Dark Chocolate Pots of Creme #Recipe and #CoverReveal by @LibbyKlein #Valentine's Day

 Libby Klein  Valentine's Day means Chocolate! Believed by many to be an aphrodisiac, chocolate has long been considered the language of love. Anything made in miniature always seems fancy. These pots of crème are the perfect dessert to end a romantic Valentine's meal. Individual servings for two (or six) make the affair seem even more intimate. Pots of Crème are a cross between a baked pudding and a Crème Brûlée. You could probably carmelize some sugar on top of these and convince your guests they are chocolate Crème Brûlée if you really wanted to. Shown here with Earl Grey Madeleines, you could leave those off, sprinkle a little powdered sugar or a dollop of fresh whipped cream on top, and maybe add a raspberry right before serving.

And also... The very first appearance of my Christmas-themed mystery on the blog, Silent Nights Are Murder coming September 2024, is shown below! It's one of my favorite covers - look at little Figaro with a red bird Christmas ornament in his mouth. He is so naughty!

Dark Chocolate Pots de Crème

Earl Grey Madeleine Optional

Yield 6

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
4 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons sugar
⅛ teaspoon sea salt

 

Directions:

1.     Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a heavy saucepan, bring cream and milk to a boil. Remove from heat; whisk in chopped chocolate until smooth.

2.    In a large bowl, whisk together the yolks, sugar and salt. Temper the yolks with a little of the hot chocolate. Then, whisking constantly, slowly pour the rest of the hot chocolate into yolks. Strain through a very fine mesh sieve into a large measuring cup or a pitcher or your blender so its easy to pour.

3.    Divide mixture among 2- to 4-ounce espresso cups or small ramekins. I used ramekins and it made 6.

4.    Put a large roasting pan on the pulled-out rack in the center of the preheated oven. Set filled cups in the roasting pan while It’s in the oven. Add very hot tap water to pan, halfway up the sides of cups. Cover pan with foil; use a fork to prick holes in foil. Very gently put the rack into the oven so you don’t splash water into your chocolate pots.

5.    Bake until edges are lightly set (lifting foil to check) but center – about the size of a quarter or less - is still jiggly. It will set as it cools — 30 to 35 minutes. If the chocolate is still very runny in a wide area bigger than a quarter, you will need to bake it longer. Transfer cups to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 3 hours before serving with whipped cream or a sprinkle of powdered sugar.

 

Gluten-free baker Poppy McAllister and her aunt Ginny are looking forward to a quiet, homey Christmas at their B&B in Cape May, but unfortunately, death isn’t taking a holiday this year . . .

Ever since Thanksgiving, Poppy and her pals have been left with an unsolved mystery of the romantic kind. But at least this mystery isn’t the kind that involves murder. That all changes when the body of a fish supplier is discovered in the kitchen of her ex’s restaurant—and he’s frozen, not fresh.

For once, it’s not Poppy who tripped over the corpse, yet she can’t escape being drawn in since the victim has a note taped to him reading Get Poppy. Figures—an engagement ring isn't labeled, but the dead guy is addressed to her. Now, while Aunt Ginny plans a tree-trimming party and pressures Poppy to decode a mysterious old diary, the amateur sleuth is asked to “unofficially” go undercover at the restaurant to help the police. Until then, the only crime Poppy had been dealing with was Figaro’s repeated thefts of bird ornaments from the tree; now it looks like it’s going to be a murder-y Christmas after all . . .

 

Libby Klein grew up in Cape May, NJ where she attended high school in the '80s. Her

classes revolved mostly around the Culinary sciences and Drama, with one brilliant semester in Poly-Sci that may have been an accident. She loves to drink coffee, bake gluten-free goodies, collect fluffy cats, and translate sarcasm for people who are too serious. She writes from her Northern Virginia office where she serves a very naughty black smoke Persian named Sir Figaro Newton. You can keep up with her shenanigans by signing up for her Mischief and Mayhem Newsletter on her website. www.LibbyKleinBooks.com/Newsletter/

Barley with Honey-roasted Carrots -- a tasty winter #recipe

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: I enjoy the New York Times' regular food newsletter and occasionally spot a recipe I’d like to make. Alas, we don't subscribe, so when a carrot-barley combo went by and I’d already used all my free downloads, I was on my own. I figured out what flavor profile, as the pros say, that I wanted, and created my own recipe. (The pros say they “developed a recipe,” but that sounds silly to me. I’d much rather create!) 

Mr. Right loves barley and we adore roasted veggies, so it was an easy sell. I used baby carrots, but if you prefer adults, cut them into sticks. 

I used my easy Italian herb blend, originally published in Killing Thyme, the third Spice Shop mystery featuring Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle's Pike Place Market. You could also use thyme, or any blend you enjoy. Garam masala would be interesting, as would a lemon pepper and herb blend. Think about the “flavor profile” you want---what gets your mouth watering. (And of course, it might be different next time you make this---flexibility is the spice of life!) 

This makes a nice side dish I think would pair well with almost any kind beef or chicken. I reheated leftovers for lunch and spotted a bit of feta in the fridge, so I added a little on top. So good! Alas, I didn't think to take a picture. Next time, I’ll crumble feta in to the warm dish – you choose, based on your taste. Your “flavor profile.” 

Enjoy!

Barley with Honey-roasted Carrots 

1 cup barley, uncooked

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons butter

1 pound baby carrots or cut carrots

salt

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs or other blend 

lemon zest and juice

1/4 to ½ cup crumbled feta, optional 

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a small rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 

Cook the barley in two cups of water, loosely covered, over medium-low. It should be done in about 22-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the honey and butter in a small saucepan. Spread the carrots on the baking sheet, pour the honey-butter mixture over them, and stir to mix. Sprinkle with salt and herbs. Roast until slightly soft—a fork should pierce and cut them nicely—about 20 minutes. 

Place barley in serving dish. Top with carrots. If some of the honey-butter mixture remains liquid-ish on the parchment paper, carefully lift the paper and drizzle the mixture into your serving dish. Top with lemon zest and squeeze a bit of lemon juice over the bowl. (You want brightness, not mouth-pucker.) Top with feta if you’d like. 

Serves 4-6 as a side dish. Reheats nicely. 

Enjoy!

A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, in paper, ebook, and audio)

From the cover: 

One person’s treasure is another’s trash. . .

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life for a change, running her shop and working with customers eager to spice up their cooking. But when she finds an envelope stuffed with cash in a ratty old wingback left on the curb, she sets out to track down the owner.

Pepper soon concludes that the chair and its stash may belong to young Talia Cook, new in town and nowhere to be seen. Boz Bosworth, an unemployed chef Pepper’s tangled with in the past, shows up looking for the young woman, but Pepper refuses to help him search. When Boz is found floating in the Ship Canal, only a few blocks from Talia’s apartment, free furniture no longer seems like such a bargain.

On the hunt for Talia, Pepper discovers a web of connections threatening to ensnare her best customer. The more she probes, the harder it gets to tell who’s part of an unsavory scheme of corruption—and who might be the next victim.

Between her quest for an elusive herb, helping her parents remodel their new house, and setting up the Spice Shop’s first cooking class, Pepper’s got a full plate. Dogged by a sense of obligation to find the rightful owner of the hidden treasure, she keeps on showing up and asking questions.

One mistake, and she could find herself cashing out. . .

Available at Amazon  * Barnes & Noble  * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * And your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest book is Between a Wok and a Dead Place, the 7th Spice Shop mystery.  

A past president of Sisters in Crime and national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.

Spotlight on Kallie E. Benjamin aka Valerie (V. M.) Burns #Giveaway

 Once a month at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, we each take a turn under the spotlight. Today, I'm going to introduce you to my newest (and hopefully last) personality. You've already met V. M. Burns and Valerie Burns. Now, it's time to get acquainted with Kallie E. Benjamin.

My writing career started with three series using my initials, V. M. Burns. My reasoning was simple. I wanted readers to be able to find me. ValerieBurns.com wasn't available, but Vmburns.com was. So, I wrote my Mystery Bookshop Mystery series and two other mystery series as V. M. Burns.

Dog Club Mystery (Lyrical/Kensington) by V. M. Burns

RJ Franklin Mystery (Camel Press) by V. M. Burns

In 2020, I decided to close out my Dog Club Mystery and RJ Franklin Mystery series. At the time, it looked as though Kensington wouldn't continue the Mystery Bookshop Mystery series. So, I needed a new start. I wrote a proposal for a culinary cozy mystery, the Baker Street Mystery series, and my agent sent it out. Initially, it looked as though no publishers were interested. So, I wrote another proposal for the Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery series. After five months (yes publishing is slow), my editor at Kensington called my agent and said he'd "changed his mind." I wasn't sure what that meant. I thought they'd decided to continue my Mystery Bookshop Mystery series, but NO. That wasn't it. He decided that he liked my Baker Street Mystery series after all. WHEW! I had a three-book deal and I got to continue writing. The only hiccup was that Kensington wanted me to use a new name. A new series. A new name. A fresh start. Okay, well I chose Valerie Burns (maybe not very original, but it was the best I could do at the time).

Baker Street Mystery Series (Kensington) by Valerie Burns

I had a book deal, but I had been writing three series and I knew I could do more. My new Bailey the Bloodhound proposal was still out on submission, so maybe, just maybe, I could write these two new series. That's when I got a surprise. My agent called to tell me that my editor at Kensington "changed his mind, AGAIN." My first thought was, "they don't want to do my Baker Street Mystery series?" Imagine my surprise when she said, "No. They want two more Mystery Bookshop Mystery books." Well, yippy! I love writing about Samantha, Nana Jo, and the Girls from Shady Acres Retirement Village. I was thrilled to get to keep writing about them.

Mystery Bookshop Mystery (Kensington) by V. M. Burns

I had two series and I was happy. A few months later, I got word that Berkley (a division of Penguin Random House) was interested in my Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery series which was still out on submission. I had dreamed of getting a contract with a big five publisher and here was my chance. The only caveat was they wanted to differentiate this series and wanted a new pen name. 

So, I needed to come up with a new pen name. If I was going to use a different name, I wanted one that meant something (at least to me). This was the birth of Kallie E. Benjamin. Kallie was my great-grandmother's name. E. is for my mom (Elvira). Benjamin was my dad's name. My mom died in 2013 and my dad died on December 21, 2023, just three weeks after my first Kallie E. Benjamin book was released, so this series is even more special to me. I hope readers will enjoy getting acquainted with Pris and her faithful companion, Bailey. There are also lots of other family connections in this series which starts from the setting. This series is set in the fictional town of Crosbyville, Indiana which I named after one of my great-nephews, Crosby.

Bailey the Bloodhound by Kallie E. Benjamin

Different series. Different names, but it's still the same author and the same wholesome fun. Just looking at the covers, readers will notice that regardless of the pen name, there are common themes in my books. The New York Times said,  "Books, dogs and food — and a well-structured sense of fun — connect almost all of Valerie Burns’s cozy mysteries, regardless of pseudonym." (NYTIMES, December 1, 2023)

Born and raised in northwestern Indiana, Valerie now lives in Northern Georgia with her two poodles.

She also serves as an adjunct professor in the Writing Popular Fiction Program at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA.

READERS: I have poodles and my books all include dogs. If you like dogs, do you have a favorite breed? Let me know in the comments for a chance to win a copy of SNIFFING OUT MURDER the first book in the Bailey the Bloodhound Mystery Series (US Only). Please remember to include your email address if you want to be included in the giveaway. 

SNIFFING OUT MURDER

When a murder unleashes a widespread investigation through Crosbyville, children’s book author Pris and her trusty bloodhound, Bailey, must sniff out the truth before the whole town goes to the dogs.

After deciding that life as a teacher wasn’t right for her, Priscilla found inspiration for her first children’s book in her three-year-old bloodhound’s nose for truth, and so The Adventures of Bailey the Bloodhound was born. After the book’s massively pawsitive response led Pris to move back to her hometown of Crosbyville, Indiana, to continue the series, she’s surprised by how things have changed in the town, but even more so how they haven’t.

Pris is frustrated to discover that newly elected school board trustee Whitney Kelley—a former high school mean girl—is intent on making Crosbyville more competitive by eliminating “frivolous spending” on the arts and social programs, including Pris and Bailey’s beloved pet-assisted reading program. A minor altercation between them isn’t anything unusual, but after Bailey sniffs out Whitney’s body in a bed of begonias, locals start hounding Pris and Bailey as suspects for the crime.

With Bailey’s sharp senses and Pris’s hometown know-how, can they prove to the community that they’re all barking up the wrong tree?

BUY LINK

Pilgrim Bread from Molly MacRae

 

This is another one of those recipes we’ve been making for decades. Made with cornmeal, rye, whole wheat, and white flour, the loaf has a really wholesome, nutty flavor. Over the years I’ve added more or less of each type of flour and experimented with substituting or adding other grains like oatmeal and millet. It’s a forgiving recipe! We like to make round loaves and serve wedges of the bread with soup or stew.

A few weeks ago, when it only got as high as 0 here, I warmed the house by making this bread and a pot of baked beans. They warmed us inside and out.  

 

Pilgrim Bread (adapted from Ruth B. Hess’ recipe in the 1976 edition of More-With-Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre)

 

Ingredients

¼ cup cornmeal

2 ½ tablespoons brown sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 cup boiling water

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 ¼ teaspoons dry yeast (1 packet)

¼ cup warm water

¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour

¼ cup rye flour

2 – 2 ½ cups unbleached white flour or bread flour

 

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, brown sugar, and salt. Gradually stir in boiling water. Add oil. Cool to lukewarm.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, dissolve yeast in the ¼ cup warm water. Let sit for five or so minutes, until bubbly.

Add bubbly yeast to cornmeal mixture. Stir in whole wheat and rye flours. Stir in white flour one cup at a time to form a soft but not sticky dough.

Turn dough onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic – 7 to 10 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl, turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double. 

Punch dough down, turn onto lightly floured surface and knead for about 3 minutes. Shape dough into a round and place in a greased pie dish (or make it into a standard loaf). Cover and let rise until double. Bake at 375 F. for 25-30 minutes for round loaf, 40-45 minutes for a standard loaf.

Look for Molly’s new series—the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries—coming in July 2024!

Book 1: Come Shell or High Water

And in the meantime, you can enjoy her other books.

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction. Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Italian Wedding Soup from @MaddieDayAuthor

MADDIE DAY here with a yummy soup for a cold day. Valentine's Day is coming up soon and, whether you are married or not, who wouldn't want to celebrate a wedding with a meatball soup?

Just kidding. 

Because I had no idea why this is called wedding soup, I looked it up. I found a site called NonnaBox, which provided this explanation:

"Its original name in Italian is minestra maritata and it was translated to “wedding soup”, when in fact, a more appropriate translation would be “married soup”—as in green vegetables (minestra) blend very well (maritata) with meat. The marriage isn’t a marriage between two people, but between vegetables and meat."

(And it looks like Nonna checked with Snopes, so we can trust her explanation...)

Whatever. I agree that meat and vegetables marry very well, and I personally have no wedding plans on the horizon. 

But a cold snowy night was forecast recently, and I realized I had meatballs, chopped spinach, and chicken stock in the freezer. I always have wine, canned beans, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic at hand, and I could improvise the rest. 

And you can too. No beans? No problem. Turkey or salmon balls instead of beef? Go for it! No pasta except spaghetti or macaroni? Throw it in. The hot pepper is totally optional, as is the wine (I truly didn't taste the addition and would rather have sipped it from the glass).

This turned out so yummy, don't be surprised if Robbie offers it as a lunch special in next year's book, SCONE COLD DEAD (shhh - you heard that title here first!). 

Italian Wedding Soup 

Ingredients

I forgot the rosemary and oregano in this photo

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 large carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups chicken broth, homemade or commercial

2 cups water

1 habanero pepper (keep whole)* or a few drops of hot sauce (optional)

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup small pasta such as orzo

1 can small pink or white beans, rinsed

4 oz fresh spinach, stems trimmed and roughly or one package frozen

½ cup white wine

2 tablespoons basil pesto

Twenty small meatballs, uncooked

Parmigiano Reggiano, for serving

 

*The whole pepper is optional, but it adds nice flavor in the background while not increasing spiciness. Just make sure you don’t chop or squeeze it.

Directions

Heat olive oil on medium heat in a heavy soup pot or Dutch oven. Saute onions until they begin to soften. Add carrots and celery and continue cooking until all are soft. Add garlic and saute one more minute.

Add chicken broth and water. 

Enclose habanero in a tea ball and add to the pot. (The last time I didn't enclose it, it got lost in the reddish-yellow fish soup and Hugh got a way-too-hot mouthful. Ouch.)

Add herbs and salt and pepper. And stir.

Increase heat until the soup boils. Stir in the pasta and reduce to a simmer.

After the pasta is al dente, add beans, spinach, wine, and pesto and stir well. Add meatballs. 

Bring to a simmer and cook gently for an hour or until flavors are melded. Correct seasonings.

Serve hot with grated cheese on top.

I forgot to add the cheese! But we had fresh homemade bread next to the soup, also a great addition.

Readers: What kind of Italian food do you like? Have you ever enjoyed Italian Wedding Soup?

🍷🌿🥩🧀

Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries, is out!

Murder Uncorked, Cece Barton Mystery #1, released in late October.

Check out all my writing:

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.