Mystery Lovers Kitchen Celebrates 15 years of Eating and Writing!

Lucy, Peg, and Ellery

 LUCY BURDETTE: Believe it or not—and we hardly can—our blog celebrates 15 years of life this summer! Fifteen years of writing and cooking and sharing all of that with you, our treasured readers! To celebrate, we thought you’d like to share a birthday celebration with us of course, but also with some of our distinguished alumna. We’ll have two days of MLK memories and stories, and two big giveaways. So do leave a comment today, and come back tomorrow for part two of our birthday celebration and leave another!

Today we’ll start with our alums. I rounded up as many as were available and asked them about a favorite memory or recipe from their days on the blog, and a sentence about what they’re writing now. 

ELIZABETH SPANN CRAIG: I was a mom of young kids when I was a regular at the Kitchen. Cooking kid-friendly meals could become monotonous, but the Kitchen kept me from getting stuck in a rut. There was always warm camaraderie on the blog and terrific comments! My kids are grown and flown now, and I'm writing 4 active cozy series. 

JULIE WILLIAMS FOR SHEILA CONNOLLY: When I think of my mother, I immediately remember her fresh apple cake. It's always a crowd-pleaser at potlucks, it stays moist for days as the glaze melds into the cake, and best of all it is very simple to make! Both my parents used to make this for all occasions, and now I make it too -- and sometimes just the glaze, to pour over a bowl of extra-decadent late-night vanilla ice cream. Try a fresh apple cake for the summer barbecue sweets table! I am currently writing a new play with music called Rich and Strange, which will be staged by Curious Theatre Branch in spring 2025. Come see it if you're a Chicago local! I also have a hardcover copy of my mom's final book, The Secret Staircase, to give away. I finished it for publication after she passed, so I think of it as a collaborative effort, though the characters and setting are all classic Sheila Connolly!

Krista and Daryl

KRISTA DAVIS: It seems like yesterday when Daryl Wood Gerber and I approached Julie Hyzy about starting Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. She was the first one on board. I’m thrilled that the blog continues to thrive and that so many talented authors are sharing their recipes.  I’m working on The Diva Poaches a Bad Egg. The Wagtail Murder Club with be released in February!

DARYL WOOD GERBER: I loved blogging on Mystery Lovers Kitchen and meeting all our regular readers. When I was first published, writing the Cheese Shop Mysteries as Avery Aames, I had such a blast sharing all the cheese-y recipes I was creating for the books: quiches, fondues, cheesecakes. I particularly liked offering tidbits about all the new cheeses I was tasting. Do you know I tasted over 1,000 cheeses while writing that series? Who knew when I started writing mysteries I’d have to be able to cook AND know cheese? It has been a delicious adventure. Daryl will give away A TWINKLE OF TROUBLE, book #5 in the Fairy Garden Mystery series. 

ELLERY ADAMS: I can’t tell you how many amazing recipes I’ve discovered on Mystery Lovers Kitchen. One of Krista Davis’s cookie recipes became a family favorite and when my daughter went gluten-free, I found plenty of treats on the blog, thanks to Daryl Wood Gerber. Thanks for uniting so many writers and readers through words and food—two of the best things in life! I’m currently working on The Tattered Cover, Book 8 in The Secret, Book, and Scone Society series as well as a new fiction project that is not at all cozy. 

TINA KASHIAN: I have many favorite memories from my time at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. I enjoyed connecting with new readers, and I loved meeting some readers and my fellow blog mates at Malice Domestic conferences. My favorite recipe was baklava. My Armenian parents owned a restaurant for thirty years and my mother was a talented Mediterranean cook. She’s passed away but I have her treasured recipe box and I shared many of her recipes on the blog, including the baklava recipe.

 “Murder in the Air” just released. The anthology includes my short cozy story “A Contest Win to Die For” which features my Kebab Kitchen sleuth Lucy Berberian.

JENN MCKINLAY: Wow! As a founding member of MLK, this blows my mind. Congratulations to all the participants of this delicious blog. What an amazing achievement! I still make Julie Hyzy's walking tacos for my guys and Cleo Coyle taught me the art of the muffin top which has been invaluable for quick breakfasts! Keep on serving up the good stuff, chefs!

Sheila and MJ

MARY JANE MAFFINI AND VICTORIA ABBOTT: I am thrilled to be at this great party! I’ll never forget the close bonds forged during my years at Mystery Lovers Kitchen and the fun we had. I loved those smart women who created clever plots and dynamite endings one-handedly while casually whipping up souffles with the other.  It doesn’t get any better! For us, it was a family affair because for some years my daughter Victoria (of Victoria Abbott)  was part of it too.  Plus my husband was thrilled with the results on his plate and said so. Not only did he enjoy the many new recipes I tried but he liked those of my MLK friends. It spurred him to cook. From Peg Cochran he learned about mirepoix and he has been a dedicated soup maker ever since.  Win-win!  Thank you, MLK, present and past, for years of great recipes, for enduring friendships and for all those wonderful books.  But I cannot leave out the faithful readers and the commenters. The comments section always rocked and camaraderie blossomed with several commenters.  You know who you are!  Bon appétit, everyone. 

Sheila Connolly: THE SECRET STAIRCASE

Jenn McKinlay: FONDANT FUMBLE

Mary Jane Maffini: DEATH PLANS A PERFECT TRIP

Krista Davis: THE DIVA GOES OVERBOARD

Ellery Adams: PAPER CUTS

Daryl Wood Gerber: A TWINKLE OF TROUBLE

Tina Kashian: HUMMUS AND HOMICIDE

Elizabeth Spann Craig: THE TYPE-A GUIDE TO SOLVING MURDER

Welcome guest author Jenn McKinlay + book #giveaway

How wonderful to be visiting the yummiest blog on the Interwebs. Thanks so much for inviting me, Daryl! It’s great to be cooking in the kitchen again.

In honor of my latest release WEDDING CAKE CRUMBLE, the tenth cupcake bakery mystery, I am sharing the recipe for lemon-lavender cupcakes, which is in the book with the recipe included in the back.

Frequently, people ask me where I get the ideas for the cupcakes that I write into the books. It works pretty much like this, I am deep into writing the book and then I come upon a scene where cupcakes are baked, decorated, delivered, or otherwise mentioned and I think to myself ‘What cupcake would make me happy right now?’ On the day I was writing this book, I was freezing my butt off in New England and thinking about spring flowers and warmer weather. Lavender-lemon cupcakes popped into my head as just the thing to chase away the last of the winter blues so I wrote them into the book.

Little did I know, this was going to turn into an epic quest when it came time to develop the recipe. Hunting down culinary lavender became the equivalent of searching for the last dragon. Honestly, I tried my local grocery store. No luck. I went to my other grocery store. Nope. I checked out a fine foods shop, they were out. I then went to my favorite spice shop, but they had moved across town! It was beginning to look like the lemon-lavender cupcakes were going to remain fiction. And then, finally, while I was complaining to a friend from Oregon about my plight, she said, “Oh, I have some.” Seriously.

Have any of you kitchen mavens had the search for ingredients go wacky on you?

Thankfully, she had no use for the lavender, because as we know all know, there is some trial and error in getting the taste just right, and I had to use a good amount until I was happy with the result. And so, I share with you, my recipe for lemon-lavender cupcakes.

Lemon-Lavender Cupcakes: A tart lemon cupcake with sweet lavender frosting.

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar, divided
4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions: Preheat oven to 350°.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, one at a time, and the lemon zest. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Fill paper liners until two-thirds full. Bake 20 minutes. Makes 24.

Lavender Frosting:

Ingredients:

¾ cup unsalted butter, softened

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3-4 Tablespoons milk

1 drop purple food coloring

Fresh lavender

Directions:

Directions: In large bowl, cream butter. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Add dried lavender and vanilla, mixing well. Add milk as needed to reach desired consistency. Beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Spread lavender frosting on cooled cupcakes and garnish with a fresh lavender sprig.

Now, you may have guessed from the title WEDDING CAKE CRUMBLE, that there is a wedding taking place in the latest cupcake bakery mystery. It’s true. Tate Harper and Angie DeLaura are scheduled to tie the knot. But…do they? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

Here’s a synopsis of the plot for those who need to know more:

With Angie and Tate's wedding just around the corner, it's a happy time for Melanie Cooper and the bakery crew. Not only are they finessing the last minute details of the big day, but their bakery, Fairy Tale Cupcakes, has just been hired to bake cupcakes for the blockbuster book signing of a controversial author who wrote a steamy bestseller filled with juicy local gossip.

But one by one, the people Angie has hired to work at the wedding begin turning up dead. As the body count rises, the bestselling author is the next to bite the dust. Mel quickly realizes she needs to figure out how the murders are connected and why--before the killer brings the entire cupcake crew crumbling down. After all, Angie and Tate deserve their sweet happily ever after.

Thanks so much for letting me visit today! 

GIVEAWAY!

Leave a comment and be entered in the drawing to win a signed copy of the book and a sweet set of measuring spoons!

Happy reading (and eating)! XOXO Jenn

***

You can find Jenn here on the "interweb":

Website: www.jennmckinlay.com

Twitter: @JennMcKinlay 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/jennmckinlayauthor

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/jennmckinlay
Instagram @mckinlayjenn

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Jenn McKinlay with Whoopie Pies and About a Dog! #recipe #giveaway

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm so delighted to welcome Jenn McKinlay back to our blog! She's been incredibly productive since she left several years ago, working on three mystery series and a brand-new romantic comedy series, debuting this month. She's celebrating with us early with whoopie pies and a measuring spoon giveaway! Welcome Jenn!

JENN MCKINLAY: The research is brutal, really.

     About two years ago, I was looking for a new agent. I decided instead of trying to pick one over the phone or through email, I’d go to New York and meet them in person. I wanted to have a feel for the next agent I hired. While there, I decided to visit my editor at Berkley as well. Things were interesting at the publishing house. Penguin had just merged with Random House, there were lots of offices being packed up, change (read people freaking out and looking upset) was definitely in the air. 
     Feeling that it might be a good time to diversify my writing (as in I was afraid cozy mysteries were dying and I’d better come up with a new trick pretty quick), I asked my editor what else she thought I could write. She turned away from me and studied her bookcase, she selected some books and then turned back and pushed them across the desk toward me. “You can do this,” she said. This turned out to be a stack of romantic comedies. Huh. I’d tried this genre before and it hadn’t worked out for me. That’s a euphemism for I got fired, in case you’re wondering. Oh, the irony!

     Still I thought I’d give it a go. I took the train back to New Haven, thumbing through the books as I went. I started to think up different ideas, sifting through possibilities, until I had a kernel of an idea. Over the next several weeks visiting family and friends in New England, the kernel popped into the full blown plot for ABOUT A DOG. I drove up the coast to Maine, where I’d decided to set the series, and immersed myself in all things concerning the Pine Tree state. Ayuh, that’s Maine’s nickname not the Lobster state, as I would have thought.

     Anyway, after shopping myself broke at L.L. Bean, I then moved on to another Maine staple – the whoopie pie. Chocolate cake with vanilla marshmallow filling – come to Mama! See? I told you the research was brutal! I am not kidding when I tell you that my days started to be one whoopie or two whoopie pie days. It was then that I knew I’d be writing a whoopie pie shop into the series with the name Makin’ Whoopie – naturally!

     We don’t have whoopie pies in Arizona, so I decided I was going to have to make my own if I wanted to write about the bakery. I went with the traditional whoopie pie recipe to start, but my research has shown that there are whoopie pies of every flavor you can imagine and I plan to imagine a lot of them in the books, which my publisher calls the Bluff Point series, so I’m thinking another research trip to Maine will be happening again soon! For now, here’s the recipe I used to make my own homegrown whoopie pies:

The Cookie

Ingredients:

 2 cups flour

½ cup cocoa
1 ¼ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk, well shaken
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Directions: Preheat oven to 350F. Mix together dry ingredients – flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat together butter and brown sugar in a large bowl at medium speed until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. Alternately mix in dry ingredients and buttermilk until smooth. Spoon ¼ cup mounds of batter about two inches apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 11 to 13 minutes until top is puffed and springs back when touched. 

Tip: I found that if you cook them on the top and bottom racks of the oven and swap them halfway through the cooking, they cook more evenly.

The Filling:

 Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 ¼ cups confectioner’s sugar
2 cups Marshmallow Fluff
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Beat together all ingredients with mixer at medium speed for three minutes until smooth.

Putting the pies together: Spread a heaping tablespoon of the filling onto the flat side of one cookie and top with another. Easy Peasy!

For more things whoopie pie, Maine, dogs, romance, and comedy, check out my new series starting with ABOUT A DOG to be released on May 30th. Much to my delight, it has already received a starred review from Booklist and 4 stars from Romantic Times. "With a perfect sense of comic timing and a gift for creating endearingly eccentric characters...McKinlay delivers a sweetly satisfying contemporary romance that will have readers sitting up and begging for more." — (★ starred review) Booklist 

Here’s a brief description: Fall in love with a little help from man’s best friend in New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay’s contemporary romance debut. Mackenzie “Mac” Harris fled her hometown of Bluff Point, Maine, after being left at the altar—and seeking solace in the arms of her best friend’s off-limits brother. Now, seven years later, she’s back to attend her best friend’s wedding—safe, or so she thinks, from the mistakes of her youth.
But Gavin Tolliver has never forgotten the woman who has always held his heart. And when Mac rescues a stray puppy named Tulip, only Gavin, the town’s veterinarian, can help. With a little assistance from Tulip, Gavin vows to make Mac realize that their feelings are more than just puppy love…

Thanks for inviting me to visit, ladies, Lucy! It’s always a pleasure to see what’s cooking in the kitchen!  Happy Reading, Jenn

Leave a comment with your email to be entered in the drawing for a set of cool cupcake measuring spoons...

Welcome guest author Jenn McKinlay

     On New Year’s Day, the Hub and I were invited to a delightful open house at a musician friend’s abode.  Now this was in Tempe, AZ where the temperature should have been a blissful 68 degrees, you know, jeans and long sleeve shirt weather with no jacket required, but it was not.  No, instead it was a bone chilling 41 degrees and left all of us desert rats scrambling for real estate around the fire pit and strategically placed space heaters.

     Yes, I know that my family in New England would consider anything in the forties a glorious respite from the negative digits, but for us southwestern folk, it was bitterly, frigidly cold.  One of the party goers even wrapped herself up from head to toe in a thick wool blanket.  In conversations, we could see our breath puff out in white clouds when we spoke -- at mid-day, in central Arizona, it boggled!

     Still, the music and laughter and good times commenced, musicians are a hearty lot, and the large table sagged under the weight of all the food, which was plentiful and diverse, always a good thing.  Looking for something that would toast up my insides, I spotted a huge crock pot of pozole rojo made by one of the guys, a guitar player named Dave.  Don’t you love when men are good cooks? 

     Elbows were thrown, mostly between me and the Hub, as we zeroed in on the delicious, warm up your nether regions soup.  We both had a heaping bowl, and Hub circled back for seconds. I have to say as a cold weather curative, it worked like a charm. 

     Naturally, I then had to learn how to make it.  So to help you keep warm during this last gasp of winter, here’s the recipe I cobbled together from a couple of different sources.  Enjoy!  And remember, spring has to come eventually, right? 

Pozole Rojo

Ingredients:

2 ounces dried chiles de arbol
6 cloves garlic (2 smashed, 4 finely chopped)
Kosher salt
2 pounds boneless pork shoulder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large white onion, chopped
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried oregano                                      1 bay leaf
3 15-ounce cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

Garnish options: Diced avocado, shredded cabbage, diced onion, sliced radishes and/or fresh cilantro

Directions:

Break the stems off the chiles de arbol and shake out as many seeds as possible (do not rub your nose while touching the peppers – I did – and YOWZA!).  Tip: Wear food prep gloves if you have them. Put the chiles in a bowl and cover with 2 cups boiling water, for about 30 minutes, until soft. Transfer the chiles and 1 1/2 cups of the soaking liquid to a blender. Add the smashed garlic and 1/2 teaspoon salt and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, pushing the sauce through with a rubber spatula; discard the solids.

Rub the pork all over with the cumin and 1/2 teaspoon salt; set aside. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic and cook 2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high. Push the onion and garlic to one side of the pot; add the pork to the other side and sear, turning, until lightly browned on all sides, about 5 minutes.

In a large crock pot, stir in the chicken broth, oregano, bay leaf, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of the chile sauce (depending on your taste). Setting the crock pot on low, carefully add the pork, onions and garlic from the large pot, let the pork cook for about 4 hours.

Lastly, stir in the garbanzo beans and continue to cook for one more hour, until the pork is tender and starts falling apart. Remove the bay leaf. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and use two forks to shred the meat then return it to the pot. Add some water or broth if the pozole is too thick. Season with salt to taste and serve with assorted garnishments.

Jenn is the NYT bestselling author of a several mysteries series and lives in sunny AZ in a house overrun with kids, pets, and her husband's guitars.

Find Jenn on her website www.jennmckinlay.com or on Facebook.

Anything-in-the-Garden Quiche #recipe plus #giveaway

  

LUCY BURDETTE: Ladies and gentlemen, our photo contest will be winding to a close tonight at midnight, though you still have time to enter! Click right here and post your photo...The prize is this really cute MLK tote bag, stuffed with our mysteries!

 


And also enter the drawing today for a copy of Jenn McKinley's SUGAR AND ICED: comment by midnight (include your email) on the bottom of our post today.

 










To give you sustenance for the final stretch, I've made a garden quiche. I decided to try something a little fancier than my father's oil and milk crust recipe, so this one has cornmeal and butter in it. Honestly, it was delicious! As for the inside filling, you can choose your veggies from the farmer's market, or select whatever looks best in your garden.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Ingredients for the crust

1/3 cup unbleached white flour
1/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup butter, slightly softened
a few teaspoons milk

Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Cut the butter in until it resembles heavy sand. Add milk teaspoon at a time until the dough sticks together. Roll it out between two pieces of waxed paper and transfer it to a 9 inch pie pan.

 

Ingredients for the filling

2 cups chopped vegetables (I used snow peas and chard)
2 shallots, minced
Olive oil
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar and smoked gouda)

Saute the shallots a minute or two in olive oil over medium heat. Add the other vegetables and saute until they begin to soften.









 



In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and cheese. Stir in the cooked vegetables and pour the mixture into the prepared crust. 




 



Bake at 425 for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake another 20-25 minutes until crust is golden and filling set. 


Enjoy!

MURDER WITH GANACHE, the fourth Key West mystery, is in stores now. DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS will be out in December.

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Celebrate! Elegant Date #Cake with Sticky Toffee Sauce #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: My turn to dance around shouting "celebrate! celebrate!" (I'm the one waving purple orchids...) I have to pack in a lot today: a recipe, an update on our wonderful friend and writer Jenn McKinlay, and an explanation of the double contest. So don't quit reading early!

I was a later addition to Mystery Lovers Kitchen, appearing first as a guest in 2011 with one of my favorite summer dishes, the leaning tower of eggplant. I was thrilled to be invited as a full-timer. It's a lot of work, of course, but I love this community so much. And I've become a more inventive, accomplished cook, besides writing all the foodie mysteries.



And now for the cake...I tasted this cake during our trip to Japan and have been meaning to make it ever since. I did see an Ina Garton recipe that I think called for three sticks of butter--but I wanted us to be able to move on the dance floor, so here's my pared-down, elegant and luscious version of date cake. But whatever you do, don't skip the caramel sauce!

Ingredients

3/4 cups pitted, quartered dates
3/4 cups water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tbsp white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

 
For Sticky Toffee Sauce:
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, place the dates, water and vanilla and bring to a boil. Simmer until soft (might take 5 minutes.) Remove from the heat, add the baking soda, mix well. Let the mixture cool. Meanwhile... 
Cream butter with sugars. Beat in the eggs. Add the dry ingredients, and finally the cooled date mixture. (Do not worry about leaving little chunks of dates--they will provide some nice texture.) Pour the batter into a well-buttered cake pan. (I also added a layer of parchment paper and buttered that for good measure.) Bake at 350 about 40-50 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Turn the cake out onto a platter. 

For the sauce, mix brown sugar, cream, butter in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer until thick, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add a splash of vanilla. 






Poke holes in the cake and pour the sauce overall. 









Serve warm if possible. 











Even better, serve with homemade whipped cream--this is a party after all!

And now an update from the incomparable Jenn McKinlay:

I'm still chugging along on my three series for Berkley Prime Crime -- Library Lover's, London Hat Shop, and Cupcake Bakery mysteries.  I'm finishing my other series the Good Buy Girls written under the name Josie Belle and have no idea what's next.  I like to follow the uncharted course.

WHAT A CATCH is one of my fave posts, probably, because I am hankering for some fried catfish right now:
 
When my next door neighbor was painting
his living room, he asked my husband if he
would babysit, or rather fish-sit, his fish of
unknown origin for him until the room wasdone. That was a year and a half ago and
the fish of unknown origin is still living on top
of our piano, blowing bubbles and wavinghis fins at me. Read the post here
 
Oh, and in a related update, we still have the neighbor's catfish.  He continues to blow bubbles and wave his fins at me.  The neighbor has moved to Pennsylvania, so I don't think I'm going to be returning Kevin (yes, we named the fish after the neighbor) any time soon.  It's okay.  I've grown quite fond of Kevin, but if you tell the Hub or hooligans I said that I will deny it.

I was such a newbie when I started writing mysteries.  I didn't belong to any groups or organizations. I'd never done the conference thing.  When Krista Davis asked me to join the blog, it was my first connection to any other mystery writers.  They were all so generous and kind with their information and encouragement and their recipes, that I really felt like we were all hanging out in a big kitchen, sharing food and snippets about our lives.  
 

Now for the contests! #1 Leave a comment here today telling us what you'd serve at a celebration and you'll be entered in a drawing to win the Key West mystery of your choice. Don't forget to leave your email and which book you'd like...

#2 Go to this link to enter the photo contest, which runs until July 24. Prizes are these fabulous bags and books from each of us at MLK!

Follow Lucy on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Bacon-Ricotta Frittata

A very warm welcome back to Jenn McKinlay, whom many of you know from her days as a Mystery Lovers' Kitchen regular. Jenn's exciting new Hat Shop Mystery series debuted this week! Set in London, the first in the series is Cloche and Dagger!

And now, Jenn!

So, after fourteen years, three months and a handful of days, the marriage was over.  It was not an easy decision to come to, there was emotional investment and sentimental attachment on both sides, but we both knew it was time.  My beloved skillet, given to me on my wedding day, the same pan that had cooked my hooligans first forays into chewable food and introduced them to the delights of bacon, had fried its last batch of hash browns.   A moment of silence, please.

My mourning period took a bit longer than the Hub and the hooligans would have liked.  I simply could not speed date my way into a new skillet.  “I am going through the five stages of grief, now quit rushing me,” I would say when their requests for something cookable only in a large frying pan went denied – again and again. 

And then, one day, on a random trip to IKEA, a twelve inch blue sided, oven/stove capable skillet caught my eye.  It was a flirty little thing that I refused to acknowledge at first because it was just so forward with its long handle and thick bottom.  I circled around it a few times, pretending I was really interested in the pizza cutters hanging nearby.  But its name Trovardig would not be denied.  In Swedish, it means reliable, trustworthy, and faithful.   I decided to give it a chance.

The first thing we cooked together was a parmesan-ricotta frittata recommended to me by a writer friend, which she found at epicurious.com, but which I changed up a bit to accommodate my not loving the greens so much herd.  This was going to be my new pan’s equivalent of the meeting of the parents moment.  I was nervous for it, but I thought that if we worked together we could get through it.  Well, let me just say, Trovardig exceeded my expectations and cooked up an amazing frittata that won over the Hub and hooligans and firmly established its presence in our home and cemented our new relationship.  I had not thought that I could love again, but I was wrong.  For a heart that is open, room can always be made for new cookware.

Bacon-Ricotta Frittata

Ingredients:

1 package cooked and crumbled bacon

1 bunch diced green onions

8 cups diced kale and mustard greens

12 large eggs

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup fresh, fine grated parmesan cheese (divided into ¾ and ¼ cups)

15 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook bacon in (new) skillet until crisp.  Transfer bacon to a separate plate.  Set aside the bacon drippings by pouring them into a bowl.  Return 2 tablespoons of the drippings to the pan and fry the green onions for about four minutes over medium heat.  Add half of the diced up greens and toss for a minute until they begin to wilt.  Add the remaining greens and sauté for about ten minutes until they are wilted.  Transfer to a plate.  Rinse and dry (new) skillet.  Beat eggs in a large bowl.  Whisk in ¾ cup Parmesan cheese, then greens and half of the bacon.  Stir in the ricotta but not too much, leave some clumps.  Heat one tablespoon of the bacon drippings in the skillet over medium heat.  Pour in egg mixture, making sure the greens and bacon are spread evenly.  Sprinkle remaining bacon and ¼ cup Parmesan over the eggs.  Cook for ten minutes until the edges are set and then transfer to the oven to bake for twenty minutes.  Once the frittata is set, remove it from the oven and loosen it around the edges and carefully transfer it to a platter.  Let cool for 30 minutes.  Apparently, frittatas are supposed to be just a bit warmer than room temperature.  Slices into wedges and enjoy with a nice loaf of bread and a fruit salad.

 

The original recipe can be found at:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Frittata-with-Bacon-Fresh-Ricotta-and-Greens-233142

Thank you, Krista, for inviting me to visit my favorite kitchen!  It was delightful as always.

This month brings the debut of a new series for me.  Cloche and Dagger, the lead title in the London Hat Shop mysteries, was released on August 6^th.  I am very excited to be writing about a milliner in London and not just because I get to go there to do research, no actually, that’s exactly why I love this series.  London is one of my favorite cities and to get to go there – well, it’s a dream come true.  If you have any interest in seeing what other shenanigans I’m up to, you can find me at my website www.jennmckinlay.com or on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JennMcKinlaysBooks or on Twitter https://twitter.com/JennMcKinlay