Guest Barbara Ross serves up True Love, Fish Tacos, and a #bookgiveaway

True Love Fish Tacos for Valentines

by Barbara Ross

When I found out my Mystery Lovers Kitchen guest post would run on Valentine’s Day, I spent a lot of time consternating about which recipe from my new Maine Clambake Mystery, Fogged Inn, I would offer up. I needed something romantic. Nothing seemed to suit.

But then I realized one of my recipes had a very romantic backstory. On the day before Valentine’s last year, my daughter Kate called us to announce her engagement. Her fiancé, Luke, is a wonderful young man, a research scientist Kate was introduced to by one of her high school friends, who had married one of his high school friends. And so a match was made.

Kate’s not much of a cook. During her years in Manhattan and London I used to joke that she stored her sweaters in her oven. But a return to Boston and a grad student’s budget finally got her into her kitchen. Meanwhile, across the country, Luke was also in grad school and using his limited spare time to perfect this fish taco recipe among others. He generously shared it with me for Fogged Inn.

They’ll be married in May.

(Leslie says: And aren't they just as cute as they can be?)

Giveaway!

To celebrate true love and Valentine’s Day, two lucky readers will win an autographed copies of Fogged Inn (to be released on February 23^rd). Leave a comment below by midnight, Monday, February 15th, to be entered.   

Luke’s Fish Tacos

Sauce

½ cup mayonnaise

1 cup sour cream

1/2 small shallot, finely chopped

1 medium jalapeño, diced

Juice of one medium lime

 Salt and pepper to taste

2 cilantro sprigs

Taco and Toppings

8 corn tortillas, warmed

2 jalapeños, chopped

1/2 shallot, finely chopped 

2 tomatoes, chopped

Chopped cilantro sprigs

1 lime cut into wedges for squeezing

1 small head radicchio, chopped

 Fish

1 pound any seasonal white fish

2 tablespoons butter

Seasoning

1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

To make the sauce

Combine the sauce ingredients in a bowl and mix. Prepare at least 1 hour in advance and let sit in the refrigerator. (If you have leftover sauce, it makes for a great chip dip!)

To make the fish

Cook fish in butter and ½ teaspoon of the seasoning until the fish  is opaque. Squeeze lime juice from one wedge on the fish, then break up the fillet.

To serve

Serve fish on warmed corn tortillas with toppings and sauce.

Serves: 4

About Fogged Inn: An autumn chill has settled over Busman's Harbor, Maine, but Julia Snowden is warming up the town by offering lobster stew at the local diner. When her landlord discovers a dead body in the walk-in refrigerator, Julia must figure out who ordered up a side of murder.

Nothing's colder than a corpse--especially one stashed inside a sub-zero fridge. The victim spent his last night on earth dining at the restaurant bar, so naturally Julia finds herself at the center of the ensuing investigation. Lost in the November fog, however, is who'd want to kill the unidentified stranger--and why. It might have something to do with a suspicious group of retirees and a decades-old tragedy to which they're all connected. One thing's for sure: Julia's going to make solving this mystery her early bird special…

Barbara Ross is the author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries, Clammed Up, Boiled Over, Musseled Out and Fogged Inn. Clammed Up was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel and was a finalist for the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. Barbara blogs with a wonderful group of Maine mystery authors at Maine Crime Writers and with a group of writers of New England-based cozy mysteries at Wicked Cozy Authors.

She loves to hear from readers. You can find her at her website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com , or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/barbaraannross , on Twitter @barbross, or on Pinterest at www.pinterest.com/barbaraannross .