Smashed Potatoes @LucyBurdette

 

LUCY BURDETTE: in my last post which featured an asparagus and white bean salad, I mentioned that I had served that dish with a roast chicken and smashed potatoes. After I wrote it, I remembered that I’d done a similar potato recipe 12 years ago! But that was a fancier version made by a professional cook in Topped Chef. It was loaded with cheese and scallions, and you can find that here.

But meanwhile, the new version is easy while still being delicious.

Ingredients

New potatoes, any color, 3 to 4 per person

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

Handful of fresh chives

Salt.

Preheat the oven to 390

Wash the potatoes and cut out any bad patches. Simmer the potatoes in boiling water that has been salted until just soft, 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size.

Drain the potatoes and let them dry.

Transfer them to a baking sheet covered by parchment paper. Spread the potatoes out and mash them with a potato masher. Paint each potato with the mixture of butter and oil and sprinkle with coarse salt.

Bake the tray of potatoes until they are starting to get brown and crispy, about 25 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and fresh chives. Serve with a bowl of sour cream and watch them disappear!

Next time I might try adding in some shredded cheddar for the last five minutes or so of the baking.

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including USA Today bestselling A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS.

Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, will be in bookstores on August 12!

And the new trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!

Peach Pie #recipe for #BookClubWeek @LucyBurdette #giveaway

Aren't my friends good sports?

This is a pie for peach season--I think any book club would be happy to devour it while discussing a Key West mystery! More on the discussion in a bit, but first the recipe... 

I wait every year for the peaches in Connecticut. I buy mine at Bishops farm markets, a bushel at a time. You can also slice the peaches and add the sugar, and then freeze them in a 6 cup quantity. When you are ready to make the pie (when you're feeling sad that peach season is over,) warm the peach mixture over a low flame and then add the rest of the ingredients and proceed as written. 

This recipe is based on one I found in the King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook. I always use my father's pie crust because it's so easy. And I adjusted some of the flavorings, deleting the nutmeg and increasing cinnamon. I also added a quarter cup slivered almonds to the topping.


Ingredients for the filling

Six cups ripe peaches, sliced
Three-quarter cup sugar +1 tablespoon
1/4 teaspoon salt
One half teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon melted, unsalted butter
1 tablespoon cold water
1/4 cup cornstarch

Peel and slice the peaches. Stir the sugar and salt into the bowl. Let this sit for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix cornstarch with the almond extract, lemon juice, melted butter, and cold water. Stir until smooth. Stir this mixture into the peaches.



While the peaches marinate, make your crust. 


I recommend this easy version of my father's crust.
 
 Then on to the topping!

 
Topping ingredients

2/3 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, ground in food processor
1/2 cup rolled oats, whole
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
One half stick unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup slivered almonds
 
 Pulse together all the topping ingredients in the food processor until crumbly.

Spread the topping over the pie. Place the pie on a baking sheet. Lay one sheet of aluminum foil loosely over the top. Bake at 375 for 50 to 60 minutes. Bake until the crust and topping are golden. I took the foil off for the last 10 minutes, going for that extra crunch

Let the pie sit for four hours at room temperature before serving. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired. (Everyone did, even the chocoholics.)


Now, hmmm, which book to choose for the discussion? My friends and I had a very interesting chat about tarot card reading over pieces of this pie. Did we believe in tarot or horoscopes? How far should a friend go to protect another friend's confidence? (You'll remember that Hayley Snow's dear friend Lorenzo is a tarot card reader. Only he seems to have lost the ability to see his own future in FATAL RESERVATIONS.) Here's more on that book, a blog about the evolution of Lorenzo, and some of the recent reviews.

But if your book club meets around the holidays, DEATH WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS would be a perfect choice--Christmas in Key West!

Near Valentine's Day? Try MURDER WITH GANACHE.

And here are book discussion questions for TOPPED CHEF, DEATH IN FOUR COURSES, and AN APPETITE FOR MURDER, which would be good choices for any time of year!

Leave a comment about which book you'd choose--I'll be giving away a signed copy to one lucky commenter!

And you can follow Lucy on Facebook,

Twitter,

Pinterest,

and Instagram!

Killer Guacamole from the harried Lucy Burdette

LUCY BURDETTE: So, confession. I really can't be on a writing deadline and cook up marvelous things at the same time. But we wanted to invite some pals over whom we hadn't seen in a while. 

We settled for drinks, because I simply did not have time to make dinner. But I had to serve something to nibble on. And sometimes a chunk of cheese with crackers lacks that certain panache. It can say to your guests: We couldn't be bothered...

Guacamole, on the other hand, says: We're glad to see you!

And the only thing hard about it is remembering to buy the avocados a few days ahead so they have time to ripen.

2 avocados, ripe (soft) but not black

1 ripe tomato
4 scallions
dash of good olive oil
1/2 lemon or lime
dashes of Tabasco
salt and pepper to taste

 
Stacy's Chips
Sliced cucumbers 

Peel the avocados and spoon the flesh into a bowl. Chop the scallions and the tomato and add them to the bowl. Squeeze the lemon or lime over the top, add a few dashes of Tabasco sauce plus salt and pepper and a bit of olive oil. If you're a fan of cilantro and you have some around, you may also chop that and add it to the other ingredients. Mash everything together until well combined though still a little chunky.

Serve with cucumber slices, Stacy's pita chips, or blue cornmeal chips. Should you have leftovers or if you're not serving right away, nestle one of the pits into the guacamole--this keeps the dip from turning brown! 

Lucy is the author of the Key West food critic mysteries, available wherever books are sold! MURDER WITH GANACHE will be out in February but you can preorder now. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest.
 

Breakfast for Supper: Omelets!

LUCY BURDETTE: I know I can't be the only one who panics once in a while about the question: What's for supper? I can remember one bit of advice my father got years ago when he was a recent widower--always start by putting a potato in the oven, then you'll figure out the rest of it. Hmmmm...not that helpful!

When stumped, I often declare "omelet night." The omelets can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes, the innards can be varied according to what's in the frig, and my husband's always happy with the results. I am too:).

4 eggs
grated cheese
chopped onions or scallions
3/4 cup chopped broccoli (or other veggies to taste)
4 slices bacon, chopped and fried crisp
Butter and/or olive oil for frying





Heat a little butter and olive oil in a ten-inch skillet. Saute the onions and broccoli (or other veggies) until almost soft. If using bacon, fry it until crisp in a second skillet, drain and set aside. Whip the eggs in a small bowl with a dash of water. Grate the cheese.

When the veggies are soft, add another tablespoon of oil or butter. Pour the eggs into the skillet on top of the cooked vegetables. Cook on medium-low for a few minutes until it begins to look set around the edges. Sprinkle the cheese (and Bacon, if using) over half the omelet. Tip the pan to let the eggs run off to the sides and cook a little more.
.

When the omelet looks mostly cooked and the cheese melted, carefully flip one side over the other and cook a few minutes longer.

Serve with a cottage-oat biscuit  or a cheddar cheese cornmeal scone and green salad.

And use the time you saved with an easy supper to read--maybe the latest Key West food critic mystery? TOPPED CHEF can be ordered wherever books are sold! And please "like" Lucy on Facebook and Follow her on Twitter.

Pulled Pork by Lucy Burdette

LUCY BURDETTE: As you heard many times over the past month, I so enjoyed eating during my North Carolina book tour for TOPPED CHEF. Especially eastern Carolina barbecue, which is vinegar-based, rather than made with a red sauce. With company coming last weekend, but the days full of writing and other activities, I had to do something ahead. And I don't own a smoker or a decent crockpot. (I know, what's wrong with me?) I cooked it in a giant pot on low heat right on the stovetop.

The recipe is tweaked from one made by my good friend Joe Kennedy. He can't stand the taste of onions in anything, but I feel they're necessary in this recipe. And the garlic too. The good thing is, you can adjust almost of all of this to your taste. For example, I think the flavor of Liquid Smoke is strong, so I use the smaller amount.

Pulled Pork Ingredients

2 large onions, quartered
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp salt
black pepper
4-6 pound pork roast--avoid loin, it will be dry
1-2 Tbsp Liquid Smoke

For the sauce:

1 cup cider vinegar
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1-3 garlic cloves, to taste
1 tsp red pepper flakes

Peel the onions, cut in 8ths, and saute them in a small amount of olive oil in a large heavy pot. Mix together the brown sugar, paprika, salt and pepper, and pat this rub all over the roast. Place the roast on top of the onions and sprinkle the liquid smoke on top.

Meanwhile, stir the vinegar and other ingredients together and pour 1/3 of this into the pan, reserving the rest in the refrigerator.

Cook on low for about 3 hours. When it has cooled, remove any bones, extra fat, and the onions, and shred the meat. 

Add the reserved vinegar sauce and red sauce if desired. (I DO desire it, in fact added two jars of Bone-sucking BBQ sauce.) Cook another 45 minutes or so. Taste to correct seasonings.

Serve on toasted rolls with salad or cole slaw.

Stay up with all Lucy's news on the food critic mysteries: Follow her on Twitter and Like her on Facebook.

Lucy Burdette's Pimento Cheese Two Ways

The happy graduate with her proud father, Harry, and her proud Aunt Sue

LUCY BURDETTE:  I confess that I've become obsessed with pimento cheese. It began in Elizabeth City, NC at my niece Rachel's graduation party. Her father, Harry Williams, is a chef. Lucky for her (and for us!), he offered to cater her congratulations graduate party. She picked the menu and there were tons of southern delicacies, but the one I hovered over was an enormous vat of pimento cheese.

Pimento cheese isn't new to me--I like to try it wherever I see it (mostly in the south.) If you don't follow golf, you might not know that the Masters golf tournament serves only a few kinds of sandwiches, including pimento cheese on white bread. The recipe is closely guarded, as you can imagine. 

As I hunted for the right recipe, I found there are more variations than you can shake a stick at. The toasted pecans (not at all traditional,) the onions, the scallions, the pimento only, the mayonnaise contingent vs the cream cheese adders. The white cheese, the yellow cheese, the sharp, the mild...even some Parmesan.

Here's what I decided on, and my testers declared it:

Lucy's Perfect Pimento Cheese

6 cups shredded sharp white cheddar (don't buy a pre-shredded package, if you can help it)
4 oz Greek cream cheese (half is Greek yogurt--more protein, less fat)
7-8 oz red peppers in oil, chopped
1 bunch scallions, cleaned and chopped--mostly white parts, sauteed in tiny amount of butter
1/2 cup mayonnaise, more if needed (I used Hellmann's)
dash of Tabasco sauce, to taste

Shred the cheese, combine in a large bowl with cream cheese, beat until well mixed. (I used an electric mixer.) Add the red peppers and scallions, mix well. Add the mayo. If the mixture isn't the right texture for

spreading, you may add more, plus hot sauce to taste.

Chill in a pretty bowl and serve with crackers and celery. Or use in sandwiches.

That is my version. Now I will give you my niece's father's version, which was to die for!

Harry's Dumbwaiter Pimento Cheese

2 lbs of high quality yellow sharp cheddar cheese
2 lbs of white Vermont cheddar cheese
6 medium red peppers, roasted then peeled and seeded, processed until all same texture, by pulsing, but not pureed
Take edible parts of 2 leeks and dice, sauté in butter until translucent
Tip: Leeks are always gritty so after you dice let them wash in fresh cold water for a few minutes. Then take your hand and scoop them from the top leaving the grit in the bottom of the bowl.
1 cup or 1 ½ cup of mayonnaise, depending on desired creaminess
Light Dash or 2 of hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Mix ingredients all together.

Allow mixture to sit for 4 hours so that cheese can absorb flavors of other ingredients

NOTE FROM HARRY: I was the Sous Chef at The Dumbwaiter in downtown Norfolk, working under Chef Sydney Meers. This was his recipe and one of the most popular items on the menu. We used pimento cheese in many ways, such as,  Pimento cheese crème fraise , pimento cheese cream sauce, polenta,  spinach and pimento cheese dish that Sydney called lasagna, pimento cheese topped tart apples on oven baked turkey sandwiches to name a few. Southern Living magazine came to The Dumbwaiter on a tour of Norfolk and when the article was written (which wasn’t even a food article) the writer stated that the Pimento cheese at The Dumbwaiter was worth the trip to Norfolk.


Now back to me, Lucy. The only pimento cheese mistake I made while in the South was ordering a grilled pimento cheese sandwich in a deli. The bread was a fake whole wheat and the cheese very heavy on warm mayo. Honestly, we couldn't even make it through half a sandwich. And we were hunnnnnnggggrey!

But I can vouch for both of the recipes here--they make the perfect snack for reading. Serve with crackers and celery.

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And don't forget to order TOPPED CHEF so you have something to eat while reading--guaranteed to make you hungry! 

In case you think I'm making more of a fuss about pimento cheese than it warrants, look what upcoming book I found in Publishers Marketplace:

From Publishers Marketplace 6/6/13

Perre Magness's PIMENTO CHEESE, celebrating this classic Southern favorite (Pimento is a religion in the South) -- with recipes history, anecdotes and tips, to BJ Berti at St. Martin's, for publication in Fall 2014, by Lisa Ekus of The Lisa Ekus Group (NA).

Key Lime Chicken a la Vickie

LUCY BURDETTE:

Last week a friend from the church choir asked if I liked to hear about other people's recipes. With a big deadline bearing down on me and five events scheduled within two weeks, of course I said yes. So as we filed our music folders away, she told me about this and gave me permission to use it in the blog. She assured me that her husband loves it--and mine agreed. So you here you have Vickie Littell's Key Lime Chicken...

Ingredients

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, one per serving
Limes, one per serving
Butter or olive oil, one Tbsp per serving
1/4 cup sour cream per serving



(First, I should probably say that this is not technically Key Lime chicken as I used regular limes, not key limes. But I bet they would be even better...)

Melt the butter or oil in a frying pan over medium heat. (I used 1 Tbsp butter and 1 of oil). Saute the chicken until brown, then flip the cutlets. 

While the chicken cooks, zest the limes right into the pan. (I used a Microplane classic zester--which is so easy to use and perfect for grating Parmesan cheese too.)

 
Once the chicken is cooked through, squeeze the juice of the limes into the pan. You might want to use 3 lime halves and taste before squeezing the fourth as the sauce is a little tart.



 

Then add the sour cream and stir while it heats through. Salt and pepper to taste.





 

I served this with brown rice made with a can of Rotel tomatoes and chilis and the last of our garden's asparagus. (I thought the plate needed a little color.:)

There you go, dinner in less than 45 minutes. Thank you Vickie! And now back to MURDER WITH GANACHE.

If you don't have your copy of TOPPED CHEF yet, it's available wherever books are sold.

And please follow Lucy on Twitter and like her on Facebook while she writes.

Buffalo Chicken Salad and Millwrights Restaurant

LUCY BURDETTE:

As you could tell from last week's "Eating North Carolina" post, I ate rather well when on the road for almost two weeks to celebrate and spread the word about TOPPED CHEF. Rather too well...

And then I had the most amazing experience on Friday--eating dinner at Millwrights restaurant in Simsbury, CT where one of my "characters" in the new food critic mystery, Chef Adam Boyd, actually works. We went with his parents and let me tell you we were treated like celebrities. 

Course after course of specialties, courtesy of the chef, arrived at our table. Wellfleet oysters on the half shell,  

Spring gazpacho pea soup,

 

 the most astonishing chicken and dumplings I've ever seen or tasted (gnocci and chicken confit with mint)

 

Beets with cumin yogurt, gougeres,--and more. 



And that was before our dinners even hit the table! I didn't get a photo of our extra dessert which was the chef's riff on a banana split--we were too dizzy with calories (and wine too) to take more pictures. And then we got a little tour of the kitchen, which was gorgeous! (Chef Tyler Anderson on the right, looking fierce, and Adam Boyd, cooking on right...isn't he adorable??)




All that to say, we had to dial it back a notch for Memorial Day! But I wanted a little something grilled so I thought of Buffalo Chicken Salad, which is good for you but also good enough that no one leaves the table feeling deprived. It's not up to Chef Anderson or Chef Boyd's standards, but tasty for a light and homey supper...
   
Ingredients

Chicken cutlets, 1 per person
Archie Moore's Buffalo Wing Sauce (stick with Original--the hot is fiery)
4 celery sticks, chopped
Asparagus, 4-5 stalks per person, rubbed with olive oil
Salad greens (I used mixed greens from the farmer's market and some pea shoots)
Vinaigrette
Avocado, hard-boiled eggs, optional
Blue cheese

Marinate the cutlets in the wing sauce for 1/2 hour or more, then grill until just cooked through. Grill the asparagus until tender.

Wash and tear the greens. Wash celery and cut into chunks.

Arrange the sliced chicken over the greens and celery. Drizzle with extra wing sauce, sprinkle with blue cheese, and add vinaigrette to taste. Garnish with grilled asparagus, avocado slices, or sliced egg, if you choose.

If a certain someone is still hungry, I recommend chocolate ice cream:).

About Archie Moore's Buffalo Wing sauce: I've lived in and around New Haven CT for over 25 years. Aside from pizza, the town is famous for the wings at Archie Moore's. I can find their sauce at the Stop and Shop locally, or online. On the other hand, it's mostly made of hot sauce (like Frank's or Tabasco) and butter, so I suppose you could make it yourself.

On the other other hand, you could use that time to start TOPPED CHEF. Just keep the Buffalo wing sauce off the page:)

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Chef Boyd's Mediterranean Fish Soup from Topped Chef

Table set with Cod Soup

LUCY BURDETTE: I have a confession on today's post--although I put this recipe in TOPPED CHEF, I had never made it myself. I had certainly eaten it--my friend and excellent cook Tim Boyd served it and I was wowed. So I asked if I might include it in the third Key West mystery.

 A couple of weeks ago, I was discussing getting together with some good friends, the Charkows, and as usual, we argued over who had hosted whom last. 

"I need you to come here," I said after a few times back and forth, "because I have to make this recipe for the blog." 

"What exactly is a blog?" Carol asked. 

Lucy with friends Carol and Jay, plus Tonka

But in the end, they came and I made Tim's codfish soup. Everyone declared it delicious! You'll see below that there are two steps--first the chunky basil sauce, then the soup. I made it the day before and added the fish at the last minute. We served it with toasted baguette slices that had been brushed with olive oil. 

Mediterranean Cod Soup


Chunky Basil Sauce
Plus one additional can (35 oz) of crushed or diced tomatoes
1 cup chopped onions
1 ½ lb fresh cod cut into two inch chunks
2 green zucchini cut into 1/2” dice
¼ cup sliced black olives
2 teaspoons chopped fresh tarragon (I omitted this)
2/3 cup white wine
2/3 cup chicken stock
1 cup water (optional) (or a little more broth to thin)

Add the crushed tomatoes to the chunky basil sauce along with the onions, zucchini, olives, wine and stock. Bring to a slow boil, then reduce heat and simmer until zucchini is soft. Add water or stock to the desired thickness. At this point the soup can sit overnight (and the flavors usually improve) or longer if chilled.

Recipe for Chunky Basil Sauce:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large shallot, chopped
1 tablespoon minced onion
1 teaspooon each: dried oregano, dried basil, garlic and salt
1 (35 oz) can Italian whole tomatoes

Heat oil and sauté shallots, onions and spices. Pour off about 1 cup of the liquid from the tomatoes and set aside. Chop the tomatoes coarsely and add to the oil/spice mixture. Bring to a boil and simmer for 35 minutes or so. If sauce gets too thick, add a little of the reserved tomato liquid.

To serve:

Heat the soup to serving temperature and add the cod chunks. The cod will cook quickly so test every few minutes. When the cod is done, remove the chunks with a slotted spoon and place in the serving bowls. Ladle soup over the top. 

Hayley Snow invites Lorenzo the tarot card reader to lunch in Topped Chef. She decides she’ll serve him Mediterranean fish soup. Here’s how it goes:

Once the half-frozen tomato sauce was warming in a pan, I began to dice zucchini, black olives, and onions while Miss Gloria cut the ciabatta into thick slices and brushed them with olive oil. Adding the vegetables to the pan with two-thirds cup of white wine and chicken broth, I brought the sauce to a simmer and cut the grouper into chunks. While the bread toasted, Miss Gloria finished setting the table.

“Do you think he’ll read our cards?” she asked. “I’ve never had it done. I’m a little nervous.”

I didn’t tell her I was nervous, too. I’d never seen Lorenzo as a civilian. Or cooked for him. But more than that, the last time he’d read my cards, I’d almost lost my mother. I realized that somehow the two things had started to get twined up in my brain: tarot and danger.

It's me Lucy again. I had planned to make a lime sponge cake for dessert, but my favorite bakery 4 and Twenty Blackbirds is next door to the fish shop. I couldn't resist their lovely orange sponge cake with lemon glaze--I served with a fruit salad. Yummy!

Please follow Lucy on Facebook and Twitter And order the Key West mysteries right here!