Happy New Year!

Turkey Redux #Recipe Turkey a la King @PegCochran

Do you still have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving or Christmas lurking in your freezer?  Raise your hand.  Ah, yes, I see quite a few of you do.  I still have the carcass and some meat to make turkey soup.  But there was enough left for another meal so I settled on this recipe for Turkey a la King from the NY Times.

Measurements in the recipe are theirs--I was a little loosey goosey with mine.  My chunk of white meat turkey yielded 2 cups not 1 1/2 cups turkey so I wasn't about to try to find another use for the 1/2 cup of meat.  Ditto the mushrooms.  We enjoyed this very much over noodles but you can put it over rice, biscuits or whatever suits your fancy.

And as a bonus, it's quick and easy to make!

6 TBL butter
2 TBL flour
1 3/4 cups turkey or chicken stock
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup frozen peas
2 TBL sherry
Salt and pepper to taste
Parsley for garnish if you have some

 

Cubed cooked turkey

Sliced mushrooms

Melt four TBL butter over medium heat.  When it begins to foam, add flour and whisk until the mixture turns approximately the color of straw.  Slowly add a cup of stock and continue whisking (I found that a little more than cup made the sauce the perfect consistency so I didn't add the rest.)

 

Melt butter

Add flour

Cook until the color of straw

Keep the sauce warm.  Instructions have you add the cream later, I added it now and it was perfect.

Heat remaining 2 TBL butter.  Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are soft and have yielded their juice.  Add the turkey, warm sauce, cream (if you didn't add it to the sauce) and peas.  Stir occasionally until mixture is hot and peas are cooked.

 

Add mushrooms and cook until soft

Add turkey, sauce and peas

Stir in the sherry, adjust seasonings and serve sprinkled with parsley if desired.

OUT NOW!

Barnes & Noble
Amazon

The USA Today bestselling author of Unholy Matrimony is back with a new Lucille Mystery! This time Lucille must track down the killer of a diet guru who had a lot more to lose than just a few extra pounds.

With her best friend Flo’s wedding approaching, Lucille is desperate to trim down and joins Weigh to Lose, a weight-loss program led by a clipboard-wielding harridan who’s as unattractively thin as she is shrill. When the bossy woman turns up dead with her throat slashed and a tasty-looking cannoli stuffed in her mouth, Lucille figures she got her just desserts.

But when the local police come up empty-handed, Lucille sinks her teeth into the mystery and narrows the list of suspects to a husband with a wandering eye, a sexy young Swedish au pair, and a gambler deep in debt to the wrong people. Until one of the suspects becomes the victim of another gruesome murder.

Afraid she’s bitten off more than she can chew and worried that she might be next on the killer’s list, Lucille puts her own neck on the line with a wild plan to trap the culprit and tip the scales of justice.

“If you want a very funny murder mystery, then this book is for you. I’ve never laughed so hard while reading before.” —Goodreads, on Unholy Matrimony, Book 2 in the USA Today bestselling Lucille Mystery Series

COMING JULY 31!

NYC 1938.  Featuring Elizabeth "Biz" Adams, debutante turned crime photographer! 

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Irish Seaweed

The holidays aren't over yet!

And your treat for this week is . . . seaweed!

No, I’ve never tried eating it, that I can remember. But when I was most recently in Field’s supermarket in Skibbereen, I found that they’d added a new display rack, and it was devoted to seaweed. Not just one kind, but a whole slew of them, neatly packaged. 

I had no idea what I was looking at, but I figured I should give at least one of them a try. Since I had no clue what they tasted like or how to cook them, I picked the one that I thought had the prettiest name: Dillisk.

Then of course I googled the stuff to make sure I wasn’t going to poison anyone. It turns out that dillisk is also called dulse, which rang a faint bell. Wikipedia says “it is a well-known snack food" (sold at seaside stalls by periwinkle sellers). Uh, not at my house. But it’s been harvested and eaten for at least 1,400 years. 

And it’s good for you! It has plenty of minerals and vitamins. You can pick it by hand along the shore when the tide is out and eat it straight from the rocks, or dry it and eat it that way, or grind it into flakes or powder. Pan-fry it, bake it, microwave it, and add it to soups, chowders, sandwiches, salads or breads.

Enough information? Okay, I’m going to make . . . Irish Dulse Soda Scones.


Dulse Scones

Ingredients:

1/2 ounce dried dulse
1 pound plain white flour (3 cups)
1 tsp bread soda (I just happened to 
   bring some back from Ireland)
1 tsp salt
12 fluid ounces buttermilk
1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Grease a baking sheet.

Soak the dulse in water for a few minutes. Drain it and then slice into fine strips.

Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the dulse and mix.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in most of the buttermilk and mix (your hand works well for this!).

After a bit the dough will come together (add the rest of the buttermilk if needed).

Turn out the dough on a floured surface and form a round, about 1” thick (this will be about 8 to 9 inches across). Brush the top with the beaten egg, then cut into roughly triangular scones (you should have about a dozen). Or if you must, cut out rounds.

Place on the baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are golden. Serve warm with butter.

What do they taste like? That’s hard to define. There’s a bit of saltiness, and something vegetal going on, but the don’t really taste like anything else. But their flavor is not too strong. You will note there’s no sugar in this recipe, but adding jam would be fine.

Oh, right--Many a Twist comes out next month. This one was fun to write, because everyone in the story has secrets, plus there's a body (and he had secrets too, before he died). And a lot of questions will be answered!

Find it for preorder at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

www.sheilaconnolly.com

Everyone's Favorite Garlic Chicken

Do you have a recipe that you trot out time after time for company or special dinners? Something that’s easy, fast, yummy and preferably make ahead?   We almost always have a dish of this in the freezer in case visitors spring out of the bushes to surprise us before dinner.  

This is one of our go-to dishes and we realized we hadn’t shared it here. It’s time.

Garlic chicken

4 large chicken breasts, skin on and bone in.

1 container sour cream – we went for 14 %, but suit yourselves if you like lower fat ones.

2 slices of whole wheat bread
1 tsp Chicago streak spice (or your favorite)

2 cloves of garlic

Juice of a lemon

2 tsp Worchestershire sauce

S & P

Whirl the bread and the garlic in a food processor until 'crumbed'. 

Place in a shallow dish or plate

In another shallow dish, combine sour cream, lemon, Worchestershire sauce, S & P.

Dip chicken breasts, one at a time, in the sour cream mixture. Then dip in the bread crumbs and transfer to a baking sheet or dish.  

This would be a good time to mention that you can adjust the amounts of ‘dip’ and crumbs, up or down depending on the number of chicken breasts.

Sprinkle steak spice on top.  You can make this in the am and then keep it in the fridge until ready to bake.   Or as we said freeze it and cook from frozen when you need to. 

Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to an hour. Test with meat thermometer to make sure chicken is cooked. Try not to overcook.

This is good hot, cold or even warm.  It goes well with most veggies.  It reheats well and it seems to work well not matter what the season is.

It’s a consistent favorite and that’s why we wanted to share with you.  So, your place or ours?

Victoria Abbott is the mysterious collaboration between the artist and photographer Victoria Maffini and her mother, the mystery writer, Mary Jane Maffini.  That's us! Strangely enough, our book collector mysteries, The Christie Curse, The Sayers Swindle, The Wolfe Widow, .The Marsh Madness and The Hammett Hex all contain lots of food and tasty recipes.  

And MJ gets all huffy if her Canadian books don't get shown.  So here they are!

We know we said our last post was December 23rd but we couldn't resist one more visit, so we sneaked in with silly hats to wish you the best of 2018 a few days early and to share this recipe. We have kidnapped Linda and tied her up in the closet.  We'll let her out after the post.  You can see how much we will miss you! So don't be strangers!

Find us on Facebook!

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Follow us on Twitter!
https://twitter.com/AbbottMysteries

Check out the fun on Pinterest!

http://www.pinterest.com/jbinghamkelly/


Find out more about us here!

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Hugs from us to all of you!

 

Cranberry sauce muffins from author @DarylWoodGerber

From Daryl:

What can you do with leftover cranberry sauce when the turkey is gone? Use it like jam. I found this absolutely delicious and simple recipe online, but it wasn't gluten-free, so yes, you know me, I tweaked it.  My homemade cranberry sauce (directly off the Ocean Spray cranberry package, by the way and always tasty!) worked perfectly.

By the way, I made a half recipe, which is also below, because I didn't need 18 muffins and I still wanted some of that cranberry sauce to go with my turkey leftovers. I made a big turkey!  LOL

Enjoy.

Note: they are not "red" inside, even though the batter is red. Hmm. Interesting chemistry, right?

Oh...don't forget to sign up for my newsletter. I've got a new one coming out on the first and you'll want to get in on the "action."  Someone on my newsletter list will win a few books!  Newsletter sign up HERE

Cranberry Sauce Muffins

 (gluten-free version * to make using regular flour, swap out GF flour and omit xanthan gum) 

(makes 18)

2 cups gluten-free flour

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

2 tablespoons whey powder

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar + 2-4 tablespoons sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1 cup cranberry sauce

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

(*HALF RECIPE BELOW)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line 18 muffin cups with paper muffin liners.

Whisk gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, whey powder, brown sugar, white sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and cardamom together in a bowl.

In a separate bowl, whisk cranberry sauce, milk, oil, egg, and vanilla extract together.

Stir flour mixture into the cranberry sauce mixture until batter is moist.  Pour into prepared muffin cups, about 2/3 full. I like to use an ice cream scooper for this.

Sprinkle the muffins with the extra sugar.

Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 18-20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

*If you wish to frost with vanilla icing, omit the sprinkling of sugar before baking.

HALF RECIPE:

(makes 9)

1 cup gluten-free flour

1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 tablespoon whey powder

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar + 2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon cardamom

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

6 tablespoons milk

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1/2 egg, beaten  (I beat a whole egg and divided in half, about 2 tablespoons)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Same instructions – line 9 muffin cups.

Note: they are not "red" inside, even though the batter was red.

Here's a bit about my latest book:

Mimi Rousseau is throwing the bistro’s first wedding—the nuptials of a famous talk show host. She is sure things will go awry when the bride’s father shows up drunk to the out-of-towners’ dinner. By the end of the evening, things look sweet again…until the next morning, when her benefactor is found dead at the bistro with an éclair stuffed in his mouth. All fingers point at Mimi, whose loan is forgiven if he dies. It’s up to her to éclair—er, clear—her name before the killer turns up the heat.

Praise:

"Talk about a culinary delight, this book is the pinnacle of deliciousness as I devoured all that was written in this exciting new series featuring Mimi and her friends." ~ Dru's Book Musings

"I have been looking forward to the book since I first saw the cover pop up on Facebook and it certainly exceeded my expectations. As a fan of the author’s Cheese Shop Mysteries and Cookbook Nook Mysteries, I knew the characters would be strong and the food descriptions would have my mouth watering and I was right." ~ Escape with Dollycas Blog

Savor the mystery!

*

Friend Daryl and Avery on Facebook
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Plus check out my website.

A DEADLY ÉCLAIR, the 1st in the French Bistro Mysteries, is coming November 2017. Can Mimi clear her name before the killer turns up the heat? Click here to order.

GRILLING THE SUBJECT, the 5th Cookbook Nook Mystery, is out!

The Wild West Extravaganza has come to Crystal Cove.

Click here to order.

FOR CHEDDAR OR WORSE, 
the 7th Cheese Shop Mystery is out!

Finally there's going to be a cheese festival in Providence!

Click to order.

GIRL ON THE RUN a stand-alone suspense

When a fairytale fantasy night becomes a nightmare, 

Chessa Paxton must run for her life...but will the truth set her free? 

Click to order




DAY OF SECRET my new stand-alone suspense
A mother he thought was dead. A father he never knew. 
An enemy that wants them dead.
Click here to order.