Welcome, Edith Maxwell!

Many of us at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen have known Edith for quite a long time. She has had other books published, but we've been waiting with excitement for her foodie mystery, A TINE TO LIVE, A TINE TO DIE, which was just released on Tuesday. We're all wishing her much luck with her new series!

And now, Edith!




Thanks so much for having me over to the Kitchen, ladies. It's one of my favorite – and most useful – blogs! I'm so excited about my new Local Foods Mysteries series finally hitting the bookshelves and e-readers. Long time ago and a few miles away, I co-owned and operated a small certified-organic farm, so it was an easy stretch to write a cozy mystery based on an organic farmer, a nutty group of locavores, and locally sourced murder. I never found a body in the hoophouse, of course, but it's been fun to construct a fictional version of the world I lived in for some years when my children were small and life was simpler.

In A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die, former software engineer Cameron Flaherty is just beginning her first season as an organic farmer. A group of local foods enthusiasts are her some of her customers, but even they need help knowing how to use the produce they'll find in their share every week. Cam decides to hand out a couple of recipes every week that incorporate at least some of the vegetables in that week's allotment.

And since the book opens on June 1, you can make this quiche right now (okay, you can make it year round). Feel free to substitute regular minced garlic or regular scallions for the spring garlic if you can't find any, or add other seasonal vegetables you like. Added benefit? It's tasty, healthy, vegetarian, and includes no wheat!

Cam's Herbed 

Spring-Garlic Quiche

Preheat oven to 375° F

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups cooked medium- or short-grain brown rice

3 eggs

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated

1 1/2 cup milk (use any type from whole to non-fat)

2 stalks spring garlic (garlic scallions)

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely minced

1 Tbsp fresh garlic chives, finely minced

1 Tbsp fresh basil, finely minced

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Use your clean fingers dipped in water to press the rice into a glass pie dish, about 1/4 inch thick. Make sure you press it all the way up the sides.

2.     Remove the rough outer leaves of the spring garlic. Chop the white section and as much of the green as is tender.

3.     In a small mixing bowl, beat the eggs with a fork.

4.     Add the rest of the ingredients and blend with a fork.

5.     Pour the mixture into the pie crust.

6.     Bake in a preheated oven until golden brown and a knife comes out clean in the center, about 35-40 minutes.

7.     Let cool ten minutes before serving. Can also serve at room temperature.

You can use a conventional pastry (non-sweet) pie crust if you prefer, and swap in whatever fresh    herbs and vegetables you like. With larger chunks, like broccoli florets, reduce the milk by ½ cup.

Edith  Maxwell writes the  Local Foods Mysteries.  A TINE TO    LIVE, A TINE TO DIE introduces geek-turned-organic farmer Cam Flaherty, a colorful Locavore Club, and locally sourced murder. Edith once owned and operated the smallest certified-organic farm in Essex County, Massachusetts.

Tace Baker, Edith Maxwell's pseudonym, is the author of SPEAKING OF MURDER (Barking Rain Press, Sept 2012) featuring Quaker linguistics professor Lauren Rousseau. Edith holds a PhD in linguistics and is a long-time member of the Society of Friends.

Edith has also published short crime fiction, most recently in the Fish Nets anthology and in Thin Ice from Level Best Books.

A mother and technical writer, Edith lives north of Boston with her beau, three cats, and a small organic garden.

www.edithmaxwell.com

Haitian Seafood

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A very warm welcome today to Edith Maxwell. Remember her name, because you'll soon be adding her to your cozy reading list!

Speaking of Murder, a mystery featuring Quaker Linguistics professor Lauren Rousseau, was published under Edith Maxwell’s pen name of Tace Baker in September, 2012, by Barking Rain Press. You can find Tace at www.tacebaker.com, http://www.facebook.com/TaceBaker, and @tacebaker.

Edith Maxwell also writes the Local Foods Mystery series, featuring organic farmer Cam Flaherty a Locavore Club, and murder in the fields. A Tine to Live, a Tine to Die will be published by Kensington Publishing in May, 2013. She has also had short stories in two Level Best anthologies and elsewhere, and has one forthcoming in the Fish Nets anthology. Edith blogs at www.edithmaxwell.com, posts at www.facebook.com/EdithMaxwellAuthor, and is at @edithmaxwell.

 And now, Edith!

For a change of pace this weekend from turkey sandwiches and creative reuse of mashed potatoes, here's a scene from my recently released traditional mystery, Speaking of Murder. Lauren Rousseau twisted her ankle badly while out running and her Haitian-American boyfriend Zac invited her to dinner.

“Okay, lady. Á table,” Zac announced with a bow and a flourish. “Soup’s on.”

He helped me move to a chair at the table. A tie-dyed West African tablecloth I had given him covered the round table, centered with a cluster of so many red carnations they threatened to spill out of the pewter pot that held them. Zac positioned my injured foot on a pillow-topped chair. He served me a plate of aromatic seafood and vegetables in sauce on a bed of rice, kissing me on the forehead after delivering it to my place. He set a wooden bowl on the table. It held salad greens glistening with olive oil topped with morsels of cherry tomatoes, pears, and pecans.

“Here’s to us,” Zac proposed, lifting his glass. “And to no more accidents.”

I lifted my glass in return, nodded, and sipped. We ate in silence for a few minutes. The food was hot, delicious, and spicy. Perfect for a night like this.

But what happens next changes the mood drastically!

For the next time you want a delicious seafood meal from warmer climes, here's Zac's Haitian recipe.

  

Pwason Nan Sòs

Ingredients:

2 lbs fresh firm fish (sea bass, snapper, swordfish, or other)

2 limes

¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 ½ tsp salt

1 habanero pepper – carefully remove membrane and seeds and then slice thinly (and don't rub your eyes...)

1 Tbsp minced scallions

½ tsp Dijon mustard

1 ½ T apple cider vinegar

¼ c white onion shavings

¼ sliced shallot

2 sprigs thyme

¼ c olive oil

6 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

1 T tomato paste dissolved in 1 c water

2 c kale, washed and sliced thinly

1 sweet red pepper, cut into 1/2”-squares

1.    Rinse fish and pat dry. Using a sharp knife score fish twice diagonally on each side, ¼ inch deep.

2.    Put in a shallow dish, coat with juice of one lime, pepper, salt, habanero, scallion, mustard, vinegar, onion, shallots, and thyme. Turn a couple of times to coat evenly then cover with plastic wrap and marinate in a cool place for at least an hour.

3.    Heat oil in a large non-stick pan on medium-high setting. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add kale and red pepper and saute for another 4 minutes.

4.    Add the diluted tomato paste and boil until no liquid remains, 10-15 minutes, stirring frequently.

5.    Wipe the fish marinade off the fish and add the marinade (but not the fish). Strip the thyme leaves from their sticks, discarding the sticks.

6.    Continue to cook for several minutes.

7.    Mix in ½ c water and reduce heat to medium.

8.    Add fish and cook covered until fish is cooked through, about 7 minutes per inch of thickness.

9.    Squeeze all the juice from another lime over the fish and remove it carefully from the pan to a plate.

10. Continue to cook until most of the liquid has cooked off, then add the fish back in and heat until warmed through.

11. Serve hot over rice and wait for the rave reviews. Fried plantains or bananas on the side adds a nice Caribbean touch.