We're Growing!

I am delighted to announce that Leslie Budewitz is joining us at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen! Leslie goes way back with Daryl, Sheila, Peg, and me. In fact, all the way back to the days when none of us were published. We all met through the Guppies, the Sisters In Crime Chapter for unpublished writers. Of course, all these years later, we have met face to face at conventions. It's an odd feeling meeting someone you've only known through a cyber connection. We instantly became old friends!

Leslie writes the Food Lovers Village Mysteries. Her first book in that series, DEATH AL DENTE, won the Agatha award for Best First Novel in 2013. And now, she is also writing the Spice Shop Mystery series. It debuts in March with ASSAULT AND PEPPER. In addition, Leslie won the Agatha award for Best Nonfiction in 2011 for BOOKS, CROOKS AND COUNSELORS: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure. 

You're probably wondering who is leaving. No one! But Cleo will be cutting back to two posts a month. Not to worry, Cleo will definitely still be around. In fact, she's taking over our special seasonal pages. Keep an eye on the left sidebar where we'll be posting a link to recipes that we recommend for holidays and celebrations. Leslie will be posting the first, third, and fifth Tuesdays of the month, and Cleo will be posting on the second and fourth Tuesdays.

And now on to a recipe~

Seems like I'm on a roll with recipes that have few ingredients, are easy to prepare, and cook relatively fast! After trying out some less than desirable recipes, suddenly I've stumbled upon some that are so simple and delicious that they will become part of my no-brainer quick fixes.

I bought a nice piece of Sockeye salmon at the store this week. I have to admit, though, that I'm not the best at preparing salmon in interesting ways. And, since it's January, it's just way too cold to stand outside and grill.

I've been testing recipes for THE DIVA STEALS A CHOCOLATE KISS, and I had quite a bit of sour cream left over. I'm not big on dill with sour cream, so I dared to Google the words sour cream and salmon. The very first recipe to pop up was on Inspired Taste. It sounded too easy and maybe even too good to be true. I tried it anyway.

This is the perfect we-just-got-home-and no-one-wants-to-cook recipe. Seriously, you could plop this on a bed of lettuce and have a meal. It takes seconds to prepare the sour cream topping while the oven preheats. And then it cooks in 15-20 minutes. Quick, easy, and almost no cleanup if you bake it on parchment paper.

Did I mention that it was delicious?

I do have one suggestion, though. In a moment of supreme laziness, I did not cut the salmon into four pieces like the recipe suggests. I loaded the sour cream topping on the whole piece and popped it in the oven for twenty minutes. It was perfect. Go for the shorter cooking time of 15 minutes if you have four small pieces. I suspect that cooking it as one large piece kept it from drying out. I was worried that the middle might be undercooked but it was just right.

I didn't have whole grain mustard, but my favorite horseradish mustard worked beautifully.

Sour Cream Baked Salmon

from Inspired Taste

Four 6-ounce salmon filets (or one 6-7 inch-ish filet)
1/2 cup sour cream (whole fat)
1 1/2 teaspoons whole grain mustard (or horseradish mustard)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 425. Place a sheet of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Mix together the sour cream, mustard, and parmesan cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste. Spread the sour cream mixture over the entire top of the salmon. Bake 15-20 minutes. (15 minutes for individual pieces, 20 minutes for one larger piece.)

  

I didn't cut it into pieces.

With sour cream topping before baking.

Almost looks like meringue!

Coming in June!