Chopped Olive and Onion salad #recipe from author @DarylWoodGerber

From Daryl aka Avery

I'm totally into easy recipes. Why?

5 reasons why easy recipes are cool:

• You can go to the store and remember the ingredients.
• You might have all the ingredients in your refrigerator or cupboards already.
• You can share the recipe with a friend who is a newbie cook.
• You can make the recipe in minutes.
• You can often swap out ingredients and still come up with something tasty.

This particular recipe is great for a barbecue. Throw those ribs or hot dogs or burgers on the grill and know that your salad dish is already done.

And as I noted in the 5 reasons above, if you don't like something in the salad - say olives - toss in something else, like garbanzo beans. Don't like Parmesan? Use Cheddar or feta. Don't like capers, leave them out or throw in peppers.

No matter what, have fun!

By the way, I have some exciting news in my next newsletter (which comes out tomorrow -- always on the first of the month -- sometimes more often!)  I hope you're signed up so you can be one of the first to know.

CHOPPED OLIVE AND ONION SALAD

¼ lemon (juice)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoons capers

½ large tomato chopped

½ cucumber, chopped

2 green onions, chopped

10 black olives, chopped

2 tablespoons Parmesan, shaved – more if desired

Toss all the ingredients in a small bowl. Serve cold.  After serving, top with more Parmesan if desired.

Savor the mystery!

*

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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!

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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? 

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DAY OF SECRETS
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.

Erin's Enchiladas, from TREBLE AT THE JAM FEST - #bookgiveaway

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: I always say that one of the secrets to a happy life is friends who cook well.

And nothing proves that better than my longggg friendship with Lita, whom I met during sophomore year of college. She married a man with a Hispanic mother and embraced Mexican cooking with both very strong arms. This is Lita’s recipe, which I think she based on one from America’s Test Kitchen. Admittedly, it’s a bit, oh, involved is the best word, and in TREBLE AT THE JAM FEST, Erin admits that she occasionally grabs a jar of sauce from the Merc’s shelves when she craves enchiladas. Granted, she and the Merc are fictional—don’t tell her I said so—so this is the recipe in those jars.

TREBLE AT THE JAM FEST, the 4th Food Lovers' Village Mystery, will be out officially on June 8. Leave a comment below for a chance to win a signed copy!

Fill the enchiladas with chicken, shredded beef, or black beans---or a combination, as described below.

This sauce freezes beautifully, and can be used in burritos, tamales, tortilla soup, or other recipes. Double it some Sunday afternoon and stick a pan of unbaked enchiladas in the freezer for a night when even reaching for a jar seems like too much.

A NOTE ABOUT CHILES: After I posted this, a few comments asked about the California and Guajillo chiles in the sauce. Both are mild, red chiles. California chiles start out green and turn red as they ripen; they are apparently sometimes called chile seco del Norte or Magdalena chiles. Guajillo chiles are the dried mirasol chile. This guide has more details and pictures, as does this site. I've noticed that naming varies and is not necessarily consistent. If you can't find dried chiles with these names, look for a red chile with a mild flavor and try combining a couple; if you like more heat, you'll have more options. Remember that cooking is an art, not a precise science, and be willing to play -- if you're not sure whether a pepper will be too hot, try a small amount, and add more later if you'd like.

Enchilada Sauce

2 ounces dried Ancho chiles
2 ounces dried Guajillo chiles
2-3 ounces dried California chiles
½ large or 1 medium white or yellow onion, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife blade
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
½ - 1 orange, sliced, including the peel (if the peel is thick, use half of it)
4 – 6 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed in your hands
1 teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
1 tablespoon masa harina (corn flour) or very finely ground corn meal
½ lime, juiced (2-3 tablespoons of juice)

Using kitchen scissors, and optional gloves, stem and seed the chiles.

Heat a large skillet on high and quickly dry roast the chiles, in batches, 1-2 minutes, to darken the skin; do not burn.

Place the peppers, onion, garlic, carrot, and orange in a large pot, and cover with the stock. Cover pot and bring to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat and let mixture sit about 30 minutes.

Ladle 2-3 cups of liquid and vegetables, about half and half, into a blender. Puree about 3 minutes and place in another pot or a non-staining bowl. Repeat with additional batches till complete.

Return sauce to pan and add the cumin, oregano, and salt. In a small bowl, make a slurry of the corn flour and about 1/4 cup of the chile puree, to prevent clumping, then add to pot and stir in. Add lime juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and tasting to adjust the seasoning.

The Enchiladas

8 - 8 inch corn tortillas
oil
sauce
1 pound beef (stew meat), slow cooked until it can be shredded with a fork, OR 1 pound chicken breast, cooked and shredded, OR 1 pound black beans, cooked (or a 16 ounce can)
2 ounces diced green chiles, fresh or canned
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
10-12 green onions, chopped
½ cup cilantro, chopped (optional)
sour cream (optional)
fresh tomatoes, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly oil the tortillas on each side and warm them in the oven to prevent cracking—you can warm them while the oven is preheating.

Mix your beef, chicken, or beans with the green chiles, and if you’d like, a few green onions and cilantro.

Pour ½ cup (about a ladleful) of sauce in the bottom of a 9X13 baking pan. Place a warmed tortilla on a plate. In the center, place about 1/4 cup filling and a tablespoon of cheese. Roll up tightly and place in the baking dish.

Ladle more sauce over the top of the tortillas and sprinkle with cheddar. Bake about 15 minutes, until cheese melts. Serve with chopped onions and cilantro, and optional sour cream and tomatoes.

Unbaked enchiladas freeze beautifully, in the pan. To serve, thaw and bake 15 to 20 minutes, or until thoroughly heated and the cheese is melted.

Makes 8 enchiladas.

Does your BFF have a favorite recipe you adore???

Leave a comment below for a chance to win a signed copy of TREBLE AT THE JAM FEST, Food Lovers' Village Mystery #4 (Midnight Ink, June 8, 2017). (US and Canadian addresses only; winner will be chosen Thurs, June 1.)

From the cover:   

Erin Murphy, manager of Murphy’s Mercantile (aka the Merc), is tuning up for Jewel Bay’s annual Jazz Festival. Between keeping the Merc’s shelves stocked with Montana’s tastiest local fare and hosting the festival’s kick-off concert, Erin has her hands full.

Discord erupts when jazz guitarist Gerry Martin is found dead on the rocks above the Jewel River. The one-time international sensation had fallen out of sync with festival organizers, students, and performers. Was his death an accident?or did someone even the score?

Despite the warning signs to not get involved, Erin investigates. And when the killer attacks, she orchestrates her efforts into one last crescendo, hoping to avoid a deadly finale.

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. The past president of Sisters in Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by my website and join the mailing list for my seasonal newsletter. And join me on Facebook where I announce lots of giveaways from my cozy writer friends.

Happy Memorial Day!

Today a lot of us are celebrating Memorial Day with food, and chances are good that a dessert involving strawberries and cream is on the menu. Summertime is made for whipped cream and fresh fruit. Whether it's berries or peaches, there's nothing quite like that combination.

But whipped cream doesn't always want to cooperate for long. I'll admit that I have kept whipped cream in the fridge for a number of days without having it weep. But if it's on a cake, it will start to look shabby in a day if you don't stabilize it. Daryl and I were talking about this the other day. Can you believe it? Yes, the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen authors talk about food with one another!

I thought I would devote today to stabilizing whipped cream because a lot of people don't understand how to do it. You can buy a lovely spongecake and strawberries, but I don't think you can't buy stabilized whipped cream. I will admit that it can take a few tries to get it right. This is probably not the best thing for a novice baker to tackle.

Before you get so scared that you run away, let me say that it's really not difficult. But it involves gelatin. Consequently, it can go lumpy quite fast. The process isn't elaborate. Dissolve the gelatin in water or cream and beat it into the whipped cream. See? That's not so bad, is it? You just have to make sure that the gelatin is completely dissolved and that it doesn't start setting up before you mix it into the whipped cream.

So, make sure the kids aren't tugging at you or fighting with each other. Make sure the dog doesn't need to go out. Do not answer the phone or the door. This requires your concentration for only a few minutes, but you do have to pay attention to what you're doing in order for it to work.


How to Stabilize Whipped Cream

I use a ratio of one little packet of unflavored gelatin to one cup of heavy cream. So if you're making a lot, say to frost a cake, then you would need two packets for two cups of heavy cream.

4 teaspoons of cold water or cold heavy cream

1 packet (about 1 teaspoon) unflavored gelatin

1 cup heavy cream for whipping

1/4 to 1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pour the 4 teaspoons of water or heavy cream into a small pot. Sprinkle the gelatin over it. Give it a few minutes to thicken.

Meanwhile, beat the 1 cup of heavy cream until it begins to thicken and take shape. Add the sugar and vanilla and whip. Do not overbeat!

Place the gelatin over medium-low heat and stir constantly until gelatin is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and cool, but don't allow it to set. (If it should set, try reheating and stirring to dissolve it again.)

While slowly beating the cream, pour the gelatin into it. Whip at high speed until it holds a stiff peak.

Dissolve gelatin. (Dark edges are reflections in the pot. Sorry!)

Beat dissolved gelatin into whipped cream.

Have a Happy Memorial Day!

Leave It To Cleaver

 

A very warm welcome to our friend, Victoria Hamilton. She always brings delicious recipes and fun giveaways. And this time around, she gets the prize for the cutest cover and most clever title, LEAVE IT TO CLEAVER! How cute is that? It's the 6th book in her Vintage Kitchen Mystery series.

Don't forget to leave a comment to enter the giveaway.

Pork Medallions with Mushroom Sage Cream Sauce

I’ve been joking lately that you could eat dirt with butter and cream and it would taste just fine. I’m not sure that’s true, never having tried it, but I can tell you that chicken or pork in a cream sauce is delicious! I tried this recipe with chicken last week and it was so good I vowed to try it with pork medallions, and voila, here you go: that elusive thing, a recipe that is fast, easy and delicious!

Pork Medallions with Mushroom Sage Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

1 ½ pound pork loin or pork chops, boneless

4 tbsp butter, divided

1 – 2 tbsp olive oil

10 ounces cremini mushrooms, quartered

1 clove garlic, minced

½ cup chicken stock

Sprig of sage leaves, fresh, or 1 tsp dried sage

1 cup (or more) heavy (35 %) cream

Seasoned Flour:

1 cup AP flour

2 tsp salt

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

1 – Halve or quarter mushrooms and set aside.

2 – If using pork loin roast, slice pork in ¾ inch thick slices, or cut pork chops into uniform size pieces. Pound between two sheets of waxed paper with meat mallet into uniform thickness, about half inch.

3 – Mix seasoned flour ingredients in plastic storage bag. Shake the pork medallions in the flour mixture and set aside.

4 – Heat 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in large skillet over medium heat (I used an electric fry pan) and brown the pork on both sides. You may have to do this in batches. Remove browned pork from pan and set aside.

5 – Add the remaining 2 tbsp of butter to the skillet (and  little more olive oil, if needed) and sauté the mushrooms and garlic over medium heat for about five minutes, or until the mushrooms are lightly browned.

6 – Add the half cup of stock and the sage to the pan, deglaze, loosening up any of the yummy brown bits, then add pork back to the pan, cover, reduce heat and cook for ten to twenty minutes, depending on how thick your chops are. I did a small test piece just to know when it was cooked through.

7 – Remove chicken and mushrooms from pan. Add the cream (I’ll confess I used the whole container – you can never have too much sauce!) and simmer on low/medium until the sauce is reduced and starting to thicken. Once it is to a creamy consistency, add the pork medallions back into the sauce, turning it so it is coated, and heat through. The sauce should thicken a little more at this stage.

8 – Serve the pork medallions with the mushrooms and sauce spooned over. I haven’t tried it, but I think the sauce would be delicious over noodles or a rice pilaf.

And… enjoy!

 

 

 About Leave It To Cleaver

Book #6 in the Vintage Kitchen Mystery series, by Victoria Hamilton!

Publisher: Beyond the Page (Available mid-June in print and ebook from Amazon, B&N, and as an ebook from other vendors!)

Jaymie Leighton, planning a big event in her own life along with her sister, Becca, is distracted by the 33 year-old mystery of two missing local teens, schoolmates of Becca’s. It’s a very odd trip back in time and gives her a glimpse of her sister’s life as a teenager when Jaymie was just an infant. But some of the secrets she uncovers may have devastating repercussions in the families of her best friend in the world, Valetta Nibley, and others close to her!

For more information, visit http://www.victoriahamiltonmysteries.com – or – find me on Facebook! Victoria Hamilton, Author

Giveaway!

Comment here to enter to win a limited edition ‘Cozy up to a great mystery!’ mug, pen, fridge magnet and bookmark! US and Canada addresses only, please.

Easiest Rhubarb Cake: a spring favorite #recipe #mystery #giveaway

Thanks to Sheila  Connolly for the reminder earlier this month that the rhubarb in our backyard can turn into something delicious.  We have an exuberant plant!  Have learned a few things about harvesting it:  twist off the stalks, don’t cut.  Harvest before it ‘flowers’ or the rhubarb will be tough.  Discard the leaves: they can be toxic.  And the good news: rhubarb loves the freezer.  

Easiest Rhubarb Cake

INGREDIENTS:

2 extra-large eggs, room temperature

½ cup plus one tablespoon sugar

½ cup plus one tablespoon flour

1 – 2 tablespoons chilled butter

1 cup chopped fresh (or frozen rhubarb)

¾ tsp good quality vanilla extract

¼ tsp almond extract

DIRECTIONS:


Chop the rhubarb.

Beat eggs until light and fluffy. 

Gradually beat in sugar until thick. Add vanilla and almond extract. Beat in flour (don’t overbeat) Ooops! This photo has vanished!

Pour into greased 8 inch baking pan.  

Arrange a layer of rhubarb on the top.  Top with dabs of butter.  I like to use these little red pans I got more than twenty years ago in England.  The cakes do turn out better if you make one at a time, rather than doubling the recipe. I don’t know why.   Of course they can bake together.
 

Bake at 400 degrees for 20 – 25 minutes.   

When the cake is cool, dust with icing sugar.  The sweetness counteracts the tartness of the rhubarb.

  
Serve as is or with whipping cream or ice cream.  I think it would be nice with some lemon zest added too.  I'll do that next time and, of course, there is always a next time with this little cake. 

The rhubarb cake freezes beautifully. I usually freeze the second one if I can save it in time. And now on to related topics: tulips. Ottawa,  mysteries and giveaway.

May is our month for rhubarb but it's also our month for tulips and in Ottawa, we have the Tulip Festival which is at the heart of my first published mystery: Speak Ill of the Dead, a Camilla MacPhee book.   

Of course, being a lawyer and victims' advocate, Camilla is a bit grumpy and doesn't care for all those tulips or tourists. Now she's trying to save her friend, Robin, from murder charges.  I still like tulips though and I am still happy with my first book. To honor its May origins I will have a draw from your comments today.  Tell me why YOU would like to read a book about a grumpy lawyer with an interfering family living in Canada's capital or just say something about rhubarb or cake and your name goes in the hat.  I look forward to hearing from you!  If you have already read it, we can make a deal.  DON'T FORGET TO INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL!



Mary Jane Maffini is the author of thirteen books in three mystery series and co-author of the book collector mysteries along with her daughter, Victoria, writing as Victoria Abbott.

Here are the Camilla MacPhee books Be careful: may contain humor, difficult relatives and the world's worst office assistant.  Also animals.




Visit MJ at www.maryjanemaffini.com and MJ and Victoria at  Victoria Abbott

You can friend her on   FACEBOOK.

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