Thank you, Peg, for
hosting me on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen, the place I visit for great recipes and
news about the latest mysteries. Today I’m sharing a recipe from my new
release, Crypt Suzette, the sixth
Five-Ingredient Mystery.
My
main character, Val Deniston, is catering a Halloween party and costume contest
at Bayport’s new bookshop. The contestants include the Fictionistas, a creative
writing group started by the secretive Suzette, who rents a room in the house
Val shares with her grandfather. When Suzette is found dead of an apparent
accident, Val and Granddad suspect foul play. So do Suzette’s fellow
Fictionistas, who accuse each other of murder. Did one of them kill her or was
her death rooted in her past, which she’d tried hard to keep hidden? As Val
tries to answer that question, she risks becoming the next “accident” victim.
For the bookshop’s
party, Val makes spooky-sounding treats—Mummy’s Apple Pies (hand pies with
pastry strips making them look like wrapped mummies) and Crypt Suzettes (crệpes
Suzette which, at the bookshop owner’s request, will not feature setting the
sauce aflame). This dish involves making thin pancakes and dipping them in
orange butter sauce. Traditionally, the crệpes are folded in half and then
again in half to make triangles. But Val rolls the crệpes and serves them in
elongated paper containers to make them look like shrouded bodies in a coffin.
Perfect for Halloween.
Crêpes Suzette
Recipe for the Crệpes
2 eggs
1 cup
flour
1 1/2
cups milk
1/4
teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon
oil for the pan plus additional oil as needed
Whisk the
eggs, milk, and salt until well mixed. Slowly whisk in the flour.
Note: You
can cook the crêpes immediately, but refrigerating the batter for 20 minutes
will smooth out any lumps or bubbles. Letting the batter rest makes it less
likely the crêpe will tear in the pan. The batter can keep for a day or two.
Heat a
10-inch skillet or crêpe pan at a medium setting. To keep crêpes from sticking,
do not put the oil or batter in until a few drops of water sizzle in the pan
and disappear in 2 seconds
Add
enough oil to cover the bottom of the heated pan. Pour 1/4 cup of batter into
the pan and tilt it so the batter spreads into a thin circle coating the
bottom. Cook at medium heat until the edges turn light brown and the center of
the crêpe has hardened past a liquid stage. Gently loosen the crêpe with a
spatula and flip it. Cook for another minute and transfer it to a large plate
or platter where the crêpe can lie flat.
Repeat
the preceding step until the batter is gone, stacking the cooked crêpes on the
plate. Add a small amount of additional oil after every other crêpe to prevent
the batter from sticking.
Yield:
10–12 eight-inch crêpes
Recipe for Orange Butter Sauce
10–12
crêpes
4
tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup
sugar
1 orange
for1 tablespoon grated orange zest and 1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup
Grand Marnier, Cointreau, or other orange liqueur [Optional; if skipping, add
more orange juice]
Zest the
orange. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat until it foams.
Stir in the sugar, orange juice, zest, and liqueur. Simmer on low heat until
the sauce thickens a little. Remove the skillet from the heat.
With
tongs, add a crêpe to the pan, coat both sides in the syrup, and serve, either
folded into quarters or rolled. Put it on a warm plate.
Repeat
the previous step for each crêpe.
Serve
crêpes garnished with orange slices or with ice cream for dessert.
Yield: Sauce
for 10–12 eight-inch crêpes
What
is your favorite Halloween sweet? Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Crypt
Suzette. A U.S. winner will receive a signed Advanced Reader’s Edition
paperback. An international winner will receive an e-book. To
enter, comment below about your favorite
Halloween treat and include your email address for notification if you win. Good luck!
Maya (Mary Ann) Corrigan lives
in Virginia, an easy drive from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the setting for her
Five-Ingredient Mysteries: By Cook or by Crook, Scam Chowder, Final
Fondue, The Tell-Tale Tarte,
and Crypt Suzette. The series
features café manager Val Deniston, who solves murders with her live-wire
grandfather in a historic Chesapeake Bay town. Each book has five suspects,
five clues, and Granddad's five-ingredient recipes. Visit Maya’s website, mayacorrigan.com, for trivia and quizzes
about classic mysteries. She loves hearing from readers.
Visit Maya at her website or on Facebook
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