Roasted Butternut Squash and Mushroom Pie with Cheddar Pastry from Vicki Delany - Part 1: The Pastry

This makes a delicious and hearty vegetarian pie for people who either don’t eat meat, or are trying to cut back.  You won’t miss the meat at all!

This week, I give you the recipe for the savory pastry, which would work for a lot of main-dish pie recipes.  Next time the squash and mushroom filling.

It’s difficult enough cooking in someone else’s kitchen, but add in the complications of finding ingredients in a country with a totally different food culture, and it can be challenging.  This recipe is originally from Food + Drink, the magazine of the LCBO (Ontario), adapted by me for what I could find in the stores when I was in Mozambique. The recipe called for free forming the pastry for the pie, and I did it that way, but I won’t again.  I think it would be more attractive baked in a regular glass pie plate.

CHEDDAR PASTRY:

3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour
1 tsp (5 mL) paprika
½ tsp (2 mL) table salt

1 cup (250 mL) each cold unsalted butter cubed
1⅓ cups (330 mL) shredded extra-old cheddar cheese
⅓ cup (80 mL) ice water
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice

EGG WASH
1 egg
1 tbsp (15 mL) cold water

 

DIRECTIONS:

 Pulse flour, paprika and salt in a food processor until combined. Add butter and pulse 3 or 4 times just until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add cheese and pulse just until combined.

In a small bowl, stir together water and vinegar. With motor running, add to food processor through feed tube and process just until dough holds together, adding a little more ice water if necessary. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just until it forms a ball. Cut dough in half and pat out each piece to a disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

On a lightly floured surface, roll out 1 piece of pastry to a 12-inch (30-cm) round. Carefully roll pastry around rolling pin and transfer to a large lightly greased baking sheet. Spoon filling (Recipe provided separately) onto pastry, leaving a 1½-inch (4-cm) border around edge.

In a small bowl, beat together egg and water to make egg wash. Brush edges of pastry on baking sheet with egg wash. Roll out second piece of pastry to a 12-inch (30-cm) round. Carefully roll pastry around rolling pin and transfer to top of pie. Seal edges well and trim them, reserving trimmings. Crimp edges decoratively. Cut 2 or 3 holes in top of pie for steam to escape. Cut decorative shapes from reserved trimmings and use to decorate top of pie, using egg wash to make them adhere. Brush top of pie with egg wash.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.

Serves 6 to 8

It's always a good time for Christmas Reading. Are you caught up on the Year Round Christmas Series yet?

Ricotta Gnocchi from Vicki Delany

I love ricotta and I love gnocchi.  So this for me is a winning combination.  The gnocchi is extremely easy to make and it freezes very well before being boiled.  Here’s the basic recipe for the gnocchi which you can use with your favourite sauce, but in a couple of weeks I’ll share with you the mushroom sauce I love to serve it with.

Ricotta Gnocchi

I cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

¾ cup all purpose flour

¼ tsp nutmeg

 

Combine all ingredients into a smooth dough

Shape the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for at least one hour

Unwrap the dough and cut in half

Form each half into a rope, rolling on a floured work surface.  Make each row about 1 inch round

Cut into ½ inch pieces.  Make a small indentation in the center of each piece with a floured thumb.

FREEZING TIP.  At this point the gnocchi can be frozen. Put the cut pieces into the freezer laid out on floured baking sheets, and when frozen drop into plastic freezer bags

To Cook: Bring pot of salted water to the boil.  Drop pieces of gnocchi into the boiling water and cook for about3 minutes.  Scoop out of water with a slotted spoon. Drain off excess water and serve with your sauce of choice

Perfect for the season: Dying in a Winter Wonderland, the fifth Year Round Christmas mystery by Vicki Delany. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/series/YRC/a-year-round-christmas-mystery

 

Summer Pasta with Fresh Tomatoes

By Vicki Delany

It’s my favourite time of the year. Tomato season.  There are so many wonderful things you can do with tomatoes and here’s one of my favourites.  This sort of recipe is very variable, not really a recipe, just a bunch of wonderful ingredients tossed together. Use as many tomatoes and as much pasta as you need for the number of people you are serving.  Grated parmesan-reggino cheese on the top is an added extra, if you have it.

This size makes a meal for one.

Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 very small red chili pepper (if you like a touch of heat) 

Approx. 15 small or cherry tomatoes, the more different colours the better, halved

Bunch of arugula, roughly chopped

Small bunch of fresh basil, roughly chopped

1 TBSP Butter or goat cheese

Directions:

Cook spaghetti or linguine or other long pasta according to directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup pasta water.

Saute onion and garlic and chili pepper if using in about 1 tbsp. olive oil until soft and browning

Add tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are soft. Season with salt and ground pepper.

Add arugula and basil and stir into sauce.  Cook about 5 minutes

Add butter or cheese and stir until melted.

Add pasta water until the sauce is the consistency you like.

And you’re done!

NOW AVAILABLE: Silent Night, Deadly Night, the fourth Year Round Christmas mystery.

Homemade Salad Dressing

by Vicki Delany

I haven't bought bottled dressing in years.  Not since I started making my own and realized how easy it is, not to mention how much better than the bottled stuff.

Give it a try. I bet you'll never go back.

1 clove garlic, minced finely
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
Maggi Seasoning, about 1 tbsp
sugar, about 1 tsp
salt
freshly ground pepper

These measurements are not exact, because I don't measure. I just judge and taste. You want about 1/4 to 1/3 the amount of vinegar as oil.

I find this keeps very well in the fridge for several weeks so I always make enough for several meals.

Combine everything into a mason jar.  Shake.

The oil and vinegar will separate in the fridge, so just give it a good shake before using it. If the oil hardens slightly in the fridge a few minutes at room temperature will be enough.

Olive Oil and vinegar

Finished product

Silent Night Deadly Night, the fourth in the Year Round Christmas series will be released by Berkley on August 27.

Let's give a hearty welcome to our new MLK'er, Vicki Delany!! Woot, woot!

Please welcome Vicki Delany, a new member of our MLK team!  

She will be posting every other Friday, alternating with Sheila.

Vicki has been a regular guest on our site, so we're thrilled to have her become one of us.  Vicki is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series and the Lighthouse Library series (as Eva Gates) for Crooked Lane Books, and the Tea by the Sea mysteries for Kensington. 

Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada.  Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards. Vicki is the recipient of the 2019 Derick Murdoch Award for contributions to Canadian crime writing. 

Photo: Iden Ford

Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. Twitter @vickidelany

Take it away Vicki!!

Thank you so much Daryl for that nice introduction.

I am such a fan of Mystery Lovers Kitchen and I was so excited when the gang asked me if I’d like to be an actual member of the blog group.  What an honour!  I’ve posted before as a guest, but now I’m going to be a regular contributor. I hope you’ll stop by the 1^st 3^rd and 5^th Fridays and see what’s cooking at my house.

I'm a good baker and I like to bake, but I don't get much of a chance as I live alone. But when company comes or I've been asked to bring a dish, you'll find me elbow deep in the flour and sugar.  I am, if I do say so myself, quite a good cook.  I make a lot of dishes in the crock pot, because that makes a big batch and I can then freeze several meals. So I intend to show you some of those dishes as well.

Today, I’d like to introduce you to my Strawberry Rhubarb Bars. These are absolutely perfect for this time of year when fresh locally grown strawberries and rhubarb are available in abundance at your local farm stand.

Vicki Delany’s Strawberry Rhubarb Bars

Crumble Mixture for base and topping

1 cup 3 plus tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled from the fridge

2 ½ cups (390 g) all-purpose flour

¾ cup (95 g) graham cracker crumbs

½ cup plus 2 tablespoons (62 g) large flake oats

½ cup (105 g) sugar

¾ cup (144 g) brown sugar, packed

1/8 teaspoon salt

 Zest of one lemon

 1 egg; 1 egg white

Filling

3 cups rhubarb sliced into 1-cm pieces

3 cups strawberries halved and then sliced

½ cup (105 g) sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons corn starch

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9 x 13 tray. Use a cheese grater to grate the butter onto a plate and then place the grated butter in the freezer while you mix the rest of the ingredients. This works best with butter from the fridge, not room temperature or frozen butter.

In a large bowl stir together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, ½ cup oats (do not add the 2 tablespoons yet), brown sugar, white sugar, lemon zest, and salt. Add the egg and egg white and mix them into the dry ingredients with a fork.

Get the grated butter from the freezer and add it to the crumble mixture. Use your hands to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles crumbs the size of peas. Remove two cups of the crumble mixture to use as the topping and stir the 2 tablespoons of oats into this mixture.

Press the remaining crumble mixture into the greased pan into an even layer.

In a different bowl stir together the chopped rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, vanilla and corn starch. Spread on top of the layer of pressed crumble. Top with the reserved two cups of crumble mixture.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the top is golden and the filling is bubbling. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

My newest book is SOMETHING READ SOMETHING DEAD written by me as EVA GATES.  This is the fifth in the Lighthouse Library series set on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. SOMETHING READ SOMETHING DEAD is now available in ebook and hardcover and will be out in mass market format in September.

Welcome guest Vicki Delany! Plus book #giveaway

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of twenty-three published crime novels, including standalone Gothic thrillers, the Constable Molly Smith series, and the Year Round Christmas Mysteries.  Under the pen name of Eva Gates she is the national bestselling author of the Lighthouse Library cozy series. Vicki lives and writes in Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada.

Her latest release is God Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen:

In Rudolph, New York, it’s Christmastime all year long. But this December, while the snow-lined streets seem merry and bright, a murder is about to ruin everyone’s holiday cheer…

(SEE GIVEAWAY BELOW)

Is There a Grinch in Christmas Town?

I love Christmas. Almost everyone loves Christmas. 

Although most of us would agree that Christmas can come too soon. We complain (I certainly do) about decorations in the stores and seasonal ads on TV before summer’s even over, never mind Halloween arrived.

But still, a lot of us do our shopping ahead of time. I know people who buy decorations for next year the week after this year’s Christmas, and who start shopping around the time they put away the New Years’ Decorations.  Certainly, it’s a wise woman (or man) who starts her baking in plenty of time. A traditional Christmas cake or old-fashioned English pudding, full of rum or brandy, or sometimes both, needs to be started months ahead to be perfect for the big day.

It’s precisely to help out those early birds that the town of Rudolph, New York celebrates Christmas all year round.

Don’t rush to your atlases or Google maps looking for Rudolph because I made it up. It’s the town at the center of my series, the Year Round Christmas mysteries from Berkley Prime Crime.

Rudolph wants to be known as America’s Christmas Town and everything in Rudolph is about celebrating the holidays. All year round. They have a Santa Claus parade twice a year.  The usual one the first Saturday in December, and then another for Christmas in July.

But it’s in the autumn when the townspeople and shop owners of Rudolph really spring into high gear. And there’s no place busier than Victoria’s Bake Shoppe, owned by Vicky Casey.  This year, Vicky has more to worry about than whether or not her cakes will rise.  She’s fallen head over heels in love with the new chef at the Yuletide Inn.  When the son of the owner of the inn begins to implement “efficiencies”, all of the townsfolk are up in arms.  And no one is angrier than Chef Mark, who turns out to have a secret buried in his mysterious past.

Is there a Grinch in Christmas Town?

Good thing Vicky has these quick and easy cookies in her holiday-baking repertoire.

Vicki Delany’s Mother’s Stained Glass Cookies

Perfect for Christmas!  These cookies are so quick and easy and are always a huge hit in my family.  Be sure and prepare the dough a day ahead of baking.

Ingredients:

1 cup soft butter

2/3 cup brown sugar

½ tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 cup slivered almonds

½ cup red glace cherries – chopped

½ cup green glace cherries – chopped

Directions:

Mix butter and brown sugar. Add vanilla, salt and mix until combined.  Add flour.

Stir in almonds and cherries.

Roll dough into logs, wrap in wax paper and refrigerate overnight.

Unroll logs and slice into ¼ inch thick rounds.  Place rounds on baking sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes.

You might find Vicky Casey baking these cookies at Victoria’s Bake Shoppe in Vicki Delany’s Year Round Christmas Series.  Perfect for those who like a little murder and mayhem in their holiday festivities. And don't we all, on occasion?

We Wish You A Murderous Christmas, the second in the series is now available.

GIVEAWAY!

Vicki would like to give away one copy of We Wish You A Murderous Christmas to a MLK reader. To enter, please leave ac comment below with your email address so we can contact the winner.  US entries only, please.  

Please note - Vicki is on a fabulous birthday bash and won't be able to respond to comments today, but other MLK'ers will, and she will contact the winner directly!

Keep in touch with Vicki here:

www.vickidelany.com

Facebook:  Vicki Delany & Eva Gates (evagatesauthor) and 

twitter: @vickidelany and @evagatesauthor

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