Hickory Smoked Homicide Release Day Party with Favorite Southern Recipes!

Publication Day is always an exciting one around here and today we can share that excitement with our own Riley Adams/Elizabeth Spann Craig. Her 3rd Memphis BBQ Mystery officially releases today. Please join me in toasting her on the pub day of HICKORY SMOKED HOMICIDE! Woot!

Be sure to check out Riley's comment-to-win contest at Dru's Book Musings blog, where you can enter to win her new mystery. Click here to jump there.

In the Kitchen
with Riley... 


For two years now, Riley/Elizabeth has been my co-blogging buddy, and my husband and I have enjoyed so many of her recipes. Because today is such a special one for her, I'm making her my "guest of honor" in the kitchen by sharing five wonderful Riley recipes with you. (And, let me tell you, there were many more I wanted to include. This was a difficult list to narrow down!) 


Riley's affection for her Southern roots shines through in her posts as well as her books, and it's irresistible. Click on each photo below. A new window will open up and Riley/Elizabeth will share her ingredients and directions. 


TIP: Now that we have a "print friendly" button at the end of each post, you will find that it is much easier to print or save (to PDF) some of Riley's earlier posts. With our blog's Recipe Index now LIVE, you can easily locate more of Riley's past recipes. To visit our Index, click here or on the "Recipe Index" icon in the upper left column.



Lowcountry Boil

A true keeper of a recipe! "This dish first originated in South Carolina’s coastal regions," Riley informed us, "where it was called ‘Frogmore Stew,’ after the town of Frogmore, SC, (which no longer exists)."


According to Riley, this recipe can be easily adjusted to feed a crowd; and in the South, it’s frequently served on newspapers laid out on picnic tables for easy clean-up. To see Riley's recipe, click here.

Smoked Salmon 

Shirred Eggs 

“Down in the small but pretty town of Saylors Crossroads, South Carolina, there’s a little restaurant that’s starting to make quite a name for itself,” Riley wrote. “And, with a name like Grits and Groceries, it’s only natural. It’s in an old country store in an historic building. The building itself might be old, but the interior is full of fresh ideas from owners…” One of those ideas was an incredible recipe for Smoked Salmon Shirred Eggs. To see Riley's post on this recipe, click here. 

Lulu's Special 

Asparagus with bacon and walnuts

My husband now eats asparagus. 
'Nuf said. :-) .... To see Riley's tasty recipe, click here.

Pimento Cheese

This favorite Southern treat brought very happy memories back to my husband, Marc. His mother made this often when he was a little boy. Until Riley's post, he had forgotten. Thanks to Riley, we both now enjoy this (on crackers, bread, or with chips) a few times a month! To see Riley's recipe, click here.

Apple Cobbler 

"There’s something about a small-town festival that’s really appealing," Riley wrote after she attended a local apple festival. According Riley, "North Carolina is the 7th largest apple producer in America." With apple season upon us once again, Riley's Apple Cobbler is a welcome treat in our house. To make it one in yours, too, see her recipe here.

Thank you, Riley/Elizabeth
for sharing your warmth, wit, and recipes with all of us!

~ Cleo Coyle, author of

The Coffeehouse Mysteries

 CoffeehouseMystery.com

Full yet? 

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HAPPY 

RELEASE DAY, RILEY!

To purchase 

HICKORY SMOKED HOMICIDE, 

click here.

To learn more about Riley/Elizabeth
and the books she writes, visit her
official author page by clicking here.

And don't forget about her
comment-to-win contest
at Dru's blog!

Vidalia Onion Dip

First of all, thanks to Dave at My Year on The Grill for featuring a finger lickin’ good review of both my new release, Finger Lickin’ Dead, and my peach cobbler recipe! Thanks Dave!

One fun thing about summer is the catching-up I get to do. You know how the fall and spring can be—always so busy! So it’s fun to actually hang out and really visit with friends—at the pool, cookouts, and little get-togethers.

Usually, to make things easy, we all bring a little something to eat and share with others. Of course, there are always a ton of dips at these gatherings—which is great for me, because I love them! But the dip that I frequently bring is a little bit different from some of the others…and everyone seems to really enjoy it.

It’s also a featured recipe in Finger Lickin’ Dead. :) Because Lulu likes quick and easy almost as much as I do.

Vidalias are a favorite onion of mine—sweet and Southern. But any sweet onion will do. Soak them as long as you can because it really does bring out the sweetness and flavor in this dip.

Lulu’s Vidalia Onion Dip

5 or 6 sliced Vidalia onions
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup vinegar
2 cups water
½ cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon celery seed

Thinly slice the onions and soak them for 2 to 4 hours in the vinegar, sugar, and water. Drain well. Toss onions with mayonnaise and celery seed. Serve on crackers.

Another oven-free recipe! :) (Fingers crossed these 100 degree days will end soon!)

Riley/Elizabeth
Delicious and Suspicious (Riley Adams)
Finger Lickin’ Dead—June 7 (book 2 of the Memphis BBQ series!) It’s here! Download it on Kindle: http://amzn.to/kh7MAp
Mass market paperback: http://amzn.to/lfUE2N

Lip-Smacking Barbeque

First of all, I’d like to announce this week’s winner of our $25 gift card for Williams-Sonoma kitchenware and gourmet food store. This week’s winner is Kaye Barley from North Carolina! Kaye, thanks for coming by the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen and commenting on our posts. More information on how to enter this week's drawing is at the end of this post...

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about barbeque. Of course, this is only natural because I’m writing the Memphis Barbeque series. I’ve learned a lot about different barbeque sauces (vinegar-based, mustard-based, and tomato-based.) Memphis uses a dry rub on their pork and a tomato-based sauce.

There’s a lot of cooking time involved in making barbeque, but the end result is worth it.




Dry Rub for the Pork:

• 3 tablespoons paprika
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 t salt
• 1 (5 to 7 pound) pork roast, preferably shoulder or Boston butt

Mix all the ingredients (except the pork) in a bowl and rub the mixture on the pork. Refrigerate for an hour or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 300 F. Roast the pork in a roasting pan for 6 hours (until it’s 170 degrees F), or until it falls apart.
When the pork is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes. While it’s still warm, pull the pork with a fork. Serve on hamburger buns with sauce.

And now for the sauce:

• 2 cups ketchup
• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 1/4 cups red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured molasses
• 4 teaspoons hickory-flavored liquid smoke
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1. Over medium heat, mix the ingredients in a large saucepan until it bubbles.
2. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for up to 20 minutes.

Hope everyone enjoys the barbeque!
Riley/Elizabeth Pretty is as Pretty Dies—August 2009
Memphis Barbeque Series—Book 1 in May 2010 Please pop by and see me at http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com




ENTER TO WIN OUR CONTEST! You must enter NEW every week. Our weekly Mystery Lovers' Kitchen contest randomly awards one of our site visitors a $25 gift certificate to the Williams-Sonoma kitchenware and gourmet food store. Entering is easy: Just sign in to this blog and leave a comment or send an "Enter me!" e-mail with your first name and state to MysteryLoversKitchen@gmail.com Good luck!

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