Showing posts with label Vicki Delany. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vicki Delany. Show all posts

Friday, November 6, 2026

Roast Salmon with Red Cabbage and New Potatoes from Vicki Delany

We’re always being told to eat more oily fish for good health and strong bones, and I do try. Salmon can be expensive, but a small amount goes a long way.  This dish is quick to prepare and pop into the oven to cook for a short while.  It’s delicious, but if you don’t care for cooked cabbage it might not be right for you.



Roast Salmon with Red Cabbage and New Potatoes

Ingredients:

4 cups shredded red cabbage

10 new potatoes, unpeeled, halved

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 lb salmon fillet

2 tbsp grainy mustard

2 tbsp horseradish

Juice of half a lemon

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400

Toss cabbage and potatoes with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Roast for 25 minutes  

Mix mustard, horseradish, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Spread onto surface of the salmon.

Add salmon to the pan of cabbage and potatoes and roast for another 15 minutes.

 






Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact. She’s on Bluesky at @vickidelany.bsky.social

Now available: ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, a Year Round Christmas Mystery from Crooked Lane Books.

 

 

Friday, October 16, 2026

Spanish Rice with Chicken and Olives from Vicki Delany

This recipe is from my ever-favourite, Food + Drink from the LCBO here in Ontario, and I adapted it slightly to suit what I had on hand.

You might notice in the pictures that the olives in the jar are whole, but I cut them up.  That’s because I only had olives with pits in the house and foolishly didn’t buy more. You will want pitted olives, because it’s pretty time-consuming to cut those little things up.   

Anyway, once that’s done it’s a delicious dinner.



Spanish Rice with Chicken and Olives

Ingredients:

6 chicken thighs, skin removed
Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 spicy sausage, either chorizo or hot Italian
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups basmati rice
3 cups chicken broth
1 red pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup green olives

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°F

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in two batches, sear chicken until deeply golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate.

3. Reduce heat to medium and add onion. Cook, stirring often, until soft and lightly golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Squeeze sausage meat from casings into pot. Cook, breaking up meat into smaller pieces using a wooden spoon, until golden brown, 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more. Add paprika, tomato paste, 1 tsp salt and rice. Stir until all ingredients are well incorporated, about 1 minute. Add ½ cup of the broth, and cook until most liquid has been absorbed, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pot. Add rest of the chicken broth, red pepper and olives, stirring to combine. Raise heat to high. Nestle chicken pieces on top, adding any juices from plate. When bubbling, place lid on pot. Place pot in oven and cook until rice is fluffy and chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes.











Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact. She’s on Bluesky at @vickidelany.bsky.social



Now available: ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, a Year Round Christmas Mystery from Crooked Lane Books.

 

 

 

Friday, October 2, 2026

Cake Pops From Vicki Delany

I gave these a try when my grandchildren were visiting, and they were a big hit. My grandson said they were better than Starbuck’s. Take that, giant corporation!

I always enjoy using my own favourites in my books that contain recipes, and this one is found in ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, the latest Year Round Christmas mystery. In the book, bakery owner Vicky Casey caters the dessert portion of a Halloween-fund raising gala and her cake pops prove to be hugely popular.

Until someone dies after eating one.



But fear not, the recipe below contains no poisonous ingredients. Cake pops are fun and festive for any occasion, the perfect party treats for children and adults alike.

You can use any standard cake recipe but keep it plain – white or chocolate work best. This is my most basic go-to-cake recipe. Use a standard American icing, nothing fancy here. This recipe uses white chocolate, but you can use dark chocolate if you like, or a combination of both and any color of sprinkles.

The recipe seems long, and it can be complicated and time consuming, but if you take it slowly, you’ll end up with a fabulous treat.

Cake Pops

Makes 40 pops

White Cake

Ingredients:

2/3 cup butter – room temperature

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

2 eggs – room temperature

¾ cup whole milk – room temperature

2 cups sifted pastry flour (or 1 ¾ cups sifted all-purpose flour)

1 tbsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

Directions:

1)      Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Prepare 8 inch square cake pan or two 8 inch round cake pans.

2)      In a small bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt

3)      In an electric or stand mixer cream butter and vanilla thoroughly until light and fluffy; add sugar gradually, beating well

4)      Add eggs one at a time and beat after each egg is added

5)      Add milk and flour mixture alternately to the butter and sugar, ¼ each time, beginning and ending with the flour

6)      Bake until cake is lightly browned and springs back when lightly pressed.   Square cake – about 50 minutes, round cakes – about 30 minutes

7)      Cool and remove from pans.








Icing:

Ingredients:

7 tbsp (100 g) unsalted butter – room temperature

1 ¾ cup icing sugar

1 tbsp whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

Beat butter on medium high until creamy, add icing sugar, milk, and vanilla and mix on low speed to combine, and then increase speed to medium high and beat for about 3 minutes




Prepare Cake Pops:

Crumble the cold cake into the icing mixture, ensuring there are no large lumps. With mixer on low, combine.

Take about 1 tbsp (weight about 20g) of the cake mixture and form into a ball. Place balls on baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper.  Refrigerate for 2 – 24 hours.




Chocolate Coating

Ingredients

24 oz white chocolate

Sprinkles

50 Lollipop sticks

Directions:

Melt chocolate in a 2-cup glass measuring cup in the microwave, stirring regularly, until melted and smooth



Assemble Cake Pops:



Remove three or four cake balls from the fridge at a time. Dip the tip of a lollypop stick into the chocolate and insert ½ way into the cake ball. Dip in melted chocolate until coated.  Decorate the cake pop with sprinkles and place upright in a holder to dry. A Styrofoam block works well for this step or even a colander if the holes are the right size.

Continue with the remainder of the cake pops, only removing a few at a time from the refrigerator to work with.

Allow chocolate about one hour to dry. Can be stored in the refrigerator for one week, or the freezer for up to two months.


 


Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact. She’s on Bluesky at @vickidelany.bsky.social



Now available: ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, a Year Round Christmas Mystery from Crooked Lane Books.



January 5, 2027: A Murder Most Irregular, the twelfth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop novel

 

 

Friday, September 18, 2026

Blueberry Crumble Pie from Vicki Delany

 Ah, blueberries. The perfect dessert all on their own and the perfect ingredient for pie!  I might argue that blueberries are the best food of them all.  Feel free to challenge me if you like.

This pie is lovely, sort of a cross between a pie and a crumble. I made it when I was having a minor illness, but I had company coming and thought it would be easier for me than rolling out dough. Which it was. It would suit those who find making proper pie pastry daunting. The crumble crust is made right in the pie plate!



Blueberry Crumble Pie

Ingredients:

CRUST

2 cups (500 mL) flour
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar
¾ cup (175 mL) canola oil
1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla
2 tbsp (30 mL) milk

FILLING

2½ dry pints fresh blueberries, about 5 cups (1.25 L)
Freshly squeezed lemon juice from half a lemon
¼ cup (60 mL) sugar
1 tbsp (15 mL) flour
1 tbsp (15 mL) cornstarch

CRUMBLE TOPPING

½ cup (125 mL) flour
2 tbsp (30 mL) sugar
3 tbsp (45 mL) brown sugar
½ tsp (2 mL) salt
2 tbsp (30 mL) cold butter
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F

To make crust, add flour, salt and sugar to a 9-inch (23-cm) pie plate. Stir in oil, vanilla and milk. Work together into a patty of dough(dough will be quite moist) and remove ¼ cup (60 mL) of it, setting aside for crumble topping.

Press remaining dough evenly into pie plate, making sure it isn’t too thick on the bottom. Prick bottom of crust all over with a fork, then place pie plate on a baking sheet and bake in oven until very lightly golden, approximately 12 minutes. Remove and set aside.

To make filling, combine fresh blueberries with lemon juice, sugar, flour and cornstarch. Mix thoroughly and pour into prepared pie crust. It will be quite full.

Raise oven temperature to 425°F

For crumble topping, put the flour, sugars and salt into a bowl. Using your fingers blend in butter until mixture is crumbly. Add vanilla and the ¼ cup (60 mL) of reserved pie-crust dough to the crumble, blending it in with your fingers. Mound crumble topping all over top of blueberries.

Bake on baking sheet for 15 minutes, then lower heat to 375°F for another 25 to 30 minutes or until pie is golden. Let cool for several hours before eating.

 







Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact. She’s on Bluesky at @vickidelany.bsky.social

Now available: ‘Tis the Season to be Scary, a Year Round Christmas Mystery from Crooked Lane Books.

 

 

 

Friday, August 7, 2026

Muffins with Carrot, Oats, and Walnuts as Served at Victoria-On-Sea from Vicki Delany

In the Tea by The Sea series, not only does pastry-chef Lily Roberts work hard in Tea by the Sea, her Cape Cod afternoon tea room, but she also makes the breakfasts at Victoria-on-Sea, her grandmother’s B&B.

Muffins are always popular at the B&B and Lily can easily whip up extra batches when she has time and freeze them until needed.  Sometimes the extra baking comes in handy when the police pay a call.

This recipe is one of the ones included in the latest book in the series, Bubble, Bubble Tea & Trouble.

Walnuts can be omitted if you’re baking for someone who might be allergic.



Muffins with Carrot, Oats, and Walnuts

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

  •  1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  •  1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
  •  1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  •  1 tablespoon baking powder
  •  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  •  1/4 teaspoon salt
  •  1 cup milk
  •  1 egg
  •  1/4 cup vegetable oil
  •  1 teaspoon vanilla
  •  1 large or 2 small carrots , grated
  •  1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Method

1.       Preheat oven to 375°F 

2.       In large bowl, whisk together flour, rolled oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.

3.       In separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, oil and vanilla; pour over dry ingredients. Sprinkle with carrot, and walnuts; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened. Spoon into 12 paper-lined or greased muffin cups.

4.       Bake in centre of oven for about 20 minutes Let cool in pan on rack for 5 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool.








Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact. She’s on Bluesky at @vickidelany.bsky.social

Now Available: Bubble, Bubble Tea & Trouble, the Seventh Tea by the Sea mystery from Kensington Publishing.


 Coming September 6: 'Tis the Season to be Scary, A Year-Round Christmas mystery