lunch, mayonnaise, New York, peeled, salad cream, salads, side dish, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, Waldorf, walnuts, whipping cream

2-13: Waldorf Salad is a short and easy recipe to make. This recipe is still popular despite its age–the maître d’hôtel (not the chef) of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel created this namesake salad in 1896. Jamie suggested that I watch the episode of Fawlty Towers called “Waldorf Salad” which originally aired in 1979. This episode features many jokes about the titular salad.

“Well I think we ran out of Waldorfs.” Most kitchens would have these ingredients on hand, so this joke got the biggest laugh of the episode. 🍏🍇🌱🌰

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