Fettucine with Shrimp, Mushrooms, Spinach and Cashews

LUCY BURDETTE: (Whew, that's a mouthful for a name, isn't it? If anyone has a better suggestion, I'm happy to take it!)

In my May release from the Key West food critic mystery series, TOPPED CHEF, one of the contestants makes shrimp and grits as his specialty dish for the first leg of the contest. However, he tells the audience that Key West has a secret weapon--Key West pinks. This is really true. Also known as "Tortugas" named after the region where they are caught, the shrimp are local and fresh and a lovely light pink color that really steals the show. Now I'm spoiled: I hate to use anything else.

Here's a tasty, easy dish that shows any fresh shrimp to their best advantage.




INGREDIENTS

8 oz Baby Bella mushrooms, cleaned, trimmed and sliced
3/4 pound Key West pinks, shelled, deveined, rinsed and patted dry8-10 oz fresh spinach, washed and roughly chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large clove garlic, chopped 

Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/3 cup broken cashews
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 box linguine or fettuccine
3 tbsp butter

Mix together in a glass bowl the chicken broth, cornstarch, red pepper flakes, and lemon, and set that aside.

In a large frying pan, saute the mushrooms in the butter until they release their liquid and begin to gently brown. Set those mushrooms aside. Melt another tablespoon of butter and add the cleaned shrimp, the garlic, and the cashews and stir fry until the shrimp are barely pink. Add the mushrooms and the liquid to the pan and simmer until slightly thickened. (Let's say 3 or 4 minutes.) Add the spinach and stir.

At this point, you can put a pot of water on the stove to heat, grab a Red Stripe beer or a glass of wine and watch the sun go down. 

 

Once the water boils, cook the pasta until tender, then dump it into a large bowl. Warm the shrimp mixture, add to the pasta, gently mix it all together. Add the grated parmesan on top and serve! 

TOPPED CHEF will be out in May! But you can pre-order the book today. And then please follow Lucy on Twitter,  Facebook, and Pinterest too.  

Cheese Shop Mystery winner

From Avery:

Today's winner is...

"Lizardo"

Thanks to all for your comments. What a ton and what fun!

I guess we all agree that a grilled cheese is comfort food!

Say Brie!!!!!

"Lizardo", write me at avery at averyaames dot com and tell me which 

CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY you want. 

Remember to provide your snail mail.  

Congratulations!

Brie Grilled Cheese

As I get nearer to a due date, whether it's turning in a book or the launch of a book [TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE comes out next Tuesday!!!] I like to keep the cooking to a minimum. I don't want to make something with multiple steps (like last week's ganache). And I need comfort food.

I remember when I was a kid, one of my favorite comfort foods was grilled cheese. My mom always used American cheese and she served the sandwich with a cup of tomato soup. This was especially good whenever we visited Lake Tahoe and the days were cold.

Cold days...a blanket...soup and sandwich. Mmm-mmm good.

I've shared many grilled cheese recipes on Mystery Lover's Kitchen over the past two years. A grilled Irish Reuben. A grilled avocado and salmon made with Collier's Cheddar. We have a sizable collection of sandwich recipes in our recipe box (see it on the left)?

Brie happens to be one of the best melting cheeses. I remove the rind because there's something about grilled rind that just doesn't do it for me. If you like it, include it. But the cheese! Ooh, la, la, it's so scrumptious.

One of the tips to a good grilled cheese is using enough butter to coat the bread and enough cheese to make it all about the cheese. As my friend Marcella the Cheesemonger says, it's called a grilled CHEESE sandwich, not a grilled bread sandwich. Thanks to a tip I learned from Marcella, I use a tablespoon of cream cheese on the insides of the bread because it, too, melts well and encourages the other cheese to get cookin'!

So today, keeping it easy, I'd like to share my super-simple Brie grilled cheese. I've made this on homemade gluten-free bread, which was also easy because I used a mix. There's nothing like the aroma of fresh-baked bread, even gluten-free bread!

BY THE WAY, THIS WOULD BE GREAT FOR A SUPER BOWL SNACK!!

BRIE GRILLED CHEESE

(for one)

Ingredients:
2 slices of your favorite bread
2-3 ounces of Brie cheese, rinds removed
1-2 tablespoons cream cheese
1-2 tablespoons butter
dash of salt, if desired

Directions:
Heat a skillet on medium-high. Butter the outside of the bread. Now spread the cream cheese on the other sides of the bread. Put both slices on the skillet, butter-side down. Lay the Brie cheese on top of the bread slices. Dash with salt, if desired.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Using a spatula, lift one side of the bread and lay on top of the other. Cook another minute. Flip and cook another minute. Do your best not to burn the bread. Cheese should ooze out the sides.  Remove from the skillet and serve warm.

What is your favorite comfort food?

I'm giving away your choice of the first three 

CHEESE SHOP MYSTERIES

 to one of today's commenters!

Say cheese!

* * * * * * *

The 4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series: 

TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE
coming February 5th!

You can pre-order the book HERE. 
Click this link to watch the TRAILER
Click this link to read an EXCERPT.
Click this link to hear a PODCAST

You can learn more about me, Avery, by clicking this link.
Chat with me on Facebook and Twitter.

And if you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list

 so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests!

Also, you probably know by now about my alter ego,
DARYL WOOD GERBER...and her new series
A COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERY series
debuts July 2013

"Like" Daryl's page on Facebook and "follow" Daryl on Twitter.

"She" doesn't say all the same things "Avery" does. Promise.

Say cheese!

***********

Queso Fundido - My Favorite Mexican Cheese Dip by Cleo Coyle

To my American ear, fundido sounds a little like an advertising slogan invented by a group of Mad Men trying to sell tortilla snack chips. "Party with our queso fundido. It’s fun, fun, fun!"

The truth is, fundido doesn't translate into fun, not literally anyway. In Spanish it means melted; consequently, queso fundido means melted cheese, and if you’ve sampled it, you may agree with me that it’s about the best cheese dip on the planet. 

Cleo Coyle, who sees
the fun in fundido,
is author of The
Coffeehouse Mysteries

Tex-Mex fans know it’s served in Northern Mexico, the Southwestern US, and Mexican restaurants in other parts of America. Culinary roots take it back to campfire eating. The version in today's post is the one my husband (and partner in crime writing) Marc and I enjoy, and we hope you do, too. 

~ Cleo

Cleo Coyle's 
Queso Fundido

("Melted Cheese" Dip)

Traditionally, queso fundido is presented while still bubbling hot. Some restaurants serve it flambé, adding a flammable alcohol and lighting it. We prefer the broiler method of finishing this dish, which is much easier than flambé and just as tasty--plus you don’t need to have a fire extinguisher on hand. 

As for the ingredients I use...

The ingredients and
directions are now featured
in the recipe section of
my 13th Coffeehouse Mystery

Billionaire Blend

Learn more about

Clare Cosi's crime-solving

in Billionaire Blend

by clicking here.

To see the Recipe Section
of Billionaire Blend,
click here.

FYI: The cast iron pans in my photos are Lodge brand (6-1/2 inch size). I love these baby skillets. For more info or to purchase, click here and...

Cook with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle 

New York Times bestselling author of
The Coffeehouse Mysteries

Friend me on facebook here
Follow me on twitter here.

Visit my online coffeehouse here.

To view the
Coffeehouse Mystery
book trailer, click here.

 

The Coffeehouse Mysteries are bestselling

works of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark
Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the
12 titles includes the added bonus of recipes.  

 

The Ghost and
Mrs. McClure

Book #1 of 
The Haunted Bookshop
Mysteries, which Cleo writes
under the name
Alice Kimberly
To learn more, click here.

Old Fashioned Apple Oatmeal Bars

This week, I found a nice piece of top sirloin in the freezer. It's been bitterly cold here, so beef stew sounded just about right. But I'm wary of beef being dry in stews, so I did a little research on top sirloin. Opinions ranged from my favorite cut, always flavorful to beware: sometimes great, sometimes terrible, you never know what you're getting when you buy this. Some people said only to cook it like a steak, while others raved about it for stew, cooking it from ten minutes to a whopping six hours!

That's always a great start. Now I do know that there's a point at which meat becomes tough but cooked longer it turns soft and can be pulled apart. The worse the cut, the better it is cooked long and slow. That's because the connective tissue collagen that makes it tough when cooked like a steak finally begins to turn to gelatin. If you're interested in a breakdown of the process, check out this article.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I followed the 10 minute idea (sounded safe) and it still turned tough. But the dogs gave it two tails up. Top sirloin goes on sale a lot. If you buy it, I recommend using it as a steak, no matter what the recipes say. Lesson learned.

So I made baked chicken nuggets out of chicken breast and whipped up two sauces. There's a game coming up and chicken nuggets seem a lot easier and lower fat than chicken wings. The Panko exterior held up beautifully, if a bit pale. The chicken inside was perfect. Not a bit tough, though they could have used a little more flavor in the breading. I took them to my mother to try. Two thumbs down. She didn't like them at all. But the dogs gave them two tails up. I may give them another shot. I really loved the tender chicken and the crispy Panko.

By now I'm thinking I'm having a lousy day and what I really want is comfort food. I read Mystery Lovers' Kitchen and there's Sofie Kelly's answer to a lousy day. I want that chocolate! But I still need a recipe to share with you.

For some reason, maybe the fact that it's January and cold, I've been craving oatmeal. So now I'm thinking chewy apple oatmeal bars. I stumbled across this recipe, which has been around for a long time. I don't know the original source, but sometimes the simple tried and true recipes are still the best. Note how little sugar is in this recipe!

When you mix the dry ingredients, the bottom layer will be quite thin. I expected the apples to bubble up a little bit but they didn't. I could see the apples on the edge when I lifted the parchment paper, so decided it would be best to allow it to cool in the pan. Gotta tell you -- it smells just like apple pie!

Apple Oatmeal Bars

1 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 stick (1/2 cup) + 2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 1/2 cups finely chopped apples
1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/4 brown & 1/4 white)


Preheat oven to 350. Line a 8 x 8 baking pan with parchment paper.

Melt the butter in the microwave (about 50 seconds). Mix the oatmeal, flour, salt, cinnamon and melted butter in a bowl. Use 1/2 of the mixture to line the bottom of the pan. Press into place.


Chop the apples and mix with sugar. Spread in pan. Crumble the remaining oatmeal mixture over top of the apples and gently press into place.

Bake 35 minutes.

The apples didn't ooze out.

 

Welcome our guest Sofie Kelly!

Welcome our guest, Sofie Kelly!

Sofie Kelly writes the New York Times bestselling Magical Cats Mysteries.

The next book in the series, CAT TRICK, will be available February 5^th. Visit Sofie at www.sofiekelly.com

Let Them Eat Cake

   Have you ever had one of those days when all you want to do is to eat a cake and wallow in a little self pity? The problem is, when those days happen there never seems to be a cake handy, or if there is, let’s face it, someone else in the house is going to notice that you ate the whole thing. Not to mention what eating a full-size, double layer cake with frosting is going to do to your thighs. Days like that are perfect for Cake in a Mug.

  

 Cake in a Mug is not a gourmet recipe. It’s not fancy, but it tastes pretty good and if you share it with a friend or two it’s not that self-indulgent. And it beats the heck out of standing over the sink eating Hershey’s Chocolate syrup off a spoon. Not that I’ve ever done that.

Cake in a Mug
             

4 tablespoons cake flour
4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons milk

1 egg

3 tablespoons chocolate chips

   Mix the flour, sugar and cocoa in a large mug. (A two-cup measuring cup will also work.) Add the oil, milk and egg. Beat with a fork. Sprinkle the chocolate chips on the top. You can substitute butterscotch or peanut butter chips instead.

 *Cake flour makes a finer textured cake, but you can use all-purpose flour. I use rice milk in this recipe, but soy milk or cow’s milk works just as well.

 Microwave on high power between 3 and 4 minutes. How long depends on how powerful your microwave is. Don’t worry if things overflow a little.

Slide a knife around the inside of the mug and slide the cake on to a plate.

Cut into two or three pieces—or not, depending on just how bad the day’s been—and enjoy.

I’d love to hear how you all decompress after a bad day. Any cake involved?

 * * *

Slow Cooker Chilupe

by Peg Cochran

Following is a recipe for slow cooker chilupe which was a finalist in Good Morning America’s Slow Cooker Challenge.  I have googled and googled but didn’t come up with any Mexican dishes called chilupe…but it doesn’t matter.  This was delicious!  It made quite a bit so I have leftovers ready to use in tacos, enchiladas or burritos.  My only change to the recipe was adding half a chipotle chili (smoked jalapeno) because I like the smoky taste.  It’s completely optional.  The recipe also called for chili flakes—I had no idea what those were so I just left them out.  It was still yummy and a big hit!  It can easily be put together in the morning and be ready by the time you get home from work.

Beans and spices  in the crockpot

Yummy spices!

Place meat on top

Slow-Cooker Chilupe by Penny Lippold

3 lb. pork shoulder roast (bone-in or boneless)\

1 lb. dry pinto beans, cleaned and sorted

3 cloves pressed garlic

2 TBL chili powder

1 TBL cumin

1 tsp. oregano, rubbed between your palms

1 4 oz can diced green chilies, undrained

Chicken broth to cover roast—approximately 4 to 5 cups)

Put dry beans in the bottom of your crockpot, add garlic, chili powder, cumin powder, oregano, diced green chilies.  Mix well.  Trim fat from roast and place on top of beans and spices.  Add broth to cover. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 12 hours.

When roast and beans are tender, remove roast and shred with two forks, removing any extra fat.  Drain beans, reserving liquid.  Add as much liquid as necessary to mash beans.  Add meat to beans and more liquid to moisten if desired.  Return to crockpot to keep warm.

Choose your favorite toppings!

Bon appétit!

Toppings:  Serve with your choice of tortilla chips, shredded lettuce, sour cream, chopped red onion, avocado slices, olives, salsa, shredded cheddar cheese.

Coming in June!