Easy Asian Peanut Sauce #recipe @annieknoxauthor #giveaway

 LUCY BURDETTE: We are tickled pink to be hosting Annie Knox (aka Wendy Watson) on the blog today. Longtime visitors will recognize her as a former regular poster on Mystery Lovers Kitchen. We miss her good humor and her food and are thrilled to have her visit!

ANNIE KNOX: First things first: thank you to Lucy

 for hosting me on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen.  It’s hands down my favorite blog, so it’s a real treat to be here

I’ve had a forty-five year love affair with peanut butter.  As a child, my lunch box favorite was the peanut butter sandwich.  Other kids crowed over ham, turkey, even egg salad.  But not me.  If I’d had my druthers, I would have had peanut butter every day.  Sometimes the sandwiches were peanut butter with jelly or jam, but other times I got peanut butter with banana, peanut butter with marshmallow fluff, or even peanut butter with white sugar (my mother didn’t stress out much about nutrition).

As I grew up, I started putting peanut butter on other stuff:  celery, apple slices, toast, bagels, saltines, graham crackers, chocolate bars.  I mixed peanut butter with chocolate or vanilla ice cream, and sometimes just ate it off the spoon.

Imagine my delight when I left my meat-and-potatoes Midwestern home and discovered that peanuts and peanut butter could form the basis for more complex and “adult” food.  One Thanksgiving, I spent the holiday with a bunch of fellow law students and we had a potluck.  One of my friends brought an African groundnut stew that combined sweet potatoes and cabbage in a rich gravy of tomato, ginger, cayenne, and peanut butter.  I confess, I was skeptical.  The combination sounded completely weird and the color was not particularly appetizing.  But my love of peanut butter won out and I gave it a try . . . and was amazed at the earthy deliciousness.

Then I moved to the big city (Minneapolis) and discovered that Asian cuisine was more than water chestnuts and La Choy crispy noodles.  Once again, I discovered that ground peanuts played an important role in some of my favorite dishes, like satay and the yummy dipping sauce that came with the summer rolls at my favorite Thai restaurant.

I was on a big stir fry kick when I discovered the recipe for this sauce.  Well, the original.  It’s been tweaked over the years to make it simpler and, to me, tastier.  This sauce would be great served over stir-fried chicken or tofu.  It would also make a good dipping sauce for satay or fresh rolls of some sort.  I personally toss the sauce with a package of cooked linguine and then top it with vegetables stir-fried with garlic and ginger.

Finally, a word of warning:  there is absolutely nothing authentic about this recipe.  Note that I used the generic “Asian” instead of “Thai” or “Chinese” or “Korean.”  That’s on purpose.  This is an Americanized mish-mash of Asian flavors.  But I wouldn’t be posting it if it wasn’t dang tasty.  And dang easy.  So I hope you enjoy.

Easy Asian Peanut Sauce

½ c. creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. sesame oil

2 Tbs. soy sauce

4 tsp. crushed or minced garlic

½ c. hot tap water

¼ c. chopped cilantro

3 Tbs. vinegar (rice, white wine, or apple cider)

2 tsp. sugar

½ tsp. crushed red pepper

Combine the peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, and garlic in a medium bowl.  Whisk in hot water then whisk in remaining ingredients.  Allow sauce to stand at room temperature for an hour before tossing with pasta, adding to stir fry, or using as a dipping sauce.

About Annie …

Annie Knox doesn't commit--or solve--murders in her real life, but her passion for animals is 100% true. She's also a devotee of 80s music, Asian horror films, and reality TV. While Annie is a native Buckeye and has called a half dozen states "home," she and her husband now live in a crumbling historic house just a stone's throw from the courthouse square in a north Texas town.

About the Pet Boutique Mysteries …

Meet Izzy McHale, owner of Trendy Tails Pet Boutique in cozy Merryville, Minnesota.  She and her pets, Packer and Jinx, have a passion for fashion.  While her best friend Rena Hamilton makes organic pet treats for the business’s “barkery,” Izzy is designing canine couture and feline fashions for Merryville’s booming tourist trade.  Trouble has a knack for finding Izzy and her friends and family.  Fortunately, Izzy and her gang have a knack for tackling trouble head on, solving mysteries and keeping Trendy Tails’s doors open.  Follow Izzy’s adventures in Paws for Murder and Groomed for Murder.

In Collared for Murder, the third Pet Boutique Mystery, Merryville, Minnesota, plays host to a renowned cat show.  When the show’s wealthy patron is murdered and the grand prize collar dangle goes missing, Izzy and friends are on the case. Read more on Facebook or Annie's website.

ANNIE WILL BE GIVING AWAY THREE BOOKS TODAY, so be sure to leave a comment with your email to be entered in the drawing! 

Southern Sweet Tea for the Dog Days of Summer

#Recipe from @Peg Cochran

I know it's heresy--a "Northerner" giving you a recipe for the ubiquitous drink of the South!  But to be honest with you, I never quite knew how to make really good iced tea--it would be bitter, too weak, too strong, etc.  So I started looking for an honest-to-goodness recipe and found this one which I've tweaked a bit to suit us.

According to American Table, the first published recipe for sweetened, non-alcoholic iced tea appeared in Marion Campbell Tyree’s 1879 community cookbook Housekeeping in Old Virginia Containing Contributions from 250 Ladies in Virginia and Her Sister States.  Quite a mouthful, isn't it?

And most of the tea used back then was green tea which is suddenly so in vogue again and which, during World War II, became impossible to get since it was imported from Japan--that's when black tea began appearing in everyone's cup.

 Use six tea bags.  I like to mix it up--some black tea, some green tea and, in this case, some Zen tea from Tazo with green tea, lemongrass and spearmint.

Bring two cups of water to the boil.

Add tea bags and sugar.  Recipe calls for 3/4 cup but that is way too sweet to us.  We substitute 1/3 cup of Splenda, but experiment to see what you prefer.  Cover and let tea steep for 15 minutes

The secret to iced tea that isn't bitter--a pinch of baking soda!

Add six cups of cold water or cold water mixed with ice if you want to drink it right away--although the recipe in Marion Tyree's cookbook gently suggests that if you want the tea for dinner, you should make it at breakfast!  Use a pretty pitcher or a utilitarian container that can go in the fridge with no fear of breaking.

_

 Pour into a pretty glass, sit back, put your feet up and enjoy.

If you'd like to visit a world where there's plenty of sweet tea and a dash of...murder...you might enjoy my Sweet Nothings Lingerie Series written as Meg London.

Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

by Sheila Connolly

This recipe is just too easy. Five ingredients, including a half-pound of butter. And a whole new way (to me, anyway) of rolling them out.

For many years I’ve been searching for a cookie recipe to recreate a kind of cookie I used to get at Trost’s Bakery in Summit, New Jersey (Peg, you remember that?). The bakery is long gone, and I have no idea who inherited the recipes. The cookies were thin, crisp buttery squares with lots of mini chocolate chips.

After a couple of weeks of consuming mushrooms, I was ready for a change of pace. Plus it’s supposed to be in the eighties this week in my end of New England, and I figured I should get my baking done before the kitchen gets too hot. So I went hunting on the Internet. I will confess: it was a pop-up ad for shortbread cookies that I saw out of the corner of my eye, and I had an aha! moment: shortbread!.

So I searched, and this is what I came up with (to give credit where it is due, it comes from a 2012 post on a blog called The Cake Merchant. If I find the author Natasha, I may kiss her feet.

Natasha’s Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies

8 ounces (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I used Penzey’s concentrated version, so you might want a bit more)

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cups mini chocolate chips

Warning: the batter has to chill for at least two hours before you cut out the cookies, so either allow plenty of time, or chill overnight.

With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium for about 3 minutes or until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and beat.

With the mixer on low, beat in the flour until it just disappears into the butter mixture (do not overbeat, or the cookies will be tough!).

Fold in the chocolate chips (if you use the mixer, keep in on low).

 Put the dough into a one-gallon ziploc bag (that zips!). On a flat surface, roll the dough out until it reaches all the edges and corners of the bag (this was the fun part! No muss, no fuss, and you know exactly what size you’re getting). It should be about 1/4 inch thick.

It worked! Isn't that tidy?

Chill the dough until firm (I put it on a cookie sheet in the fridge), at least 2 hours.

When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. (Depending on what size and shape cookies you’re making, you may not need both.)

Take the dough out of the fridge and cut the bag away. You may cut the nice, neat square of dough with a knife (these cookies are about 2-1/2” square), or use cookie cutters. I took the simplest way.

Ready for the oven

Place the cookies on the parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven about 18-20 minutes, turning the cookie sheets once to make sure they cook evenly. You don’t want them to get brown, so watch them carefully toward the end.

Cool completely—and enjoy!

I think I’m going to try this with toffee chunks next—I don’t think this first batch is going to last long!

Yes, the new Museum Mystery, Privy to the Dead--arriving in four days!

There is more to history than the pretty stuff in glass cases in museum. You never know what you're going to dig up--and it might be evidence of a murder.

Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble and everywhere else (I hope!)

Leek, Asparagus, and Potato Soup #recipe @Lucyburdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I bring you more treasures of the spring season today! We are still in the thick of our asparagus crop in Connecticut, but if you don't have any, the local market will provide.

We grew a lot of leeks last year, and abandoned the ones we couldn't eat to winter over in the garden as we fled to Key West. Once the snow melted, we were left with a happy surprise--most of them were still standing, and quite delicious.

This is an easy soup, nothing fancy except for good ingredients. We had it for a Sunday supper along with a green salad and a biscuit.

Ingredients  

4 small leeks, cleaned and sliced
8 to 10 stalks fresh asparagus
5 to 6 small red potatoes
2 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup light sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter


Sliced leeks finely. Slice the asparagus into 1/2 inch pieces. Wash the potatoes and cut them in quarters. 

Melt the butter in a small frying pan and sauté, first the leeks, then the asparagus.


Simmer the potatoes in the chicken broth until they are tender. Add half the leek and asparagus sauté to the potatoes and using an immersion blender or food processor, whirl the vegetables until creamed. Stir in the sour cream and add milk as needed until the soup is the consistency you prefer. 

Salt and pepper to taste, and rewarm. Serve the soup with the remaining leek and asparagus saute on top as garnish.

When she is not blogging and cooking, Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries.

Fatal Reservations, the sixth book in the series, will be in bookstores on July 7, but you can certainly order it now!

Avocado with baked eggs, #recipe from @DarylWoodGerber

From Daryl aka Avery:

Want a great and easy breakfast, brunch or lunch idea?

I read about this "new" food combo and saw a picture and I couldn't believe it.

We all know how important Omega-3s are for us, right? Salmon, fish oil, etc. Well, I didn't know that avocados and eggs had Omega-3s. Guess I'm not keeping up with all the right information. Probably because I'm writing and not reading "fad" things. The Paleo Diet is a big fad right now, too, and eating things that are natural and not "man-made" is important.  (Psst. That still won't get me to give my up sugar and an occasional glass of wine.  Just saying.)

Anyway, I saw this idea for a recipe in the newspaper and then followed it up online, with PopSugar recipe. You can bake an egg in the hollow of an avocado and double-down on getting your Omega-3s. Now, I adore eggs and I adore avocados, which are in season right now. They're perfect every time I go to the store and test one. Not overripe, not bright green and underripe. Perfect.

So I tried the recipe. It tasted great, but it didn't turn as as pretty as the picture I'd seen online, so I tried it again.  This time I got it right. It's all about making enough space in the avocado to hold the whole egg, not just the yolk.

I have not seen the recipe with Parmesan cheese added, but yes, I'm the Cheese Lady, so I go the extra mile, and guess what?  Delicious!!!!

It's this easy:

AVOCADOS AND BAKED EGGS

Ingredients:

(SERVES 1 or 2)

Avocado, split in half and left in shell
2 eggs
Salt, pepper
Your favorite spice mixture (I like bouquet garni; basil, rosemary, thyme)
Parmesan cheese, if desired

Directions:

Heat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Halve the avocado and remove the pit.  Scoop out about 2 full tablespoons of the avocado so the whole egg will fit in the center. (I didn't the first time - result below - and there wasn't enough egg white space)  Note: EAT what you hollow out. That's the fun part!

Okay, now tuck lose little avocados into a tight pan. I didn't have one tight enough so I wrapped them in foil and nestled them together. NOW, pour in the egg, slowly, trying to get all of it in the hollow. If yo have to, nudge the yolk to the center.

Sprinkle salt, pepper, and spices on top.

Bake the avocados in the oven for 15 minutes, until the white is completely set.

Remove from the oven. Sprinkle with Parmesan, if desired.

Serve hot.

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

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Death and the Watermelon Appetizer by Cleo Coyle

For centuries, Italians have eaten fresh melons paired with prosciutto or another cured, salty meat. Though the combination is delicious, this was not a culinary tradition so much as a dietary precaution with a very long history.

DEATH AND THE MELON

In the hot summer of 1471, Pope Paul II dined on a refreshing meal of sliced cantaloupes, and he promptly dropped dead. Though the Pontiff likely perished of a massive coronary, congestione was blamed—stomach distress. 

The physicians decided that the pope's death must have been caused by eating three melons at a single sitting.

The news caused panic, but fortunately for melon farmers (and ultimately for us) Medieval medicine discovered a culinary "cure," and the Italian diet was changed forever.

To this day, folklore has it that if a cold food like melon is not balanced by a hot food like a spicy meat, the results could be deadly. The body might become chilled and one might risk a bout of indigestion, or even the dreaded congestione!

Cleo Coyle has a partner in 

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here or here.

Of course modern medicine debunks this notion, but the paring of melon and meat has stuck around because, well, it’s tasty. And refreshing. 

So why am I bringing you this tale today? Because it's the start of summer, time for tasty and refreshing ideas...like this one.

Last summer, Marc and I learned about a hot, young executive chef (very young, age 19!) who was packing a Hamptons' restaurant with his culinary flare. His pairing of watermelon with pork belly as an amuse-bouche was not a wholly original idea, but it sounded like a delicious one to us.

We didn't have pork belly (i.e., uncured bacon) on hand, but we had cured bacon (close enough), so we sliced up some sizzling strips into bite-sized pieces and affixed them with toothpicks to juicy chunks of watermelon.

Sweet-savory heaven!

Bacon and Watermelon Appetizer

A quick culinary hack of a young

Hamptons' chef's amuse-bouche...

The salty, crisp bacon and sweet, juicy melon are a combination to die for. And if you're a superstitious Italian, they may just prevent that untimely end!

We highly recommend it for a fun, refreshing, and slightly different summer appetizer. Try it, your guests will thank you!

And how about that bacon?

CLICK HERE

A BLT with fresh garden tomatoes is also a summer treat to savor, but sweating over a hot stove top is no joy at all. My solution is one many of you may already employ yourselves. I bake my bacon in the oven, and it comes out beautifully every time. To see a past post on how I do it click above or click here. And...

May you...

Eat with summer joy!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author of

The Coffeehouse Mysteries 

Friend me on facebook here. * Follow me on twitter here. 

Learn about my books here. 

The Coffeehouse Mysteries are bestselling

works of amateur sleuth fiction set in a landmark

Greenwich Village coffeehouse, and each of the

14 titles includes the added bonus of recipes. 

* * *

Once Upon a Grind:

A Coffeehouse Mystery

* A Best Book of the Year

Reviewer's Pick - King's River Life 

* Top Pick! ~ RT Book Reviews 
* Fresh Pick ~ Fresh Fiction 
* A Mystery Guild Selection

Delicious recipes are also featured in our 14th 

culinary mystery, Once Upon a Grind, including...

* Cinderella Pumpkin Cake 

* Snow White Chocolate Mocha 

* "Fryer Tuck's" Ale-Battered Onion Rings 

* Poor Man's Caviar * Black Forest Brownies 

* Cappuccino Blondies 

* Shrimp Kiev * Turkish Coffee

* Bosnian Coffee 

* Dr Pepper Glazed Chicken 

* Caramel-Dipped Meltaways 

* Silver Dollar Chocolate Chip Cookies

...and many more recipes, including 
a guide to reading coffee grinds...

See the book's

Recipe Guide (free PDF)

by clicking here. 

* * * 

Marc and I also write

The Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

Get a free title checklist, 

with mini plot summaries, 

by clicking here.

Or learn more about the 

books and meet Jack Shepard, 

our PI ghost by clicking here.

Sign up for our Coffeehouse Newsletter here.

(Recipes, contests, videos, fun info)

After you subscribe, an auto-reply will send 

you a link to several past newsletters.

Thanks for stopping by the Kitchen! 

~ Cleo

Happy Memorial Day!

My father grew up in a country where people were afraid to speak their minds. They were even afraid of the neighbors. They never knew who might turn someone in for having an opinion against the government. Or just an unpopular opinion. He learned early on that he had to be careful what he said and to whom he spoke. Consequently, he was always amazed by the friendliness of Americans. He shushed me more than once for having the audacity to speak to a stranger, but I grew up in the United States, where I never felt the fear he knew too well.

When I see what's happening in the Middle East, I have to think of my dad and his caution. The horrid pictures of innocent people suffering unimaginable acts of cruelty remind me how much we have to be thankful for in the United States. The people who deserve our thanks for protecting our freedoms are the brave men and women of the armed forces and their families, who sacrifice so that we can live free.

We should say it every day, but especially on Memorial Day, we send our appreciation and thanks to you.

Happy Memorial Day from all of us at 

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen!

When I posted my mother's recipe for cookies made with cottage cheese, I started wondering if the same basic recipe would work in a galette. With that in mind, I bought cottage cheese and fresh berries. And then I saw Smitten Kitchen's brilliant red and blue galettes. Perfect for Memorial Day!

I switched things up, though, because while Smitten Kitchen used ricotta, I wanted to try the cottage cheese. I revisited my mom's recipe and adjusted the quantities accordingly. My version is also a step easier because I was lazy and used the food processor to make the dough. Seriously, putting in the ingredients and pulsing the dough took all of about seven minutes.

I was so impressed with the star shape that Smitten Kitchen made! Sheer genius! And really not all that hard to do. Instead of different colors, though, I mixed raspberries and blueberries. At Smitten Kitchen, they said not to worry about the juices running. So to save some of those yummy juices, I used my mother's strudel trick and crumbled up half a graham cracker over the middle where the berries would go. You don't even notice that graham cracker, but it helps keep the juices inside.

On top, I drizzled a little bit of lemon sugar icing to add the white of the stars in our flag. This is a super easy recipe. The only caveat (because I always forget!!!) is to move your dough to the baking sheet BEFORE filling it. 

Star Berry Galette

inspired by Marianne's Windmills and Smitten Kitchen's star galette

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces (1/2 cup butter)

1/2 a graham cracker sheet 

2 cups berries (raspberries and blueberries)

3 to 4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

half a lemon

pinch of salt

1 egg, whisked

coarse sugar (optional)

1/2 lemon

powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place cottage cheese, flour, salt, sugar, and COLD butter into food processor (use pastry blade if you have one) and pulse until it forms a ball. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for one hour.

Roll out the dough to about 15 inches. Trim the dough into the shape of a pentagon. Make a short slit in the middle of each of the long sides. Fold gently and MOVE DOUGH TO BAKING SHEET. Crumble the graham cracker as finely as you can over the middle of the dough.

In a bowl, mix the berries with the sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt. Pour the mixture in the middle of the prepared dough and spread to within 1 1/2 or 2 inches of the edge. Fold the first part of the dough (with a point) over the berries. Follow with the next point, adjusting the edges as you go so that the berries show in the shape of a star. Brush the dough with the egg. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.

When the galette has cooled, whisk the lemon and powdered sugar together into a drizzling consistency and drizzle over top.

Serve with ice cream, whipped cream, or gobble it plain!

Dump the ingredients in and pulse.

So quick to make in the food processor.

 

Trim into a pentagon and make a little slit in the long sides.

 

Pour the berries in the middle and spread.

Fold the points inward so that the berries are in the shape of a star.

Make Windmills with the scraps!

Stop here, or -

Add a lemon sugar drizzle!

 

I can't believe that we're only a week and a day away from the release of 

THE DIVA STEALS A CHOCOLATE KISS!

I'm giving away a copy today. Leave a comment to enter. 

And don't forget to leave your email address so I can notify you if you win!

Good luck!