A Fresh Take on Chicken Legs

I am bored with chicken. Chicken legs, thighs, breasts, tenders, whole chickens, split chickens, ground chicken. I have roasted, baked, sauteed, and made soup until I'm ready to scream. You notice the only thing missing is fried chicken, which I try to avoid, though I'll admit that I succumb about once a year. So there I was with two packages of chicken legs staring me in the face. What to do? What to do? I like baking chicken because the oven does the work while I play. Always a good combination.

I hit the internet. Everyone does the same old things, mostly with some sort of breading. Yawn. And then I found something that intrigued me. Over at Steamy Kitchen.com, Jaden Hair shared a recipe for Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings by Chef Jesse Thomas of PizzAmore restaurant in Mount Dora. The recipe had a few things going for it. No breading, lots of herbs and seasoning, and most interestingly of all, the Parmesan goes on after the chicken bakes!

Naturally, I altered the recipe a bit. For starters, I had chicken legs, not wings. While I'm sure my character Natasha has fresh basil growing in a pot on her windowsill, I do not, and to be honest, I wasn't really interested in the sauce. Nevertheless, I forged ahead and it turned out surprisingly well. It's super easy and not high maintenance (meaning you stick it in the oven and forget about it until the timer goes off). It was absolutely delicious. Flavorful and a bit crunchy, I can see it being a good alternative to fried chicken. Very satisfying. I imagine happy little kids running around with one of these chicken legs in hand!

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken Legs

(recipe by Chef Jesse Thomas and shared via Jaden Hair at Steamy Kitchen.com)

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon sea salt (1/2 teaspoon table salt)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 1/2 pounds (ten legs) chicken legs
3 tablespoons melted butter (or olive oil)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (or use seasoned salt and omit Northwood's below)
1/4 teaspoon Northwoods spice from Penzey's


Preheat oven to 425. Place the chicken legs on a baking sheet where the juices can run off. (If using a broiler pan, you might want to grease it with olive oil.)

Mix the oregano, rosemary, salt, and cumin. Sprinkle on chicken legs. Bake for 45 minutes.

Just before you take the legs out of the oven, mix the garlic powder, salt, melted butter, and Parmesan. Place the baked chicken legs in the mixture and toss. Serve and enjoy!

Fun in the Kitchen with Toni Kelner

Fun in the kitchen? I don’t think so!



I have a love-hate relationship with food. I love to eat, but I hate to cook. I’m not a particularly good cook, and I don’t like cleaning up afterward, and I really hate doing the grocery shopping to prepare for it.

I come by this naturally. My mother dislikes cooking even more than I do. When we kids were young, she cooked, but takeout meals became more and more common as the years passed. By the time I hit high school, we ate out nearly every night. Unlike most people we knew, eating out wasn’t a fun treat—eating in was!

When I moved out to my first apartment, I decided I wasn’t going to go that route. I fixed dinner almost every night. It was simple stuff, since it was just me and my dog, but it was home cooked. On Sundays, I invited my parents over for dinner, and got a bit more elaborate. I liked cooking then—it was fun.

Then I moved North and got married, and had a long commute every day. I didn’t have the time or energy for cooking every day, so we became friends with the local pizza delivery place. But my husband and I did cook some, and since Steve is a better cook than I am, it was a lot of fun.

The next big change was kids. When they were babies, I had less energy for cooking, and Steve started working longer and longer hours with a more erratic schedule, making meal planning harder. Both girls turned out to be picky eaters, and didn’t like most of the meals I cooked. It was no fun to cook for me and Steve, and then have to cook something else for the kids. So we started eating out more and more. Eventually I realized that a month had gone by, and I hadn’t cooked a real meal in all that time.

In other words, I became my mother.

So I guess it’s no surprise that Tilda, the protagonist of my “Where are they now?” mysteries, doesn’t do a whole lot of cooking, either. When one of my beta readers was reading Who Killed the Pinup Queen?, she sent a note asking, “Doesn’t Tilda EVER eat a healthy meal?” I started giving her salads after that, and made sure she got vegetables at every restaurant meal.

As for me, I still don’t cook much, but there are a couple of things I do well, and one is deviled eggs, a tribute to my Southern upbringing I’ve included my recipe below, but the best part of the process isn’t really part of the recipe. After the eggs are boiled and cooled, I yell for the girls, and they come running to help peel the eggs, squish the ingredients together, and taste the first couple to make sure they came out all right.

So even for me, sometimes cooking is fun.

Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

6 hardboiled eggs
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
¼ teaspoon yellow mustard
¼ teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
paprika


Instructions

1. Peel the hardboiled eggs, and cut the in half, lengthwise.

2. Remove the yolks, and put into a mixing bowl.

3. Mash the yolks.

4. Mix in mayonnaise, yellow mustard, dry mustard, salt and pepper.

5. Spoon the mixture into the egg whites, and sprinkle paprika on top.

6. Cover the dish, and refrigerate before serving. (Unless you’re like us, and can’t wait.)



Unsurprisingly, Tilda Harper doesn't do much cooking in Blast from the Past, Toni's third "Where are they now?" mystery about an entertainment reporter who specializes in tracking down the formerly famous. As for the vampires who feature in Toni's stories in the anthologies she co-edits with Charlaine Harris, the less said about their meals, the better. Toni lives north of Boston, where there are many fine restaurants, which she visits frequently with her husband Steve and their daughters. She is currently trying to solve the mystery of why the four of them are addicted to watching shows on the Food Network.

Friends, fun and food … isn’t that what it’s all about?

We use food for so many purposes: from seduction to staying alive, plus, of course, the delicious hit that the right dessert shoots straight into our pleasure centers. But I want to talk about one of the most important rituals for anyone who cooks: that is, celebrating friends and celebrating with friends.

This year I found myself in Florida on (wait for it!) Valentine’s Day! That’s right. My DH was at home, no doubt serenading the Princess Dachshunds while I enjoyed a writing week in Fort Myers with three of my closest friends who also happen to be mystery authors. Along with Joan Boswell in her lovely home, Sue Pike, Linda Wiken and I worked hard on our projects and we laughed hard. Then we shopped hard. We also had a lot of fun in the kitchen. We enjoy each other’s company and we love cooking together and don’t even mind cleaning up as a crew. That’s a great combo. For our romantic dinner for four ladies on February 14^th, I made my favorite party salmon dish. This is fast, easy, elegant and I always get asked for the recipe. Oh yes, and it looks good too. Like everything I make, you don’t have to be too precise.

Savory Soy and Ginger Salmon

4 salmon fillets (4 – 6 oz)

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

2 teaspoons grated ginger root

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Combine the soy, ginger, garlic and sesame oil in a bowl.

Place salmon fillets in baking dish or deep plate and spread with marinade from bowl.

Marinate for 20 minutes. You can also put marinade and salmon in a freezer bag and marinate longer in the fridge. Your choice.

Transfer to a cookie or baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.

Bake at 425 for 20 minutes. Serve. If you’re feeling all fancy, garnish with lime wedges. I forgot this part. I did remember to prepare asparagus slathered with olive oil and sea salt (and baked at the same time and temp as the salmon). The team made wonderful basmati rice and a lovely crisp salad.

This recipe serves four really good friends.

Of course, you can double the recipe to serve eight friends or make half for two. If you are doing it for one, make two and eat the second one the next day. You deserve it.

Mary Jane Maffini likes easy recipes because she has a lot to do and not much time to do it. Charlotte Adams, her organizer sleuth, has to manage her time too or things can get very dangerous, as you will see in The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder (coming April 5^th). Even Charlotte could make this dish.

Visit Mary Jane at www.maryjanemaffini.com and sign up for her newsletter for book news, contests recipes and other fun stuff.

Scallops over a bed of Creamed Spinach

Is anyone here from Indiana? Hope so, because I'll be appearing on WNIT's Dinner and a Book television show on April 23rd, but the show broadcasts only in Indiana.

I'll get a copy of the program, and when I do (the week it airs, I believe) I'll post it on my website. What a fun experience. We had TelePrompTers and three cameras and even an audience. The host of the show, Gail Martin, couldn't have been nicer. Brenda, the director, Angel, Paul, and so many others were supportive and just plain fun to hang out with. I had a blast, can you tell?

Anyway, as Gail and I talked about the White House Chef series and the Manor House series, we made dinner. And of course we used recipes from Buffalo West Wing!

Gail prepared a Greek salad, and Nantucket sea scallops. I prepared hummus and creamed spinach with olive oil and shallots. We finished off with the Triple Berry Cobbler that Gail had prepared ahead of time. Too fun.

I should have taken pictures between segments, but I forgot. I think I was just too nervous and excited to think about anything else but not looking like a goofball on camera.

The recipes, as they appear in Buffalo West Wing, are available via the PDF (and they're also in the back of the book, natch). My personal changes and tweaks, however, appear below

Nantucket Sea Scallops

(I'm not 100% sure mine came from Nantucket, but the ones I found were on sale. Just as good! There's a whole section on how to clean scallops in Buffalo West Wing, but I bought the kind that come pre-cleaned in nice vacuum packs.)

2 tablespoons of canola oil (I used olive oil instead)

4 tablespoons butter

3 cleaned scallops per person for an appetizer portion. 6 cleaned scallops per person for a main course (I used an entire 1 lb bag and boy did these guys shrink!)

1 clove garlic, smashed, cleaned, and finely minced (because I had more scallops and we love garlic, I upped this to 4 cloves)

Salt and pepper, to taste

You will need a sturdy cast iron skillet or equivalent. You want something with a heavy bottom that will evenly distribute the heat from your cooktop, and not have hot spots that might burn the scallops. Place the pan on a burner set on medium-high heat. Place the canola oil in the bottom of the pan with the butter. Mix together as the butter melts. Toss in the minced garlic and give the pan a stir. Let the oil heat up until it is hot, but not smoking. You can test the surface to see if it’s hot enough by carefully dropping a drop of water into the pan. If it sizzles and dances across the surface, the oil’s hot enough.

Using tongs, transfer the scallops to the prepared hot oil in the pan. Let brown for roughly 2 minutes, then turn to brown the other side. Remove cooked scallops from skillet onto warmed plates. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve on a bed of Creamed Spinach with Olive Oil and Shallots (below).

**Okay, for the record, I didn't have a cast iron skillet. I used my non-stick skillet, and I have to say, the scallops did not brown as nicely as they should have. When Gail Martin of Dinner and a Book did this, hers came out so beautifully. Gosh, I wish I would have taken a picture. Lightly browned, beautiful scallops. Mine were cooked and tasty. Just not so pretty.***

Creamed Spinach with Olive Oil and Shallots

Serves 6

2 tablespoons olive oil

¼ cup shallots, finely minced

10–12 oz. fresh spinach, washed, dried, and trimmed to remove tough stems (I used frozen. Should have doubled this recipe. Wow, it was good!)

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

½ cup liquid—milk, chicken broth, or white wine, depending on personal taste

1 pinch fresh ground nutmeg

¼–½ tablespoon salt, or to taste

Freshly cracked black pepper

¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Put olive oil in a sturdy cast iron skillet or equivalent over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add shallots, stirring until they are clear, about 1 minute. Add spinach, and continue stirring until mixture is heated through and reduced and wilted, about 2–3 minutes.

Remove from heat. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add flour and whisk vigorously until a smooth bubbling paste forms, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the liquid. Keep stirring until you have a thickened sauce. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper, to taste. Whisk. Add in the spinach mixture. Stir to coat. Plate. Top with grated cheese. Serve.

PDF of recipes from BUFFALO WEST WING

My husband commented at least three times about how great this meal was. He's not much of a seafood eater, so this was high praise indeed. And he liked the spinach so much, he finished it. I really should have made more! Would have been a nice leftover for lunch today!

These are really super easy to make. And they take surprisingly little time. Try it!

Enjoy,

Julie

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I ADORE SOUP

I think it must still be cold because this has been soup week. Did you see Krista's Monday post? Yum!!!!!

I've wanted soup all month. That's why I shared a shrimp soup recipe a few weeks ago.

This week's, POTATO BASIL, is especially hearty because of the potatoes and the cheese. It's gluten-free but not dairy-free. To make it, I had to embrace my Cuisinart. Now, I have to admit that I have never been that comfortable with a chopper/dicer/cut-off-your-finger type machine. I like an old-fashioned grater. I like a knife and a cutting board. [Yes, I know you can probably cut off your finger with either of these tools, but I haven't yet.]

This recipe required some blending and I wanted to get over my fear. [Just so you know, I've pulled out the Cuisinart for a number of other recipes since. It's becoming my near and dear friend. Wheee!]

But I digress. At first, I pulled out the contraption and looked at it from all angles. It has this plastic thing that doesn't look like it fits on the top. It has blades and more blades. And it has this fierce looking tool that whirrs around the bottom of the blender. Having lost the device's operating instructions in either move 2 or move 3 a few years back, and being too lazy to go online to find the manual, I tried to process the moves I'd made before to put the Cuisinart together. I closed my eyes. Truly, I did. And I held out the pieces one by one to see if muscle memory would help. It did. I figured out where the fiercing looking tool went. I realized I didn't need the grater, slicer, dicer this time and breathed easier. I snapped the tool into place and stared at the top again. Did the spout go on the left or right? If I pushed too hard and got it wrong, I'd snap off the plastic do-hickeys that held it in place. I went slowly (unusual for me). And finally heard a click. A proper click. I'd done it. Conquered my fear. The machine was going to work. Except now I had to dissemble it to put in the basil (potatoes, etc.)

Slowly, deliberately, I removed the top (trying to imprint in my brain which way the spout went) and started the recipe. Needless to say, my husband was giggling behind my back, so of course I was having vindictive thoughts about not giving him a taste of my soup! (Cue: wicked laughter).

But in the end, I made the soup, I gave my husband a taste, and found out I had a great soup on my hands...I mean, in my kitchen.

Enjoy.

POTATO-BASIL PUREE

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh basil leaves

2 pounds large Yukon Gold potatoes

1 cup half-and-half

2 cups 2% milk (you can use regular or 1%, if desired)

¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons salt

1 tablespoon of salt (for boiling water)

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon white pepper

extra Parmesan for garnish

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon salt. At the same time fill a 3- to 4-quart bowl with ice water.

While water is heating, cut the potatoes into quarters.

Add the basil leaves to the boiling water. Cook for 15 seconds. NO MORE. Remove the basil with a slotted spoon and plunge the leaves into the ice water. This SETS the bright green color. Drain and set the leaves aside. DO NOT pour off the boiling water.

Add cut potatoes to the same pot of boiling water and bring to a boil.

Cook for 20-25 minutes until tender. [A fork should slide easily in and out.] Drain well. Return the potatoes to the pot and cover, heat off.

Meanwhile, place the basil in a food processor and puree.

In a small saucepan over medium heat, warm the half-and-half and cheese until it simmers. Add the hot cream to the basil.

With a handheld mixer, beat the hot potatoes in the pot until they are broken up. [You can also use a masher or drop them in the Cuisinart and return them to the pot afterwards.] Slowly add the basil cream, salt, pepper, then beat until smooth.

[Note, right at this moment, you have fabulous mashed potatoes. You can skip the next step--adding milk—and serve as a side dish. I forgot to take a picture. Oops!]

Now, proceeding to make the soup. Add the 2 cups of milk. If the potato soup needs to be reheated, cover and cook gently over low heat until warm. [A few minutes.]

Pour into 6 serving bowls and sprinkle with extra Parmesan cheese.

Serve hot.

If you want a pdf of this recipe to download, click here: POTATO BASIL SOUP RECIPE

********

A SNEAK PREVIEW and BOOK TRAILER of LOST AND FONDUE is now up on my website. Click here. If you'd like to know more about A Cheese Shop Mystery series and want to download a few other recipes from me (on recipe cards), click on this link to my website: Avery Aames. I've posted recipes in the "morsels" section. There's lots of other fun stuff, as well.

And sign up for the mailing list to get in on the next contest...coming every two weeks as I approach the launch of L&F in May. Latest winners include: Mary B. and Caitlyn H. Congrats!

Say cheese!

Margarita Pie

Y’all will be forgiven if you missed it, but yesterday was actually National Margarita Day.

Yes, that’s right: February 22 was National Margarita Day. Although there seems to be some disagreement as to exactly who founded the delicious frozen drink, it’s generally agreed that margaritas have been around for nearly 80 years.

My friend Shelly reminded me about National Margarita Day…she lives in Texas, where the frozen margarita machine was invented by Mariano Martinez in 1971.

If you missed the day yesterday, you can always celebrate a little late (I won’t tell!) The original margarita recipe is simply two parts tequila, one part triple sec and one part fresh lime juice.

In honor of the margarita, I thought I’d make a margarita pie. This version is fresh and delicious but doesn’t have any alcohol in it. If you wanted to, you could add 2 tablespoons of tequila and a tablespoon of triple sec to the recipe below. I wouldn't tell for that, either. :)

I did not add alcohol to mine, which is a good thing, considering my 14 year old son got hold of the pie when he came home from school, devouring a large portion of it before I took my picture. :) Below is the recipe, as best I could salvage it!

Margarita Pie (click here for a PDF of the recipe)

1 1/4 cups crushed pretzels
1 stick melted butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 (12 oz) can frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup orange juice
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
Use about 3/4 of an 8 oz container Cool Whip, thawed

Combine the crushed pretzels, melted butter, and sugar in a medium bowl, then press the mixture into a pie pan.

Mix limeade, orange juice, and sweetened condensed milk, then fold it into the whipped topping. Spoon the filling into the prepared pretzel crust. Chill for 25 to 30 minutes before serving.

It’s pretty garnished with strawberries or slices of lime.

Hope you'll enjoy!

Riley/Elizabeth
Delicious and Suspicious (July 6 2010) Riley Adams
Pretty is as Pretty Dies –Elizabeth Spann Craig

Oprah’s Oatmeal Muffins and The Zero Fat Muffin Experiment by Cleo Coyle



Like Cher and Martha, Oprah has achieved that rare thing—global one-name recognition. Her public battle of the bulge alone should be enshrined in the broadcast hall of fame. First her weight was up then down; then way up and down again. Do you remember any of that?


For Oprah, the public yo-yoing began with a crash, liquid diet. After four months on the Optifast program, she finally fit into her size 10 Calvin Klein jeans and walked onto the set of her talk show pulling a red wagon filled with the equivalent of the 67 pounds of fat she’d lost.

Then it happened. The horror! The horror! The burger! She went off her diet one day, eating a single bacon, avocado cheeseburger. (I can’t believe I still remember that.)

If I correctly recall Oprah's foodie fall from grace, she ate that burger and went absolutely crazy. She couldn’t stop eating and chomped her way right back up again, gaining back all the red wagon weight and more.

Disgusted and frustrated, she turned to health professionals for advice, who explained to her that crash dieting doesn’t work. It destroys the metabolism, setting the dieter up for the kind of yo-yoing weight loss and gain that Oprah had experienced. (Hey, listen, I’ve gone up and down about the same thirty pounds all my life, so I can honestly say: “I feel you, Sister!”)

Oprah forced herself to learn about her body and nutrition, eating right and exercising. Instead of a crash diet, she changed her way of eating and living, and a wonderful thing happened: She pulled her viewers along for this new ride of living and learning.

During this period, she endorsed a cookbook by her personal chef, Rosie Daley, whom she’d hired away from a spa. The front flap of the cookbook says Oprah loves these recipes because they helped her lose weight and feel good. I noticed it on my bookshelf the other day. I haven’t looked at it in years, and I pulled it down.

Cleo Coyle, lover of
muffins, fan of Oprah,
and author of The
Coffeehouse Mysteries

Now I enjoy cooking all kinds of recipes. Last week I shared a classic (and decadent) French dessert, Chocolate Pots de Crème. Click here for a PDF of the recipe if you missed that one.

I also have fun developing and adapting healthier recipes, too. Among my favorite treats to enjoy with a cup of coffee are my Healthier Oatmeal Cookies with maple glaze. Get the PDF of that recipe by clicking here. In the PDF, I explain one reason why whole grains are so good for us and so good at helping us take off weight.

I really enjoy the taste of rolled oats, so I paged through the Oprah cookbook looking for that ingredient, and low and behold, Oprah had a favorite oatmeal muffin recipe.

I couldn’t believe this recipe contained no butter or oil, not one milligram. That seemed a little extreme. I mean, I'm all for healthy recipes, but if they don't satisfy you on a foodie enjoyment level, then I doubt they'll help you in the long run.

Even though I was wary of this recipe, I gave it a quick try. So here you go, my zero-fat muffin experiment for your edification. (Scroll down to my "report" below to see what I thought of it.)

OPRAH'S
OATMEAL MUFFINS


Adapted from In the Kitchen with Rosie: Opraph's Favorite Recipes with notes from Cleo Coyle

Makes 12 standard muffins
(or 24 mini muffins)

128 calories per standard muffin and only 2.5 grams of fat 

Ingredients

Light vegetable oil cooking spray
2 large egg white (I used extra large, all I had on hand)
1/3 cup maple syrup (do not substitute “pancake” syrup)
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice (juice form about 1-1/2 medium oranges)
1 cup skim milk (I used 1% low fat)
1 tablespoon orange zest (grated rind of one medium orange)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice (I increased to ¼ teaspoon)
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves (I eliminated because allspice carries that flavor note)
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg 
1-1/2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned, not quick cooking)
1 cup whole wheat flour (I used white flour, see my end notes on this switch)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ cup dried cranberries (I substituted raisins, doubled the amount, and soaked them in water then drained them for extra plumpness)
¼ cup chopped pecans (I had no nuts on hand and didn’t add any nuts)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Step 1 - The Oprah recipe says to “spray the tins 3 times with vegetable oil” and I know why. With no fat in this recipe (no butter or oil), these muffins will want to stick like crazy to your pan, hence the liberal use of non-stick spray. I decided to make mine with paper liners.


Step 2 – Whisk egg whites in a mixing bowl until frothy. Whisk in pure maple syrup, orange juice, and milk. Add in the orange zest, vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend. Switch to a spoon or spatula and stir in your rolled oats, flour, and raisins (or cranberries and nuts).

Step 3 – Fill your muffin cups about 2/3rds full. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the muffins are firm in the center. If baking mini-muffins, they should be done in about 12 minutes.

CLEO'S MUFFIN REPORT:

FLAVOR – HIT! The flavors of maple, orange, and spices with the raisins tasted delicious. Once I correct the texture (see below), this promises to be a satisfying breakfast or coffee break muffin, especially with pecans or walnuts added next time around.

TEXTURE – MISS. My results looked very pretty indeed but the texture was way off what it should have been – rubbery instead of tender and crumbly. Yes, I know! Whole wheat flour soaks up more liquid than white, and my batter was in fact too liquid before it went into the oven, but I wanted to try a 1:1 ratio just to see what I’d get. Next time I’ll use the whole wheat flour or (maybe) split the whole wheat and white flour and increase the white flour a bit. My aim here is to make a tasty, low fat oatmeal muffin -- oatmeal and whole wheat together might be very healthy indeed but tasty? I don't know. I'm going to continue experimenting with further adaptations. (I'll keep you posted. )

STICK FACTOR – MISS. I used two different paper liners, some with a slight waxed coating and some without. The liners without that slippery waxed coating were a disaster. Some of the muffin actually stuck to the paper! Now this could have been my fault, having used white instead of whole wheat flour, but I suspect that's why the Oprah recipe did not give you an option of using paper liners at all but instead insisted on spraying the tins with non-stick spray 3 times! I think I'll solve this problem by using foil liners next time and spraying them with non-stick spray once.

So there you go, a no-fat muffin, an inspiring story and a basic healthy muffin recipe to play with yourself.

Honestly, until I get this recipe right, I'll continue to stick with my Healthier Oatmeal Cookies (with or without the maple glaze)!

Click here for that recipe PDF and...

Eat with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle, author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

To get more of my recipes, win free coffee,

or find out more about my books, visit me
 at my *virtual* coffeehouse:

CoffeehouseMystery.com

 

Click on the book covers above
to learn more about Cleo's culinary mysteries.



******************

A final, quick note for our mystery reading fans.
The latest Mystery Readers Journal with the theme Hobbies, Crafts, and Special Interests is now available.

The issue, edited by Mystery Fanfare's Janet Rudolph, includes many mystery authors who have guest posted for us over the past year. You can check out the contents by clicking here, which will also give you info on how to purchase a copy (hard or electronic) for yourself.

******************

Hearty Crockpot Bean Soup

Would you believe those big chunks are not potatoes?

The other day I read a blog complaining about the mushiness of canned beans. It's been a while since I bothered to cook anything with dried beans, so I thought I'd give it a shot. There's no question that dried beans cost a lot less than canned beans, and after eating this, you can bet my next batch of chili will be made with dried beans. I think they are better!

I used a variety of beans in this recipe, plus veggies, and apples. My grocery store had Texas style ribs (dark pork meat with no bones) on sale that I thought would hold up well to slow cooking. It's hot and hearty and oh-so-easy, not to mention fairly healthy! I felt spoiled and lazy since it all happened in the crock pot without much effort. Don't be fooled though, at the low setting, the beans really do take eight hours to cook

Hearty Crockpot Bean Soup

1/2 cup dried Northern beans
1/2 cup dried kidney beans

1/3 cup dried baby lima beans
2 1/2 to 3 pounds pork
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 apples, peeled, cored and quartered or diced
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes
2 14.5 ounce cans chicken broth (use tomato can to measure)
2 14.5 ounce cans water
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2-3 cloves garlic

2 large leaves red Swiss chard chopped, including stems
1 10-ounce package peas

Wash the Northern beans and the kidney beans. Pick out any that look odd and remove all floaters. Put them in the crock pot (turned OFF) with six cups water to soak overnight.

In the morning, dump the water in the beans, rinse them and set aside. Place the meat in the bottom of the crock pot, and add the beans on top of the meat. Add everything else, except the Swiss chard and peas. Cook on low for seven hours and fifteen minutes.

Add the Swiss chard and frozen peas and cook another 45 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Please Welcome Guest Blogger Misa Ramirez!

I'm so happy to have Misa Ramirez (aka Melissa Bourbon) in the Kitchen today. Misa lives just down the road in Argyle, Texas, with her amazing husband and five wildly talented children. Honestly, they're the most gorgeous family you've ever seen. Misa manages to keep her bustling household intact while writing fabulous books: the Lola Cruz Mysteries, a series of romantic suspense novels based on Mexican legends, and a new Magical Dressmaking cozy mystery series (as Melissa Bourbon). Oh, and she's also a fantastic friend. In short, she's my hero!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Since I have a thing for all things Mexican--starting with my husband--it was a logical leap for me to include food in my books. My Lola Cruz Mystery series, as well as the brand new A Deadly Curse (A Mexican Legend Romantic Suspense), feature food fairly prominently. In the Lola books, the family owns a Mexican restaurant. In A Deadly Curse, and the soon-to-be-released A Deadly Sacrifice, the Vargas brothers own a bar/restaurant, cook, and so much happens in the kitchen.

The kitchen is the heart of the home... and often the heart of my books. In my personal life (in relation to cooking), I always know I’ve hit a homerun with a recipe when mi esposo so eloquently says, “Man, this is better than my mom’s.”

That’s my gauge. If I can make my MIL’s recipes better than she can, then, oh yeah, I’m golden. I silently gloat.

Okay, maybe not so silently. I soak up the praise and revel in it.

And the thing is, my recipes are way...I mean, WAY... easier than hers! How can that be when they’re her recipes? Maybe my husband’s senses have dulled after 20 years. It’s possible. But really, I think it’s because I make the food with love.

Everybody say, “Awwwww....”

All kidding aside, here’s an example. She makes classic Spanish rice, like, everyday. It requires her own canned tomatoes pureed with fresh onions and garlic. In a blender. Forget about the days of canning during the summer (not to mention the gardening involved in actually growing enough tomatoes to can 100 + jars). I have five kids. And the afore-mentioned husband. Plus, you know, a job (as a writer, which means I’m at home a lot, but still, I’m in front of my computer, not in front of a blender). And I teach on the side. So simplification has become my middle name.

MY Spanish rice recipe does not require gardening, canning, slicing, chopping, or appliances. And it’s good! “Better than my mom’s,” says my husband, and he’s not under duress.

So here is the Lola Cruz Spanish rice recipe for your everyday enjoyment. Easy, schmeasy. No blender required.

Spanish Rice (Sopa de Arroz)

2-4 Tbs. oil

1 cup long grain white rice

1 6 oz. can tomato sauce

1/2 tsp. garlic powder*

1/2 tsp onion powder*

1 tsp. salt, to taste

2 c. water or chicken broth

* You can substitute Adobo seasoning for the onion and garlic powder.

Directions: Heat oil in a heavy saucepan. Add rice and brown. Stir in 3/4 of the can of tomato sauce [add more if you prefer moister rice, less if you prefer it less tomatoey and drier]. Add water or broth, garlic and onion powder, and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer approximately 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

[A note from Wendy: I've made Misa's recipe for Spanish rice, and it earned a hearty "two thumbs up" from the Wat-Hawk family.]

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Misa Ramirez is the author of the Lola Cruz Mysteries (Living the Vida Lola and Hasta la Vista, Lola!). Her new romantic suspense, A Deadly Curse, is available on Kindle, Nook, or from Smashwords. She also writes the Magical Dressmaking Mysteries as Melissa Bourbon. The first book in the Series, Pleating for Mercy, will be released in August, 2011.

Misa is also all over the web. You can visit her at her website, or on any of her three blogs: The Naked Hero, The Writer's Guide to e-Publishing, and Killer Characters.

GINGER CAKE

by Sheila Connolly
Apparently my grandmother is much on my mind these days.  I’ve told you about her aversion to cooking, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t interested in food.  In fact, she worked with it professionally.

My grandmother led an interesting life:  she was orphaned young, lived with adoptive parents who divorced, and then she moved to New York City by 1920.  She married well, to the spoiled only child of a rich widowed mother.  After his mother died, my grandfather (who died at 44 of a heart attack) decided he really, really wanted to be a dairy farmer, so bought himself a farm in Maine.  He was not a good dairy farmer, although I’m told he enjoyed it, but my grandmother did not, so during WWII she took herself off to New York and got a war-time job. 

She was lucky enough to work her way into a professional position with Lipton Tea.  One of her responsibilities was to assemble a collection of antique tea-related paraphernalia--primarily English 18^th-century silver--to promote the Lipton brand.  She handled the publicity, which included getting to know some of the then-greats in the food business such as Craig Claiborne and Dione Lucas (the first female graduate of Le Cordon Bleu), culminating in a grand tour of European capitals, thanks to Unilever, Lipton’s parent company.  (She also arranged a dinner for the Queen of England in New York, but that’s another story.)  Then she retired.

Somehow I inherited a series of large color positives of promotional shots she had made of items from the Lipton Collection.  I also inherited various pieces from the collection—not the silver, long since dispersed, but the china accessories, which explains why I have 69 teacups, many with matching dessert plates, and 14 tea pots.  Anyone want to have a rather large tea party?

While she never made this cake (she didn’t bake), she was very fond of candied ginger, so this is an homage of sorts.

GINGER CAKE

This is a flavorful and delightfully rich cake. The two gingers give it a distinctive flavor, and sprinkling the pan with coarse sugar provides an interesting crunch.

The recipe calls for a twelve-cup tube pan, but it can easily be cut in half--use a six-cup pan and watch your baking time so that the cake doesn't become too dry.

Add caption

softened butter (to grease pan)
1/2 cup raw sugar (also called turbinado sugar)

2 1/4 cups flour

4 tsp. ground ginger

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 large egg yolk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1 cup chopped crystallized ginger (you may chop this as fine as you like, depending on how much you like crystallized ginger)

                                   

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Generously butter the inside of a 12-cup tube pan (you can use a bundt pan).  Sprinkle raw sugar over the butter, coating the pan completely.

Whisk together the flour, ground ginger, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.

Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer, beat the butter in a large bowl until smooth.  Gradually add the sugar, and beat at medium-high speed until blended--about two minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the extra egg yolk and the vanilla.

Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the sour cream, beating on low speed until just blended after each.  Mix in the chopped crystallized ginger.
Spread the batter in the prepared pan, being careful not to dislodge the raw sugar.

Bake the cake until the top is light brown and a tester conmes out with just a few crumbs--about 55 minutes (less if you're making a half-recipe).  Transfer to a rack and cool in the pan for 15 minutes.

Invert the pan and tap the edge carefully on a work surface until the cake loosens.  Place cake on rack and cool completely.

Slice and serve!  This cake doesn’t need any embellishment.  It also keeps well and travels well.