Irish Whiskey Cake for Sheila Connolly's THE SECRET STAIRCASE Book Birthday!

From Cleo Coyle: We all dearly miss Sheila Connolly. Gone far too soon, she was a brilliant and unique spirit and an inspiration to us all. Today happens to be the publication day of Sheila's third Victorian Village Mystery. Unfinished at her passing, her daughter, Julie Williams, took up the pen and finished the work for her mother. If you missed Julie's special guest post this past Sunday, click here now to see it. And...

To learn more or buy 
The Secret Staircase click here 

In the meantime, given that today is such a poignant book birthday, Marc and I thought it would be fitting to share a cake recipe. And what better cake to honor Sheila than an Irish Whiskey Cake. This is a fantastic recipe. Keep it on hand for the coming holiday season. In sharing it, we thought it best to let Sheila's own words celebrate the day. In memoriam, with the greatest respect and affection...

The following is author

Sheila Connolly's original post

from December 7, 2018

Irish Whiskey Cake

From Sheila Connolly: The Irish love sweets, which explains why the supermarket’s bakery department is near the front of the store and loaded with yummy cakes and tarts and breads.

So once again I went hunting for a holiday recipe, and discovered Whiskey Cake. This one comes from an Irish cookbook that I’ve had for years (and quite a few of the recipes include whiskey!).

I’ve been collecting bakeware for a long time—it gives me a reason to prowl antiques fairs and auctions, and the vintage or even antique items are usually very affordable. Baking this new cake gives me an excuse to try out yet another baking tin, which turned out to be a perfect size.

Irish Whiskey Cake

Ingredients (for one 8” cake):

1-1/2 cup raisins
Grated rind and juice of one lemon (grated rind will be for the cake, reserve the lemon juice for the icing below)
2/3 cup Irish whiskey
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar (make sure it’s soft)
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground cloves
pinch of salt
3 eggs, separated

For icing:

1-1/3 cups confectioner’s sugar
the lemon juice from above
a bit of warm water 

Instructions:

Soak the raisins and grated lemon rind in the whiskey for several hours, or overnight.

Cream together the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cloves and salt.

Gradually beat the egg yolks (one at a time) into the butter and sugar mixture, alternating with the dry ingredients. Stir in the raisins and *whiskey.

*Note that the whiskey will include the grated lemon rind from the soaking in the first step.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then fold into the mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. 

Grease an 8” cake tin. Spoon the batter into it.

Bake for about 1-1/2 hours until the cake is well risen and springy to the touch (don't overbake or the cake will dry out). Place the tin on a wire rack and let cool. (If you’ve greased the pan well, the cake will come out easily when cool.) 

Icing: Sift the confectioner’s sugar into a bowl. Make a well in the middle. Add half the lemon juice and combine. Add more lemon juice and a bit of water (if needed) until the mixture is thick and smooth. 

Place the cake on a plate, then spoon the icing over it,

letting it dribble down the sides.

I have to say the cake smells wonderful! The sweet/tart glaze makes a nice contrast to the cake itself, or you could skip that step if you want.

🍀  🍀  🍀

Thank you, Sheila, for your many years of happy fellowship and

especially for sharing your wonderful talents with all of us!

To learn more about Sheila and her books
visit her website SheilaConnolly.com

To learn more about Sheila's
Victorian Village Mysteries and

purchase the books, click here
or on the image above.

🍀

RELEASE DAY NEWS: Killer in the Carriage House by Sheila Connolly

Congratulations to our own... 

SHEILA CONNOLLY

On the release of her new
Victorian Village Mystery

KILLER IN THE CARRIAGE HOUSE 

The second book in the Victorian Village Mystery series from New York Times bestselling author Sheila Connolly! 

After fifteen years away, Kate Hamilton never expected to end up back in her hometown of Asheboro, Maryland full time. And she definitely didn’t expect to be leading the charge of recreating the town as a Victorian village and tourist attraction. But as unexpected as the circumstances are, Kate is ready to tackle them.

The town, on the other hand, is going to take some convincing. Ever since Henry Barton’s shovel factory closed down, it’s started to seem like there are more tumbleweeds than tourists rolling down Main Street. Kate’s ideas are good, but ambitious—and her friends and neighbors are worried that finding the money for them would push the town even further into debt.

Luckily, Kate and the handsome historian Joshua Wainwright are two very determined people who may have come up with a solution. The Barton mansion, meant to be the centerpiece of the Victorian village, has proven to be a veritable goldmine of documents about the town’s nineteenth-century history, and Kate is convinced the papers hide something of value. When a dead body turns up in the town library—mere hours before the documents were meant to arrive there themselves—Kate begins to worry that the papers spell danger instead of dollars. It seems that someone doesn’t want these forgotten secrets coming to light, and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep Kate quiet…

KILLER IN THE CARRIAGE HOUSE

To learn more or buy,

CLICK HERE

📖

Click to see more of our
upcoming releases.

👓

RELEASE NEWS: Murder at the Mansion (New Paperback Edition) by Sheila Connolly

Congratulations to our own... 

SHEILA CONNOLLY

On the recent release of the
*New Paperback Edition*
of her Victorian Village Mystery

MURDER AT THE MANSION

Welcome to Asheboro, Maryland, 
where the homes are to die for. . .

Katherine Hamilton never wanted to return to her dead-end hometown. But when she is called in to help save Asheboro from going bankrupt, Kate can’t refuse. The town has issued its last available funds to buy a local Victorian mansion. It’s a plan that Kate would be happy to help get off the ground. . .if only she didn’t have such bad memories associated with that mansion. Is Kate ready to do business—or is this job too personal for her own good?

Then, one day while touring the property, Kate stumbles over a dead body. Impossibly, the victim is none other than Kate’s high-school nemesis Cordelia Walker. Soon Kate is immersed in a murder investigation and with the history of the old Victorian. What secrets are hidden within its walls—and can the truth be discovered before the killer comes for Kate herself?

“Cozy fans will enjoy Connolly’s characteristically
warm treatment of small-town life.”—Publishers Weekly

“A new series that skillfully combines
history, romance, and mystery.”—Kirkus Reviews

MURDER AT THE MANSION

To learn more or buy,

CLICK HERE

📖

Click to see more of our
upcoming releases.

👓

Gnocchi with Cream and Mushroom Sauce

Some days time just gets away from you, and the cupboard and fridge are pretty much bare. No, don’t say “go out to dinner.” And I haven’t tried any of those services that show up at your door with a complete meal, ready to eat (how do they work?). Besides, I like the challenge of putting together real grown-up food with whatever I can scrounge.

Last time I was at the market I picked up a package of gnocchi (not frozen) for just such an occasion. I knew I wanted a sauce, and I happened to have all the likely suspects, er, ingredients, so I improvised a quick dish.

Gnocchi with Cream and Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 pound mushrooms (our local market has started stocking slightly more exotic mushroom varieties, and I buy them whenever I find them there so they’ll keep ordering them)

1 medium shallot, chopped

4 Tblsp butter (1/2 stick)

Salt and freshly-ground pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 package gnocchi

Instructions:

Slice off the ends of the mushroom stems (if the ends seem dry) and dice them.

Mushrooms (cleaned and chopped)

In a large skillet, melt the butter and saute the chopped shallots until they’re cooked but not brown. Turn up the heat and add the diced mushrooms. When they have absorbed all the butter, reduce the heat to low and add salt and pepper, and toss the mushrooms in the pan. When they start releasing their juices, turn up the heat again and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring frequently. Add the cream and let it thicken slightly. Then set aside the pan while you cook the gnocchi.

Cooking the little critters takes next to no time. Fill a large saucepan with water and bring to a boil. Add the gnocchi. When they come bobbing to the top, they’re done (takes about 3 minutes). Drain them and put them into the pan with the mushrooms. Toss to cover with the sauce.

To serve, place in large flattish bowls, sprinkle with the grated Parmesan, and eat while the gnocchi is still hot.

This is a pretty forgiving dish, in terms of how much of anything you use. Just aim for a good balance of sauce to gnocchi—you don’t want them to be dry. If you don’t happen to have gnocchi on hand, you can use any number of pastas. Same with the mushrooms—use whatever kind you have.

Easy, right? And tasty!

Have patience! It's coming July 9th! 

After fifteen years away, Kate Hamilton never expected to end up back in her hometown of Asheboro, Maryland full time. And she definitely didn’t expect to be leading the charge of recreating the town as a Victorian village and tourist attraction. But as unexpected as the circumstances are, Kate is ready to tackle them.

The town, on the other hand, is going to take some convincing. Ever since Henry Barton’s shovel factory closed down, it’s started to seem like there are more tumbleweeds than tourists rolling down Main Street. Kate’s ideas are good, but ambitious―and her friends and neighbors are worried that finding the money for them would push the town even further into debt.

Luckily, Kate and the handsome historian Joshua Wainwright are two very determined people who may have come up with a solution. The Barton mansion, meant to be the centerpiece of the Victorian village, has proven to be a veritable goldmine of documents about the town’s nineteenth-century history, and Kate is convinced the papers hide something of value. When a dead body turns up in the town library―mere hours before the documents were meant to arrive there themselves―Kate begins to worry that the papers spell danger instead of dollars. It seems that someone doesn’t want these forgotten secrets coming to light, and they’ll do whatever it takes to keep Kate quiet…

Rainbow Carrot Soup

This seems to be soup week at MLK! I too have a long-treasured recipe for carrot soup, originally called Potage de Crecy. It originated in the lovely Time-Life series of cookbooks (they came in pairs: one book for pretty pictures, one smaller spiral-bound book with the recipes). They date from the 1960s, and my mother bought a few, which I inherited.

The basic soup is delicious, and I’ve made it many times. But this time I went a little crazy. You see, I had a lot of carrots in the fridge, but the majority of them were yellow or ivory, not orange. Oh, there were a few orange ones, and there were also several dark maroon ones (which have a yellow core). I said to myself, “What the heck, it’s almost spring, and Easter, and all that stuff, and it’s snowing out there so I’m not going to the market to bring home one bag of carrots.” So I improvised. Call it Rainbow Carrot Soup or Confetti Soup – it will taste good either way.

Rainbow Carrot Soup

Ingredients (to serve 4-6):

2 Tblsp butter

3/4 cup finely chopped onion

3 cups finely chopped carrots

[Note: I’m not sure food processors had been invented when this recipe was written. Now it’s much easier to chop things. Just stop short of making mush out of them—that’s for later.]

1 quart chicken stock

2 tsp tomato paste

2 Tblsp plain white rice (uncooked)

Salt

White pepper

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 Tblsp soft butter

Instructions:

In a heavy 3 to 4 quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are soft but not browned.

Add the carrots, chicken stock, tomato paste and rice and simmer gently, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Puree the soup (a food mill if you’ve got one, or a food processor or blender) and pour the soup into a clean saucepan. Taste for seasoning and add salt and white pepper to taste. Stir in the cream.

Now comes the fun part. Take whatever color weird carrots you’ve got and coarsely grate them. (If you’re using a food processor and have the grating disk, use that.) Make 1-2 cups of grated carrots, or grate until you run out of the odd-colored carrots.

Add the to the pureed soup (before you add the seasoning and the cream). Simmer for a while (check the carrot shreds—you want them cooked but not mushy. Warning: if everything is mushy, you may end up with gray soup!) When the carrot shreds are soft but still have a bit of crunch, finish the with the seasoning and cream and heat through. Add that last pat of butter and stir it in.

I chose to serve this with cornbread, which had some texture and is just a bit sweet, a nice complement to the carrots.

Enjoy!

Help! The coming books list is a bit chaotic at the moment! The next Museum Mystery still doesn't have a name but it should appear next month. I'm proofing the next Victorian Village Mystery, Killer in the Carriage House, as we speak, and that's due out in June. The next County Cork Mystery is finished in draft and is undergoing edits, but it's scheduled to appear next January. And there should be another Orchard Mystery in the fall, if I can find some breathing room!

Quick-Roasted Chicken

Last week I promised you something from Sam Sifton, the food editor for The New York Times and a good model for MLKers. As a reviewer, he gathers a lot of recipes from chefs and restauranteurs. What’s more, he includes at least one no-recipe recipe each week in his Times food newsletter. A week ago he published over forty of them and they appeared as a full-size standalone insert in the newspaper. Of course I saved it, and I may be making these for a long time. What I particularly admire is that he encourages a cook not to worry about measurements and finicky details—just make the dish. And use plenty of herbs and spices.

One note: he uses chicken thighs in most of his chicken recipes. I understand why: they cook well and remain moist and they’re a convenient single-serving size. But I’ve never been a fan of chicken thighs, or even chicken legs (not since I was about eight and my mother let me pick up the leg at dinner and gnaw on it). So I have substituted chicken breasts, which I (and my cats) prefer. Just don’t overcook them.

Sam Sifton’s Quick-Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

Fresh chicken breasts (or thighs, if you must)

Mayonnaise

Dijon mustard

A lot of chopped fresh tarragon

Salt and pepper

Bread crumbs (I made my own)

(You’ll notice there are no amounts given. Just mix up enough of the coating to cover however much chicken you’re making.)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees (yes, hot).

Mix together a bunch of mayonnaise, some Dijon mustard, and lots of tarragon in a roomy bowl.

Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then add them to the bowl with the mayonnaise mixture and toss them to coat them evenly.

Grease a sheet (flat) pan and put the chicken pieces on the pan. Cover each piece with a healthy handful of bread crumbs, then press the crumbs so they stick to the chicken.

Bake in the hot oven for about half an hour, then test for doneness. If they’re not quite done, cook for another 5-10 minutes. The chicken pieces should be golden brown with a crisp bread-crumb crust.

Serve with whatever you like—rice, potatoes, salad or other veggies.

Doesn’t get much easier than that, does it? Thank you, Sam Sifton.

Shameless self-promotion: The book queue is lining up fast. Next in line is a new Museum Mystery, which will have a title (and a cover!) very soon. It should appear in April, from Beyond the Page Publishing.

In case you're wondering, that's the "real"
Society in Philadelphia, where I worked for
several years.

And then there will be Killer in the Carriage House, the second in the Victorian Village Mysteries in July!

Kate Hamilton is trying to save her struggling home town of Asheboro, Maryland, but there's no money available and nothing there to attract tourists. But Kate is determined to find a way--as soon as she solves the second murder since she arrived.

Pork Chops with Creamy Rosemary Sauce

It has been a bumper week for recipes this past week. (You do know that often we at Mystery Lovers Kitchen search widely for recipes, then tinker with them to make them more uniquely our own?)

It all started when I noticed a bright orange sticker on the Sunday Boston Globe. I figured it was probably someone trying to sell me fake wooden flooring, but instead it turned out to be a promotion for (drumroll) a service that will supply New Englanders with grass-fed beef and pasture raised meat from “highly principled farms.”

The various farms that participate provide beef, pork, lamb and chicken. You can sign up for regularly monthly shares for a fixed price, or buy only as much as you need. And they deliver to your door! I would be tempted, because I love meats, but the smallest share is 6-8 pounds and there’s only me at home, and I don’t really want to eat any of the products every day for a week or two. But I applaud their effort.

And they provided recipes on their website—much the way we at MLK do, searching for recipes and then tailoring them to their products. I decided to jump in and try one that sounded good.

PORK CHOPS WITH CREAMY ROSEMARY SAUCE

INGREDIENTS:

2 boneless pork loin or rib chops

1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced

2 Tblsp all-purpose flour

2 Tblsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, sliced

1 cup low-salt chicken broth

1/4 cup dry white wine

1/3 cup whipping cream

4 teaspoons raspberry vinegar or red wine vinegar

INSTRUCTIONS:

Sprinkle pork with 3/4 teaspoon rosemary, salt, and pepper. Coat with flour and shake off any excess.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; sauté about 2 minutes. Discard garlic.

Add pork chops and sauté until brown and cooked through, about 5-7 minutes per side. Transfer pork to plate and tent with foil.

Add chicken broth, white wine, cream, vinegar and remaining 1/4 teaspoon rosemary to skillet. Boil until sauce thickens about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Spoon sauce over pork and serve with potatoes or noodles.

(I mentioned it was a great week for recipes? The bonus was a complete magazine style insert in the New York Times, with all recipes by Sam Sifton, who is my idol. I'll share one with you soon!)

Oh, right, books. 

Killer in the Carriage House will be published by St, Martin's Minotaur in June--it's the second in the Victorian Village Mystery Series. Kate Hamilton is trying to get the remodeling of her old hometown of Asheboro started, but she seems to keep tripping over bodies . . . At least she has friends to help figure out why.

And I'll be sneaking in another book in the Museum Mysteries, I hope in April, but it doesn't have a name or a cover yet. I can tell you you'll learn a lot about Philadelphia, and (here's a teaser) there will be over four hundred bodies (and no, there's not a war going on).