Guest Peggy Ehrhart Cheese Dibs #recipe +#giveaway

MAYA:  Please welcome Peggy Ehrhart with her new book, Irish Knit Murder. She'll give you a taste of what's in the book and also pick one person who comments to receive a free copy. Take it away Peggy! 

PEGGY: Irish Knit Murder, the tenth book in my cozy Knit & Nibble series, takes place on and around St. Patrick’s Day, so of course there is feasting that involves corned beef and cabbage. There’s another festive meal as well, hosted by Bettina and Wilfred Fraser, who are the best friends of my sleuth Pamela Paterson.

Exploring the recipes in his new cookbook, Wilfred cooks up a pot of New Orleans-style gumbo in a belated acknowledgment of Mardi Gras. As a prelude to the meal he serves homemade cheese crackers, commenting that “people have been making them in the South forever and there are as many names for them as there are recipes.”

I invented my own name for them: Cheese Dibs.

Cheese Dibs are a great party recipe. The dough can be made ahead and stored for a few days in the refrigerator, then sliced and baked at the last minute. They are particularly delicious when served warm.

The recipe makes about 30 to 40 crackers.

The dough needs to chill for at least an hour before baking, so start well in advance.

Ingredients

6 tbsp. butter, cut into chunks and allowed to soften at room temperature
7 oz. sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cayenne (or use less if don’t want the crackers too spicy)
7/8 cup flour

Grate the cheese. In a medium-sized bowl, cream the butter with an electric mixer. Blend in the cheese with a big spoon.

In a separate bowl, add the salt and cayenne to the flour.  

Mix the salt and cayenne into the flour and add the result to the cheese mixture. Blend it all together. You will probably have to use your hands—you want it to cling together in clumps.

Spoon half the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use the plastic wrap to help mold and shape the dough into a roll. It might look unpromising at first but keep working at it.

You want to end up with a roll about 1 1/2” in diameter. Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Chill the dough rolls for about an hour (or longer).

 

Butter two large cookie sheets if you want to bake all the Cheese Dibs at once—otherwise butter one cookie sheet. With a sharp knife, slice the dough rolls into rounds about 1/4" thick, or less, and lay them in rows on the cookie sheets, not too close together. If the rounds crumble a bit you can reshape them with your fingers.

Bake the Cheese Dibs at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown, but check them after 15 minutes. They might be done. Remove them from the oven and let them cool slightly.

Use a pancake turner to loosen them from the cookie sheets, gently sliding it under each Cheese Dib. Leave them on the cookie sheets to finish cooling. If you wait too long before loosening them, they will get very crisp and will crumble when you try to remove them.

Here they are on my vintage four-leafed clover platter. You can see that the nibblers have already declared dibs on about half the batch.

What is your favorite party recipe?

I'll give away a copy of Irish Knit Murder to one person (U.S. address only). To be entered into the drawing, please comment by tomorrow (Feb 13) and include your e-mail address. 

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Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor with a doctorate in Medieval Literature. Her Maxx Maxwell blues-singer mysteries were published by Five Star. Peggy now writes the Knit & Nibble mysteries for Kensington. Her sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder of the Knit and Nibble knitting club in the charming town of Arborville, New Jersey. The most recent Knit & Nibble mystery is Irish Knit Murder, due out on February 21, 2023.

Check out Peggy's website to get to know her better. 

 

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Guest Peggy Ehrhart's Piña Colada Bars #Giveaway #Recipe

 

Leslie Karst here, pleased as piña colada punch to welcome the fab Peggy Ehrhart to the Kitchen!  Not only is she providing a recipe for mouth-watering piña colada bars, but she's also giving away a copy of Christmas Scarf Murder to one lucky commenter! (See giveaway at end of post.) Take it away, Peggy!

 

In Death by Christmas Scarf, Knit and Nibble member Roland DeCamp serves no-fuss snowman cookies that he has cleverly created using ready-made sugar-cookie dough, ready-made vanilla icing, and shredded coconut. For a picture of them and illustrated directions for making them, visit the Christmas Scarf Murder page on my website.

I made the cookies myself, of course, to test out the process and to get the photos, and I ended up  with a great deal of leftover shredded coconut, which I’ve been storing in my freezer, casting about for other things to do with it.

The novellas in Christmas Scarf Murder are all set at Christmas, but the weather is too warm in September to think about holiday-themed recipes. Instead, I came up with Piña Colada Bars, evoking the tropical drink and perfect for the summery days we’re still having in New Jersey. They’re based on those yummy lemon bars with a lemony layer atop a shortbread crust.

One can scarcely think of a recipe idea that someone else hasn’t thought of too, and sure enough there are recipes for Piña Colada Bars out on the internet. This recipe, however, is my own version.

 

Piña Colada Bars

Ingredients

For the shortbread crust:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
10 tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

For the topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tbsp. butter, melted
2 cups crushed pineapple, drained
3/4  cup shredded coconut, divided

NOTE: A 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple will yield exactly the amount of pineapple you need when drained. You will also end up with a nice amount of juice to drink.

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make the shortbread crust:

Combine the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and stir to mix. Add the 10 tbsp. melted butter together with the vanilla and stir to blend. The dough will be stiff.

Turn the dough into a buttered 8” x 8” baking pan and use your hands to press it down smoothly. It should cover the bottom of the pan.

 

 Bake it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. It will not be brown when ready to come out.

While it bakes, make the topping:

Using an electric mixer, beat together the remaining 1/3 cup sugar, the egg, and the 2 tbsp. melted butter.

 

With a spoon, gently stir in the pineapple and 1/2 cup of the shredded coconut.

Spread the topping evenly over the baked shortbread crust. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup shredded coconut on top.

 

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The edges will be slightly brown when it’s done and the topping should be firm, not jiggly.

 

Wait until it’s thoroughly cool and then cut it into 8 bars—or more for smaller servings. (See photo at top.) And here’s a close-up:

Readers: For a chance to win Christmas Scarf Murder, the new Kensington release featuring Christmas-themed novellas by me, Maddie Day, and Carlene O'Connor, answer this question: Do you have a favorite holiday recipe? (Please include your email address so I can contact you if you win.)

 

 About Peggy and Her Books:

Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor who currently writes the Knit & Nibble mystery series for Kensington. The eighth book in the series, Death of a Knit Wit, appeared in March and her Christmas novella, Death by Christmas Scarf, is included in Kensington’s just-released Christmas Scarf Murder. Her amateur sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder of the Knit & Nibble knitting club, and Peggy herself is a devoted crafter. Visit her at www.PeggyEhrhart.com  

 

Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies by Peggy Ehrhart #bookgiveaway

Today our kitchen welcomes Peggy Ehrhart, with a yummy recipe and a 3-book giveaway for DEATH OF A KNIT WIT. Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing!

Peggy Ehrhart: They are what they eat, and the characters in my Knit & Nibble mysteries do a lot of eating . . .  and cooking. Members of the Knit & Nibble knitting club take turns hosting the group, and each week’s host serves a dessert when the group breaks for refreshments. It’s fun to make the desserts  reflect the personalities of the people who serve them. 

Nell Bascomb is in her eighties. She’s the oldest member of the group and a devotee of simple, traditional desserts. She also disapproves of excessive sugar and is something of an anti-sugar crusader. In Death of a Knit Wit, Nell bakes gingerbread when the group meets at her house. 

Gingerbread recipes are not hard to find, so for my visit to Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen I thought I’d invent something inspired by gingerbread but a little more creative. My Gingerbread Sandwich Cookies complement the spicy but not too sweet effect of gingerbread with a delicious butter and cream cheese filling similar to the one I use when I make carrot cake.

The recipe makes about 20 sandwich cookies (40 single cookies).

You won’t need your electric mixer for the cookies but you will need it for the filling. 

Ingredients for the cookies:

1/2 cup molasses

1/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp butter or margarine

1 tbsp milk or plain yogurt

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2  tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

Ingredients for the filling:

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), softened

1-1/2 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup powdered sugar

Sift flour, salt, and spices into a large bowl. 

Heat molasses in a small saucepan until it starts to boil. Add the butter or margarine, the sugar, and the milk or yogurt and stir to blend. 

Add the molasses mixture to the flour mixture and stir with a large spoon. The dough will be stiff.

Butter two large cookie sheets, at least 12” x 18”. (You can use three or four smaller ones instead, or bake the cookies in two batches.)

Carve off teaspoon-sized bits of dough.

With your hands, roll them into ovals. 

Pat them flat, not thicker than 1/8 of an inch. The dough is surprisingly un-sticky—working with it is rather like working with Play-Doh. Place the cookies on the cookie sheets, about twenty per sheet, not too close together—though they don’t spread out too much.

Bake them at 350 degrees for 5 to 7 minutes. They cook very fast.

Let them cool on the cookie sheets and then carefully remove them with a spatula.

While they are cooling, make the filling.

Put the butter and cream cheese in a large bowl.

Using your electric mixer, blend them until they are smooth and then blend in the powdered sugar.

When the cookies are cool, assemble your sandwiches. Turn half the cookies on their backs and spread filling on their undersides.

Top each spread cookie with a plain cookie.

Leave a comment to be entered in the drawing for one of 3 copies of Peggy's book!

Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor who currently writes the Knit & Nibble mystery series for Kensington. The eighth book in the series, Death of a Knit Wit, has just been released. Her amateur sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder of the Knit & Nibble knitting club, and Peggy herself is a devoted crafter. Visit her at www.PeggyEhrhart.com 

Wilfred's Shoo Fly Pie and a Book #Giveaway from Peggy Ehrhart

A very warm welcome to Peggy Ehrhart, author of the Knit & Nibble Mysteries. She has outdone herself today with a fabulous step-by-step guide to baking a Shoo Fly Pie. It sounds and looks delicious. And don't miss entering her giveaway of A FATAL YARN.

In A Fatal Yarn, Bettina’s sweet husband Wilfred bakes a shoo fly pie when the Knit and Nibblers meet at the Frasers’ house. As he explains, it’s an Amish recipe—and delicious as it is, it’s an example of make-do cooking when there’s no fresh fruit or much else available for pie fillings. Now we can get almost any fruit or vegetable at almost any time in our supermarkets, but in the past cooking had to be seasonal.

The key ingredients are brown sugar, molasses, egg, and baking soda. The name reportedly alludes to the fact that a pie made with little but molasses and brown sugar would inevitably draw flies when cooled on a porch or windowsill.

This version of the pie bakes up with an almost cake-like texture. Another version, known as “wet-crust,” features a soggy bottom.

You’ll need a deep-dish pie pan.

Ingredients

For the pie dough:

1 ¼ cups sifted flour

¼ tsp. salt

4 oz. cold butter—one stick

3 to 5 tbsp ice water

1 egg yolk, slightly beaten (optional)

For the filling:

½ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

½ cup molasses

1 egg, slightly beaten

1 ½ tsp flour

½ tsp baking soda

1 cup boiling water

For the topping:

1 ½ cups flour

¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

¾ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

6 tbsp cold butter

First make the pie dough:

Sift the flour and salt into a medium sized bowl. Add the butter cut into chunks.

Use your fingers to work the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture looks crumbly.

Sprinkle the ice water over the flour mixture while tossing with a fork until the dough clings together but isn’t wet.

Flour your hands and mold the dough into a ball. Wrap it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes.

Note that this dough uses butter as shortening rather than vegetable shortening or lard and it has a larger proportion of shortening to flour than usual, so it’s a good idea to chill it before you roll it out.

Make the filling:

Mix brown sugar, molasses, egg, flour, and baking soda.

Add the boiling water and stir thoroughly. Set the filling aside.

Make the topping:

Mix flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the butter cut into chunks and work it in as you did for the pie crust. Set the topping aside.

Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Prepare the pie crust:

With your hands, press the chilled dough into a flat disk. Use flour liberally to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface and to your hands.

Roll the pie dough into a circle about 14” in diameter. Continue to use flour to keep the dough from sticking—both to your rolling pin and to your work surface. To easily transfer the rolled-out dough to the pie pan, fold it into quarters and then unfold it in the pie pan.

Turn under the crust that overhangs the edge of your pie pan and use two fingers of your left hand and your right thumb to make a decorative border.

Shoo fly pie filling is very liquid, so in order to prevent your crust from becoming soggy, prebake the crust before adding the filling and topping. To do this, line the crust with foil and fill the foil with dried beans or peas.

I have a special jar of split peas and lentils that I’ve used for this purpose for decades.

Bake the crust for 15 minutes. Remove it from the oven and remove the foil and dried beans or peas from the crust. Optionally, brush the bottom and sides of the partly baked crust with the slightly beaten egg yolk. This step helps keep the crust from becoming soggy. Return the crust to the oven and bake it for 5 more minutes.

(If you skip the egg yolk step, bake the crust for 20 minutes with the foil and beans or peas in it.)

Remove the crust from the oven and turn the oven down to 350 degrees.

Add the  filling and then the topping.

Smooth the topping to cover the whole pie. Return the pie to the oven and bake it for 45 minutes. Remove it from the oven.

Let the pie cool before cutting into it, though it’s good served a bit warm.

Top each slice with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream. If you’re using whipped cream, a teaspoon of sugar per cup of cream is plenty.

 Enter Peggy's giveaway of A FATAL YARN by leaving a comment below with your email address so she can find you if you win. Good Luck!