A Warm Welcome to Guest Barb Ross

We at MLK are delighted to welcome Barb Ross, who has a new book and a great chicken recipe! (And a giveaway!)

Oven-Roasted Beer Can Chicken with Potatoes from Stowed Away

Stowed Away, the sixth Maine Clambake Mystery, was released last week. To celebrate, I’m giving away a copy of the mass market paperback to two lucky commenters below.

Beer can chicken is most often made on a barbecue grill, but with one-third of the country in a deep freeze, I thought you might appreciate this oven-roasted version. Along with the fingerling potatoes, it makes the basis of a hearty winter meal.

In Stowed Away, Julia Snowden’s sister Livvie makes this dinner when their mother calls an impromptu family meeting. It’s a quick meal that pleases any crowd. While Livvie cooks it using an actual beer can, you can purchase a device called a beer can chicken holder from almost any kitchenware vendor.

Ingredients for the chicken:

1 whole chicken, 4 – 4-1/2 pounds

12-ounce beer can--any brand you have on hand will do

olive oil for rubbing over the chicken

Livvie’s rub for the chicken (or substitute your own rub)

Livvie used the following ingredients for the rub:

2 Tablespoons kosher salt

1/2 Tablespoon black pepper

1 Tablespoon paprika

1 Tablespoon dried oregano

1/2 Tablespoon ground coriander

1/2 Tablespoon garlic powder

1/2 Tablespoon onion powder

1/2 Tablespoon cumin

1 teaspoon jalapeno powder (optional)

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon lime zest

Instructions:

Preheat oven and sheet pan to 400 degrees. Stir together rub ingredients. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Rub chicken all over, inside and out, with olive oil. Rub chicken all over, inside and out, with the rub mix. Open beer can and pour out or drink 4 ounces, leaving 8 ounces in the can. Stand chicken on beer can by placing the neck over the can. Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast in oven for 1 hour.

Ingredients for the potatoes:

2 – 2-1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes

olive oil

salt

black pepper

dried oregano

garlic

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions:

Cut potatoes into 1/2-inch pieces. Toss with olive oil and seasonings. When chicken is done, remove from baking sheet pan and place on platter. Toss potatoes with drippings left in sheet pan and roast 20 to 25 minutes.

Serves 6 to 8.

About Stowed Away

It’s June in Busman’s Harbor, Maine, and Julia Snowden and her family are working hard to get their authentic Maine clambake business ready for summer. Preparations must be put on hold, however, when a mysterious yacht drops anchor in the harbor—and delivers an unexpected dose of murder . . .
 
When Julia’s old prep school rival Wyatt Jayne invites her to dinner on board her billionaire fiancé’s decked-out yacht, Julia arrives to find a sumptuous table set for two—and the yachtsman dead in his chair. Suspicion quickly falls on Wyatt, and Julia’s quest to dredge up the truth leads her into the murky private world of a mega-rich recluse who may not have been all that he seemed . . .

Bio

Barbara Ross is the author of six Maine Clambake Mysteries: Clammed Up, Boiled Over, Musseled Out, Fogged Inn, Iced Under and Stowed Away. Her books have been nominated for multiple Agatha Awards for Best Contemporary Novel, and RT Books Reviewer’s Choice Awards, as well as the Maine Literary Award for Crime Fiction. She 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. In the summer, Barbara writes on the big front porch of the former Seafarer Inn at the head of the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

Find Stowed Away at:

Amazon 

Barnes& Noble

Kobo

Audible 

Indie Bound

Leave a comment and Barb will pick two winners of a copy of Stowed Away!

Welcome Agatha Nominee Barbara Ross with a guest post

To learn more about
Barbara Ross and her
work, click here.

Please welcome our guest to Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, the talented Barbara Ross.

The first book in Barbara's series, Clammed Up, has been nominated for the 2014 Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel, and she's here today to tell us about her new entry, Boiled Over, coming out this May. Take it away, Barbara! 

~ Cleo

* * * 

I’m happily looking forward to May 6 and the release of Boiled Over, the second book in my Maine Clambake Mystery series. 

The book takes place at the height of the summer season, when running the Snowden Family Clambake leaves little time for solving mysteries. But when a charred foot tumbles out of the clambake fire and one of Julia Snwoden’s employees is accused, she has to join the chase for the real killer.

That chase leads Julia to a camp where Mi’kmaq tribe members from Canada stay when they come to Maine to harvest the wild blueberry crop. She stays for dinner and eats these delicious camp-style beans.

“They taste something like New England baked beans,” Julia said.

“And who do you think invented those?” Her host smiled at her. “All the tribes in Maine, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick cooked beans mixed with maple syrup and bear fat in clay pots buried with hot coals.”

“The beans in this are bigger than I’m used to.”

“Soldier beans. Now grown all over, but native to this region.”

* * * * 

Baked Camp Beans

This recipe is adapted to be made at home (as opposed to at camp).

Ingredients:

1 pound soldier beans

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

3 thick slices slab bacon, chopped

3 thick slices salt pork, chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 large celery stalk, diced, leaves chopped

1 carrot, diced

2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/2 cup molasses

1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 quarts water

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Soak beans for one hour. Heat oil in large saucepan. Render bacon and salt pork in oil for about three minutes. Add onion, celery, and carrot and sauté for another three-four minutes. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and simmer for one hour. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Put beans in a bean pot or covered casserole and cook in the oven for four hours. 

(Slow Cooker Alternative: after simmering, place in a slow cooker on high for four hours.) Check occasionally. Adjust seasonings. If you think it’s necessary, remove cover for last hour of cooking to thicken.

Barbara Ross

Barbara Ross is the author of Clammed Up, which was nominated for a 2014 Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel as well as the RT Book Reviews, Reviewer’s Choice Best Book Award for Amateur Sleuth. The second book in the series, Boiled Over, will be released in May 2014. Barbara’s short story, "Bread Baby" in Best New England Crime Stories 2014: Stone Cold was also nominated for an Agatha Award. She writes at her home overlooking the harbor in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. You can visit Barbara’s website at www.maineclambakemysteries.com

Thank you for joining us today
in the Kitchen, Barbara!

Book Giveaway

The first book in Barbara's
Clambake Mystery Series, the 2014
Agatha Nominated CLAMMED UP.

This giveaway is now closed.
The winner has been announced.
To see the announcement,
 click here.

Thank you all for your
wonderful comments!

Clambake Hash

Please join us in welcoming Barbara Ross, whose new Maine Clambake Mystery Series will debut with Clammed Up in September!

I’m so happy to be writing the cozy culinary Maine Clambake Mystery series because I can sing the praises of my adopted second-home town, Boothbay Harbor, Maine (lightly disguised in the series as Busman’s Harbor).

But what to do about the recipes? A Maine clambake (sometimes called a lobster bake) is basically one meal—chowder, steamed clams, lobster and corn, often supplemented by potato, onion, and so on. How was I going to come up with enough recipes for a series?

Of course, the book does include recipes for the clam chowder and the blueberry grunt my fictional Snowden family serves on their private island. But I’ve also collected recipes from around my fictional town.  This one, for clam hash, is from local curmudgeon and restaurateur Gus Farnharm.

Here’s what my main character Julia Snowden says about Gus’s hash.

“Ayup. Hash?” Gus asked.

Among the cognoscenti, which is to say the locals, Gus’s clam hash was famous. Like any hash, it’s made with lots of onions and potatoes, but he uses clams instead of beef or corned beef. The fresh, diced clams give the hash a salty-sweet taste that cannot be beat. And if you ask for it, he will top the hash with one or two perfectly poached eggs.

“Yes, please.” I answered. “With one egg.”

“Because one egg is un oeuf.” Gus repeated the oldest joke in the world.

Gus’s Clam Hash

Gus doesn’t let anyone into his restaurant unless he knows them, or someone he does know vouches for them. That means you may never be able to taste Gus’s delicious clam hash. But if you follow this recipe, you’ll get very, very close!

2 large Maine potatoes

1 large yellow onion

2 cans minced clams (Gus uses 1 cup of freshly minced clams, but if you buy a good brand of canned, it will be almost as good.)

Salt

Pepper

2 Tablespoons heavy cream

2 strips bacon

1 Tablespoon butter

Prick the potatoes with a fork and microwave on high for 5 minutes or until they can be easily pierced with a fork.

Cut onion in eighths, then put in a food processor and pulse 10 times.

Peel the cooled potatoes and chop them into large cubes.

Put the cubed potatoes in the food processor with the onions and pulse to combine. Add salt and pepper.

Add the drained clams and cream. Pulse to combine.

In a frying pan, cook the bacon until crispy, then remove and set aside.

Add the butter to the bacon fat in the frying pan.

Add the hash from the food processor and press down into the frying pan. Cook for 5–6 minutes on medium heat until the bottom begins to brown.

Turn and cook the other side.

Keep flipping to add more crust as desired. 

Top with crumbled bacon.

If you’d like to go to a real clambake on a real Maine island (as opposed to my fictional one) follow this link. http://www.cabbageislandclambakes.com

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Barbara Ross is the author of Clammed Up, first in a series of Maine Clambake Mysteries. Barbara and her husband own the former Seafarer Inn in Boothbay Harbor, Maine. From her perch on the Seafarer’s wide front porch, Barbara’s had a chance to observe the quirks of life in a small resort town, along with the stunning harbor views. Barbara and Bill longer run the inn as a Bed & Breakfast. Barbara is notoriously not a morning person. They considered a Bed-and-Get-Your-Own-Damn-Breakfast, but there didn’t seem to be much of a market. You can read more about Barbara and the book at www.maineclambakemysteries.com.