Cream Tea Scones to Celebrate The Key Lime Crime @LucyBurdette #giveaway

LUCY BURDETTE: Today is a day to celebrate the trade paperback release of The Key Lime Crime! And to give the day some special oomph, I will be giving away a copy of the trade paper edition. But, alas, I am not in the key lime pie baking season, I am in the scone baking season. And that is just as good because A Scone of Contention (#11 in the Key West series) will be published on August 10. 

Today’s recipe is a traditional basic scone that I found at King Arthur baking. I cut the recipe in half, and reduced the salt as usual, and also froze and grated the butter before blending it into the dry mixture. We tried these scones two ways, first with butter and homemade raspberry jam from my friend Annette, and second as the basis for strawberry shortcake. I can recommend both without reservation!

Ingredients

One and 3/8 cup all purpose flour

1/6 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, frozen

One large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup milk

Whisk together the dry ingredients. Now take the butter out of the freezer and grate it. Mix it in with the dry ingredients. 

Beat the egg and combine it with the milk and vanilla. Fold this in to the butter flour mixture. Mix this gently until it holds together, adding a tiny amount of milk if it seems to dry.

Turn the dough out onto a piece of parchment paper and pat it into a circle. Cut the circle into six pieces. Brush the tops of the scones with a bit more milk and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

While the oven is heating to 425, freeze your tray of scones up to half an hour. Bake the scones for 18 to 22 minutes, taking care not to over brown the tops and sides.

Serve hot with butter and jam. Or serve room temperature with sliced strawberries and whipped cream. Or try it both ways!

Leave a comment about the best or worst scones you've ever eaten to be entered in the drawing. And don't forget to order your copies of THE KEY LIME CRIME and preorder A SCONE OF CONTENTION. And ps, the ebook edition of THE KEY LIME CRIME is on sale for $2.99!

Release Day News: The Key Lime Crime @LucyBurdette

 

Congratulations to our own... 

Lucy Burdette

on the release of the trade paperback edition of THE KEY LIME CRIME!

“The well-described Key West setting nicely complements the foodie frame in this satisfying cozy, which is a natural for fans of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen mysteries.”

—Booklist

“Charming characters, an appealing setting, and mouthwatering bonus recipes make this a perfect choice for foodie cozy lovers.”

—Publishers Weekly

To learn more or buy, CLICK HERE

About the book:

With her intimidating new mother-in-law bearing down on the island and a fierce rivalry between Key lime pie bakers to referee, food critic Hayley Snow is feeling anything but festive…

 It’s the week between Christmas and New Year’s and Key West is bursting at the seams with holiday events and hordes of tourists. Adding to the chaos, Key lime pie aficionado David Sloan has persuaded the city to host his Key Lime pie extravaganza and contest. Hayley Snow can’t escape the madness because her bosses at Key Zest magazine have assigned her to cover the event. Every pie purveyor in Key West is determined to claim the Key lime spotlight—and win the coveted Key Lime Key to the City.

Another recipe for disaster—Hayley’s hubby, police detective Nathan Bransford, announces that his mother will be making a surprise visit. Newlywed Hayley must play the dutiful daughter-in-law, so she and her pal Miss Gloria offer to escort his mom on the iconic Conch Train Tour of the island's holiday lights. But it's not all glittering palm trees and fantastic flamingos--the unlikely trio finds a real body stashed in one of the elaborate displays. And the victim is no stranger: Hayley recognizes the controversial new pastry chef from Au Citron Vert, a frontrunner in Sloan’s contest.

Hayley must not only decipher who’s removed the chef from the contest kitchen, she's also got to handle a too-curious mother-in-law who seems to be cooking up trouble of her own.  

Very Berry Muffins @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I was craving blueberry muffins last week and came across a good-looking recipe at Once Upon a Chef. I followed her recipe, with a few tweaks—some strawberries instead of all blue since it’s that season in our garden, a little less salt, and cinnamon in the sugar topping. So delicious! And it turned out that they are red, white and blue, so perfect for the Fourth of July!

I made these twice, once with an electric beater and once in my food processor. The second was definitely easier, but be careful not to over-beat at any stage—it’s easy to do that with a machine. And I think you might be able to tell that in the strawberry batch, I forgot to sift the flour over the berries before mixing them in.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

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

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup milk

2-1/4 cups fresh blueberries, or combination with strawberries

2 tablespoons coarse sugar 

½ teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 350.

Let the ingredients come to room temperature, then cream the butter with the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time and beat after each. Mix in the two extracts.

Combine the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add the dry alternately with the milk, beating lightly after each.

Sift a bit of flour over the berries, and then fold them into the batter. Mix the cinnamon with the sugar.

Spray a muffin pan with oil, and then place paper muffin cups inside. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with cinnamon/sugar mixture. 

Bake for 26-30 minutes, until tops are golden brown. (I took mine out after 26.)

And T-bone would like to let you know that THE KEY LIME CRIME will be out as a trade paperback on July 13. You can order it here.

And please take a look at my brand-new gorgeous website, LucyBurdette.com

Maple Cherry Granola #recipe @lucyburdette

 LUCY BURDETTE: For Thanksgiving this year I ordered a big container of pure maple sugar for Melissa Clark’s Maple Ginger Pecan Galette. (Which was delicious by the way! And I don’t even like pecan pie all that much.) Anyway, I am left with a large quantity of the maple sugar and I intend to work my way through it. I’ve made granola for a number of years, but the recipe I’ve used had quite a bit of salt and sweetener in it. This time I updated the recipe using maple sugar for a little burst of flavor, applesauce instead of some of the sugar, and no salt. This version tasted quite delicious and I offer it to you.

Ingredients:

5 cups rolled oats

2 cups slivered almonds

2 cups broken pecan pieces

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup maple sugar

1/2 cup maple syrup (use the real stuff!)

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used canola)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup dried cherries or raisins 

Preheat the oven to 300. Mix oats, almonds, pecans, sugar, and coconut in a bowl. Combine syrup, oil and applesauce, and then mix into the grains and nuts. Spread the uncooked granola on baking trays. Bake for an hour and fifteen minutes, stopping every 15 minutes to stir the mixture so it browns evenly. Cool and add cherries. Store in an airtight container, but don't expect it to last very long. It also freezes well. Serve with milk or yogurt and fruit.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mysteries! The ebook versions of THE KEY LIME CRIME, DEATH ON THE MENU, and A DEADLY FEAST are on sale this month...

#11 in the series, A SCONE OF CONTENTION, is coming on August 10, and available for pre-order now!

Easiest Tomato Tart @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: Yay! It's tomato season here in Connecticut and we are having ripe tomato everything! For a little background on today's recipe, we were having guests over for cocktail hour after a grinding few weeks of finishing a book. (Key West food critic mystery #11!) I wanted the recipe to be easy, delicious, and hopefully fine for our dinner hour too. This checked every box...



Ingredients

1 cup ricotta

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 small red onion or shallot

3 medium or 2 large ripe tomatoes

8-10 basil leaves

1 teaspoon sharp French mustard

I box good quality puff pastry

I like Dufour's classic puff pastry, which is in the freezer section of our local Bishop's market. You do have to remember to move it to the refrigerator a few hours or even a day ahead so it thaws.

Slice the tomatoes and set them on paper towels to drain.

Mix the ricotta with the mustard. Sliver the basil, grate the Parmesan and add those too. Grind in black pepper to taste.

Meanwhile, unfold your puff pastry onto a large sheet of parchment paper. Pinch the edges around the rectangle to make a border and prick the pastry all over with a fork.

Spread the ricotta mustard mixture onto the bottom of the tart, leaving the outside edges bare. 

Arrange the sliced onion over the ricotta, followed by tomato slices and more basil if you like. Sprinkle a bit more Parmesan cheese over the top. 

Bake at 385 until brown and bubbly, 30-35 minutes. Use a pizza cutter to slice into squares--this is quite delicious at room temperature so great to make ahead! 

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series, featuring fiesty food critic Hayley Snow. THE KEY LIME CRIME is available now!

You can order it at an independent bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and anywhere books are sold!

"Hayley and Nathan make an appealing pair, and the food descriptions and Key West atmosphere are equally enticing—a sure bet to draw readers of foodie mysteries."

—Booklist

And super-psyched to see the new book chosen for one of the best new books in Woman's World!

Please follow Lucy on Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub, or Twitter!

Eric’s Chicken and Stuffing Casserole for 160 @lucyburdette

 LUCY BURDETTE: Cooking lunch for 160 people is not so easy, as I learned helping my friend Eric Nichols at Cooking with Love, a program run out of the basement of the Metropolitan Community Church in Key West. This was the first meal on which I worked as sous chef. Of course I wrote a scene into THE KEY LIME CRIME in which Hayley Snow is the sous-chef and this is exactly what they're cooking...

ERIC'S CHICKEN AND STUFFING

40 pounds of cooked diced chicken

16 pounds of stuffing mix, such as Pepperidge Farm or Stove Top

16 pounds of condensed cream of chicken soup

16 pounds of condensed cream of celery soup

24 cans evaporated milk

40 cups of chicken broth—can be unsalted

Layer the diced chicken in eight large, greased foil pans (12 by 24.) Spread the stuffing mix over top. Mix together the two soups, the broth, and the evaporated milk. Distribute this liquid over the eight pans of chicken and stuffing. Stir lightly so that the liquid mixture saturates the chicken and stuffing layers. Bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes until the casseroles are bubbly.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series, featuring fiesty food critic Hayley Snow. I'm super-grateful to have THE KEY LIME CRIME available now!

You can order it at an independent bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and anywhere books are sold!

"Hayley and Nathan make an appealing pair, and the food descriptions and Key West atmosphere are equally enticing—a sure bet to draw readers of foodie mysteries."

—Booklist

And super-psyched to see the new book chosen for one of the best new books in Woman's World!

Please follow Lucy on Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub, or Twitter!

And by the way, Eric and Bill (whom you met as a tour guide at the Harry Truman Little White House in DEATH ON THE MENU), are responsible for talking me into this new addition in our home:

This is Lottie, in T-bone's cat tower...there's a reason why puppies must be soooo cute:)

And one last thing--A DEADLY FEAST e-book is on sale for $1.99 for a limited time only!

Key Lime Pie Martini #recipe @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: It seems like The Key Lime Crime was a looooong time coming--and that's why I'm going to be celebrating for a while. I hope you'll join me with a key lime pie martini! David Sloan (a real person who allowed me to use him as a basis for a character) served up these little gems at his booksigning at Key West Island bookstore, during one scene in The Key Lime Crime. (The bookstore is a real place in Key West, and the wonderful owner Suzanne, would be happy to send you a copy of the book.)

The recipe can be found in his cookbook, from The Key West Key Lime Pie Cookbook. I’ve reprinted it here with his permission.

Ingredients

2 oz. Stoli Vanil

1 oz. Liquor 43

1.5 oz. heavy cream or half and half

1 tablespoon fresh Key lime juice, plus a little extra

Crushed graham crackers

Add the first four ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Dip a martini glass into a plate containing Key lime juice and then into the crushed graham crackers. Strain the vodka mixture into the glass and enjoy!

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series, featuring fiesty food critic Hayley Snow. THE KEY LIME CRIME, #10 in the series, is available now. You can order it at an independent bookstore, Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and anywhere books are sold!

Lucy with the real David Sloan in front of Key West Island Books

"Hayley and Nathan make an appealing pair, and the food descriptions and Key West atmosphere are equally enticing—a sure bet to draw readers of foodie mysteries."

—Booklist

Please follow Lucy on Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub, or Twitter!