Pop goes the Weasel

From Daryl / Avery: You’ve probably heard by now that my new protagonist in A COOKBOOK NOOK MYSTERY series isn't much of a cook. Jenna is a recovering ad executive. She was responsible for the Poppity Pop Popcorn ad and so many more. She’s a marketing wizard.

Back in high school, Jenna tried an angel food cake from scratch in high school. Disaster. She can make a boxed cake mix and meatloaf and such. Why create a clueless cook in a serie set in a cookbook shop?

My mom. She graduated college early, at the age of 19, and was a genius at just about anything she tried to do, but she’d never learned to cook. Her mother did all of it. I found letters from my mother to her grandmother, after she married my father, and she was giddy that she was learning to cook.  She’d dared to make a green Jell-O with pineapple. Wow! And she’d made a meatloaf. Superb. It was so sweet reading these darling letters. I wanted to create a character with that kind of fresh joy while learning in the kitchen.

This recipe for cheese popovers is something Jenna could make. Because they’re so pretty, popovers can seem daunting, but they’re not. You can make these with regular flour, but I made these gluten-free so any of my readers that need to eat GF can enjoy them, too.  I did invest in a popover cooking pan, which made them even easier to bake, though I tried them in a cupcake pan and that worked pretty well.

Remember to really grease the individual cups so the popovers, um, POP out.

PS  Poppity Pop Popcorn – fictional, just like the town where the Cookbook Nook Mysteries is set – Crystal Cove, California…somewhere along the Central Coast. It's so beautiful! The scent of the sea, a coastal breeze!

Enjoy!

CHEESE POPOVERS

Gluten-free

Ingredients:

3 eggs

¼ cup heavy cream

1 cup 1%-2%  milk

1 1/4 cups sweet rice flour and potato starch mixture, sifted

1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper

3 tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Generously butter 6 cups in a popover pan or 6 six-ounce custard-style cups.

In a large bowl, beat eggs well with mixer. Stir in the milk and cream.

Add gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, and spices, and beat until smooth.

Stir in melted butter. {This will be gooey batter, like biscuit batter.}

Fill cups 1/2 full with batter. Top with cheese (about 2 tablespoons each) and add remaining batter.

(Note: if you want to make these regular, change the flour to your regular brand and don't include xanthan gum!)

Bake 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 275 degrees and bake another 5-10 minutes, until deep golden brown. These are luscious right out of the oven. Like all gluten-free breads, they get a little “doughy” by day two if kept in the refrigerator. However, I kept them out of the fridge, wrapped in foil, and the next day reheated them in a 200 degree oven for about 10 minutes. They were delish!

*I made these without the cheese and they were delicious, too. Fluffy.

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Daryl Wood Gerber also writes as Avery Aames, 

author of the Agatha Award-winning,

nationally bestselling CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY SERIES 

The 1st in A Cookbook Nook Mystery series is coming July 2013!!

FINAL SENTENCE.

You can pre-order the book HERE.

The 4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series is out! 

TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE

You can order the book HERE. 

You can learn more about me, Daryl by clicking this LINK. "Like" my page on Facebook and "follow" me on Twitter. And if you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list

 so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests! Also, you probably know by now about my alter ego, Avery Aames. Chat with Avery on Facebook and Twitter.

EASY PARMESAN TURKEY MEAT LOAF

From Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames: As I said a couple of weeks, I’m going to share simple recipes with you for a while (as I draw near to the debut of FINAL SENTENCE), recipes I find either in a cookbook or in a special recipe box.

In the new Cookbook Nook Mystery series, the protagonist, Jenna, a former ad exec, is not quite comfortable in the kitchen. She loves good food. She considers herself a gourmet. Until she returned home to Crystal Cove, California, she lived in San Francisco. Plenty of wonderful restaurants there!! 

Now that she is helping her aunt open a culinary bookstore and café, she’s become aware of how little she knows when it comes to cooking. She’s encouraged to try recipes with just a few ingredients. At the end of FINAL SENTENCE, I’ve shared some in the recipes that are in the book.

  

This is a recipe that comes from my mother’s recipe box, tweaked with a little Parmesan cheese.

PARMESAN CHEESE MEATLOAF
with hidden veggies

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground turkey

2 eggs

2 tablespoons mixed herbs (my mother loved rosemary, basil, and thyme, as do I)

1 cup onion, chopped (about ½ large onion)

1 cup zucchini, chopped (about 1 small zucchini)

½ cup bread crumbs (you can use gluten-free crumbs)

½ cup to 1 cup Parmesan cheese (depending on your preference)

catsup

Directions:

Turn the oven on to 300 degrees – low! 

Mix the turkey, egg, herbs, veggies, and bread crumbs together. See how easy that was? Dump and mush. Fun.

 Push the mixture into a 9 x 5 pan.  

Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and drizzle with catsup. Serve immediately.

This keeps well in the refrigerator and is easily warmed up a second night. It also makes a wonderful addition to a grilled cheese sandwich!!

* * * * * * *

Daryl Wood Gerber also writes as Avery Aames, 

author of the Agatha Award-winning,

nationally bestselling CHEESE SHOP MYSTERY SERIES 

The 1st in A Cookbook Nook Mystery series is coming July 2013!!

FINAL SENTENCE.

You can pre-order the book HERE.

The 4th in A Cheese Shop Mystery series is out! 

TO BRIE OR NOT TO BRIE
You can order the book HERE. 

You can learn more about me, Daryl by clicking this LINK. "Like" my page on Facebook and "follow" me on Twitter. And if you haven't done so, sign up for the mailing list

 so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests! Also, you probably know by now about my alter ego, Avery Aames. Chat with Avery on Facebook and Twitter.

Zucchini Circles Recipe from CLOBBERED BY CAMEMBERT

In Clobbered by Camembert, Charlottes visits her grandparents when she needs a little down time and feedback on the crime she is trying to solve. The twins are there, too, helping Pepere build an aquarium.


While Charlotte talks to her grandfather (with the twins inserting their two cents) Grandmere offers to make a quickie snack before the twins have to run off to their vocal rehearsal. It turns out the snack is one of Charlotte's favorites: Zucchini Circles. She salivates in expectation.

Now sometimes people ask me how I am like Charlotte, or vice versa, and it turns out that she and I share this same love of fried zucchini. I remember years ago going to a restaurant called Hamburger Hamlet and sharing these little morsels with my stepdaughter. We would play backgammon and snack and I would learn what she was going on in her life. These were special moments for us, and fried zucchini will always be part of that memory.

BY THE WAY, they are fabulous dipped in sweet jammy sauces or just plain. And a glass of sauvignon blanc (for me, not my stepdaughter who was about anywhere from twelve to sixteen), added just the right balance.

Now that I eat gluten-free, I make these my way, without using regular flour, and they turn out just the same. So enjoy!

 ZUCCHINI CIRCLES

Ingredients:

(serves two)

3 Tablespoons oil

¼ cup bread crumbs (I used Gluten-free corn crumbs)

¼ cup grated Parmesan for recipe

¼ cup grated Parmesan for garnish

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 egg

1 large zucchini

Directions:

Slice zucchini into round slices.

Stir egg in a bowl.

Pour crumbs and ¼ cup Parmesan into a pie tin and mix with seasonings.

Heat oil in a skillet on high.  As it heats, drop zucchini circles into egg.  Remove from egg and roll in the cheese crumb mixture. 

REDUCE heat to medium and lay in all the zucchini slices.  Let brown about 2-3 minutes.  Using tongs, flip.  Let brown on the other side, 2-3 minutes or as crispy as you like.

Remove from plate.  Set on serving dish.  Top with grated Parmesan.

Serve immediately, as side dish or appetizer.

FYI:

Health benefits of zucchini: 
Helps in the cure of asthma, as it is packed with Vitamin C and antioxidants.
Its nutrients also contain lutein, good for the eyes.
Zucchin is also packed with magnesium and phosphorous, which is good for building and maintaining healthy bones.
Zucchini's nutrients helps against the fight of colon cancer.
Zucchini is high in water content and low in calories.

* * * * *

You can learn more about me, Avery, by clicking this link.

Chat with me on Facebook and Twitter.

And if you haven't done so, sign up for my mailing list

 so you can learn about upcoming events, releases, and contests! I had two winners just last week whom won Sur la Table cheese paddles!

Say cheese!

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BOOKSELLERS LINK

Barbecue and Blue

It's barbecue season. 


Hooray!


I can't get enough time in the yard, smelling the flowers, smelling food sizzling on the grill. One of my favorite springing into summer meals is a grilled steak. I know I probably shouldn't eat too much read meat, but a facialist once told me that red meat is essential to supple skin. 


Granted, I also know I can find anything on the Internet to support a theory, so I went searching and found this article about how to keep skin glowing: 


B vitamins help to release energy from food for skin metabolism and have a role in keeping skin moist and smooth. 

Best sources: Milk, oily fish, poultry, red meat, offal, eggs, bananas, soya beans, wholegrains, wheatgerm, peanut butter, fortified breakfast cereals. [Read more]

Don't you love the Internet?


So I have a steak now and again to make sure my skin is glowing.  


That said, for a balanced diet, I also need my calcium [Say cheese!] and greens [For this meal/recipe: asparagus and mushrooms on arugula, but I've included a Brussel sprouts and blue cheese recipe, too].

Have a great cookout.

STEAK DINNER

2   6 oz. to 8 oz. steaks, cooked to your liking - [I like mine rare but I didn't remember to take a picture of mine; my husband likes his steak charred]

1-2 teaspoons paprika

2-4 ounces Gorgonzola or blue cheese

ARGULA, ASPARAGUS AND GRILLED MUSHROOMS

2 cups arugula, rinsed
6-8 spears asparagus
6-8 grilled mushrooms
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar


Baste asparagus and mushrooms with olive oil. Skewer and set on grill for 2 minutes; twist and grill 2 minutes more. Remove from heat and skewers. Slice the mushrooms. Serve the vegetables on top of the arugula. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar to taste.


In addition, if you'd like a side dish that is still "green," why not add Brussel sprouts? I know they're not everyone's favorite, probably because you had them as a kid and they weren't cooked properly. Brussel sprouts need to be tender. Cooking them in salted water makes the flavor stay inside. The smaller the Brussel sprout, the more tender, so choose wisely. I love them!

BRUSSEL SPROUTS AND BLUE

Ingredients:

12-16 Brussel sprouts

2 tablespoons leek tips, sliced

1 shallott, diced

2 tablespoons safflower oil

1 tablespoon white wine

2 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (* I used Irish Cashel Blue)

1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Bring 2 cups of water to boil in saucepan. Add 1 teaspoon salt.

Trim off the ends of the Brussel sprouts, and boil the sprouts in boiling water for 4 minutes. Pour off the hot liquid, steam for another 4 minutes. Rinse and cool. Slice brussel sprouts in half. Set aside.

In a frying pan, heat the oil. Add the leeks tips and shallots. Add the white wine. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add the Brussel sprouts. Saute for about 5 minutes until the sprouts are browned and heated through.

Place on serving dish and sprinkle with blue cheese. {The cheese will melt.}

Here is a dessert recipe for your barbecue:

Cleo's Mocha Drops


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And if you need a good book to read while barbecuing, consider any of the new books coming out from my blog pals.

Wendy Watson's A Parfait Murder
Julie Hyzy's Grace Interrupted
Riley Adam's Finger Lickin' Dead

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BTW, just in case you want to order the second in A Cheese Shop Mystery series which came out May 3rd, click here: LOST AND FONDUE

If you'd like to read the first chapter, click here: SNEAK PEEK

If you'd like to see the book trailer, click here: BOOK TRAILER

And always smile and...say cheese.

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Last and yes, least, but for a bit of fun, a pal and I made a youtube movie for all those who "sell" anything. If you want to see a spoof of how to do what is called THE ELEVATOR PITCH, take a look...and leave a comment. CLICK THIS YOUTUBE LINK