Kale Salad With Roasted Mushrooms, Pears, Torn Croutons and Blue Cheese #recipe by @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  We love a good hearty salad, and as the weather gets colder, it’s great to have one that combines warm ingredients with the greens. This is an unusual combination, but we loved it and will definitely make it again. 

The original recipe calls for a pear or an apple. We loved the flavor the pear added. If I were to use an apple, I’d choose one with a mild flavor, like a Pink Lady. The strong flavor and bite of, say, a Granny Smith, would be too much. 

We usually have a bag in the freezer of leftover bread ends and slices, and typically turn them into seasoned croutons. I raided that bag for this dish, and breaking the toasts into croutons with my hands was great fun!

If you don’t like, or have, blue cheese, try Gorgonzola, which we used, goat cheese, or feta. I used a mix of button and crimini mushrooms, but others would be tasty, too. 

This salad pairs neatly with grilled chicken—we rubbed ours with a bit of olive oil and the Balsamic Chicken Blend from Red Stick Spice in Baton Rouge.

Kale Salad With Roasted Mushrooms, Pears, Torn Croutons and Blue Cheese

Adapted from the Washington Post

For the salad:

3 or 4 slices of crusty bread 

olive oil 

6 to 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced 

1 small red onion (3-4 ounces), roughly chopped 

table salt or kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

4-6 ounces curly green kale, thick stems and ribs removed, and chopped

For the dressing:

3 tablespoons apple cider or juice

2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

4 tablespoons olive oil 

For the top:

1 large pear or mild-flavored apple (5-6 ounces), sliced

3 ounces blue cheese, crumbled

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush the bread with olive oil and lay the slices on one side of a large, rimmed baking sheet. On the other side, lay the mushrooms and onions; add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and stir or toss, spreading in an even layer, then season with salt and a few grinds of black pepper. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the bread is toasted and the vegetables are soft and beginning to caramelize. (You may need to take the bread out a few minutes early.)

Meanwhile, in a large serving bowl, combine the chopped kale and a pinch of salt. Rub the salt into the kale with your hands for a minute or two. 

Make the dressing: Using a jar with a tightfitting lid, mix the cider, mustard, vinegar, and 4 tablespoons of oil. Shake to mix, and season with a pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper. 

When the vegetables and bread are done, remove them from the oven. Immediately add the vegetables to the kale and stir, to allow the heat to wilt the kale a bit. When the bread is cool enough to handle, break it into rough croutons. Add croutons and pear or apple to the kale and vegetable mixture. Pour in 2/3 of the dressing and toss to coat. Sprinkle the cheese on top and serve family-style, with additional dressing on the side.

Serves 4-6. 

Wishing you a kale and hearty day!  

From the cover of BITTERROOT LAKE, written as Alicia Beckman (Crooked Lane Books; available in hardcover, ebook, and audio): 

When four women separated by tragedy reunite at a lakeside Montana lodge, murder forces them to confront everything they thought they knew about the terrifying accident that tore them apart, in Agatha Award-winning author Alicia Beckman's suspense debut.

Twenty-five years ago, during a celebratory weekend at historic Whitetail Lodge, Sarah McCaskill had a vision. A dream. A nightmare. When a young man was killed, Sarah's guilt over having ignored the warning in her dreams devastated her. Her friendships with her closest friends, and her sister, fell apart as she worked to build a new life in a new city. But she never stopped loving Whitetail Lodge on the shores of Bitterroot Lake.

Now that she's a young widow, her mother urges her to return to the lodge for healing. But when she arrives, she's greeted by an old friend--and by news of a murder that's clearly tied to that tragic day she'll never forget.

And the dreams are back, too. What dangers are they warning of this time? As Sarah and her friends dig into the history of the lodge and the McCaskill family, they uncover a legacy of secrets and make a discovery that gives a chilling new meaning to the dreams. Now, they can no longer ignore the ominous portents from the past that point to a danger more present than any of them could know.

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries, and the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories. Death al Dente, the first Food Lovers' Village Mystery, won Best First Novel in 2013, following her 2011 win in Best Nonfiction. Her first historical short story, "All God's Sparrows," won the 2018 Agatha Award for Best Short Story. Watch for her first standalone suspense novel, Bitterroot Lake (written as Alicia Beckman) in April 2021 from Crooked Lane Books.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and a current board member of Mystery Writers of America, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by her website and subscribe to her seasonal newsletter, for a chat about the writing life, what she's working on, and  what she's reading -- and a free short story. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.

Roasted Chicken and Pears from @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE here, with a delicious cold-weather recipe. I've been recipe testing for a Christmas Scarf novella in my Country Store Mysteries. Robbie Jordan and crew decide to do a Twelve Days of Christmas theme for their breakfast and lunch recipes. Robbie declares that partridge is close enough to chicken to count, and she devises a roasted chicken with pears lunch special for "Partridge in a Pear Tree."

The three-novel collection should be out in fall of 2022, just in time for Christmas! Read down for a giveaway.

Roasted Chicken and Pears

The chicken, fruit, and vegetables all roast together in the oven, and they come out golden and caramelized, just the kind of crowd-pleasing dish you'll want for your next dinner party.

Ingredients

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 onion, cut into 1-inch-wide wedges

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon dried thyme

Coarse salt and ground pepper

2 cups broccoli florets, 1 cup chopped stems

2 Asian eggplants, cut in inch pieces (not shown in Ingredients picture because I found them in the garden and wanted to include them)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

2 boneless chicken breasts and 2 boneless thighs

2 firm, ripe pears (about 1 1/2 pounds total), halved, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Season chicken on both sides with 1/2 teaspoon thyme, salt, and pepper, rubbing well into meat.

On a large rimmed baking sheet (or two small ones), toss carrot, eggplant, broccoli stems, and onions with vinegar, 1 tablespoon oil, and parsley. [Note: I tossed eggplant with oil and added it later.]

Push vegetables to edges of baking sheet; place chicken pieces in center, and roast 30 minutes.

Remove baking sheet from oven, add pears and broccoli florets, drizzle with another tablespoon of oil, and toss with vegetables to combine. Roast 30 minutes more. Serve immediately over rice or with fresh bread.

Readers: What's your favorite recipe including that quintessential fall fruit, pears? I'll send one lucky commenter a copy of my previous Christmas mystery in this series, Candy Slain Murder!

My most recent release is Country Store Mystery #9. No Grater Crime came out in August!

Murder at the Lobstah Shack is up for preorder and releases at the end of November!

The next up is Batter Off Dead, Country Store Mystery #10, to release in February 2022, and also up for preorder.

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

A Pair of Pears -- muffin and salad #recipes from @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: As many of you know, Mr. Right is a doctor of natural medicine, primarily acupuncture, and his clinic is in our home. I’m not sure if it’s our location, in the woods outside a small town, or their generosity and gratitude that prompts some of his patients to bring him gifts, but I do enjoy them, like these fabulous dahlias. (Alas, the local restaurateur who brought us lovely bottles of wine no longer has back pain, thanks to Mr. Right, so no more gifts of wine!)

But when two bags of plums and pears showed up in one week, and my hunny was leaving town for a few days for a seminar, I had to get creative. Pears this week; we’ll talk plums on my next turn.

Years ago, when I first started teaching myself to cook, I made dozens of muffins. I’d learned to bake pies, cookies, and quick breads from my mother, but her idea of muffins was a box of Jiffy muffin mix. Somehow, I ended up with three muffin cookbooks. This recipe is a variation of one I’d apparently never made before, judging from the lack of scribbled notes, Mostly Muffins by Barbara Albright and Leslie Weiner (St. Martin’s Press, 1984). These are moist, dense, and fruity, with the spice combo of a fragrant gingerbread – great for fall.

In the muffins, I mixed the yellow and red pears – what variety they are, I have no idea. Call them "Bill and Bea's Pears."

For the salad, half a yellow pear worked perfectly. I made a simple balsamic dressing, but a red wine vinaigrette with shallots would be lovely, too.

When I initially typed up the muffin recipe, it called for diced bears, so here’s a picture of one, leaving our apple tree.

Ginger Pear Muffins

2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup (8 ounces) plain yogurt (not vanilla)
½ cup canola or other vegetable oil
3 tablespoons molasses
1 egg, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups diced pears (3-4 small)
½ cup raisins
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans


Heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a standard muffin pan.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a medium bowl, mix yogurt, oil, molasses, and egg until blended. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the yogurt mixture; stir to combine. Stir in pears, raisins, and walnuts.

Spoon batter into muffin pan – fill to the top, as these won’t rise a lot. Bake 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Cool in pan on a wire rack for about 5 minutes, then remove from cups to finish cooling. Serve warm or cool. Store in an airtight container. These freeze well.

Makes 12- 15 muffins.

Arugula Pear and Blue Cheese Salad with Pecans and Vinaigrette

arugula – about half a cup for each salad
a ripe pear, sliced  – half for each salad
blue cheese or gorgonzola, crumbled – half an ounce or about one tablespoon for each salad
toasted pecans, broken or chopped – 4-5 halves, about one tablespoon
vinaigrette

Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette

3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
½ teaspoon kosher salt, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
1-1/2 teaspoons packed brown sugar, light or dark

Combine all ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Close and shake vigorously to mix, about 10 seconds. Taste, and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

Refrigerate leftovers up to a week. Shake to mix or re-emulsify before using.

Compose the salads: Lay arugula leaves on a salad plate. Arrange the pear slices on top. Add the crumbled cheese and broken nuts. Dress, serve, and enjoy!

"Budewitz's finely drawn characters, sharp ear for dialogue, and well-paced puzzle make Jewel Bay a destination for every cozy fan." --- Kirkus Reviews

From the cover of AS THE CHRISTMAS COOKIE CRUMBLES, Food Lovers' Village Mystery #5 (Midnight Ink,  available in trade paper, e-book, and audio):  

In Jewel Bay---Montana's Christmas Village---all is merry and bright. At Murphy’s Mercantile, AKA the Merc, manager Erin Murphy is ringing in the holiday season with food, drink, and a new friend: Merrily Thornton. A local girl gone wrong, Merrily’s turned her life around. But her parents have publicly shunned her, and they nurse a bitterness that chills Erin.

When Merrily goes missing and her boss discovers he’s been robbed, fingers point to Merrily—until she’s found dead, a string of lights around her neck. The clues and danger snowball from there. Can Erin nab the killer—and keep herself in one piece—in time for a special Christmas Eve?

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries and the Spice Shop Mysteries—and the first author to win Agatha Awards for both fiction and nonfiction. A past president of Sisters in Crime, she lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine, and their cat, an avid bird-watcher.

Swing by my website and join the mailing list for my seasonal newsletter. And join me on Facebook where I announce lots of giveaways from my cozy writer friends.

Guest Susan Shea

Join us today at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen in welcoming Susan Shea, author of a lovely series set in France, who gives us a delicious dessert recipe.

A mid-summer field of blooming rapeseed in rural Burgundy

Thank you so much for having me today!

Love & Death in Burgundy, the first in my new mystery series, was loosely inspired by the experiences of two middle-aged California friends of mine who moved with two large dogs and a cat to rural Burgundy on not much more than a whim. Their romantic dreams hit some snags (leaking roof, leaking stone walls, the mystery of the carte de sejour, the downpours that inevitably drench the sheets just hung outdoors to dry) but they persevered, slowly working their way into the life of their crossroads village. While most of the novel is complete fiction, the pear tree under which Katherine and her friends sit in the opening scene is a more productive version of the one I have sat under many times during my visits. The summer day in Burgundy I write about mirrors my experience there, quiet except for a passing tractor and the sounds of birds. Burgundy is famous as the origin of boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin, escargot, and pain d’espices, among other gourmet recipes. Pears poached in wine are served in restaurants in the region, but my recipe is one I’ve been making at home in California for many years.

Summer pears poached in Burgundy wine

Love & Death in Burgundy begins with a scene under a fruiting pear tree in the heart of agricultural France, so this recipe seemed perfect. I have made it several times with different kinds of pears and wine. I prefer the dessert chilled, and that also means you can make it ahead of time.

1 bottle of red wine  

(I chose a pinot made in Burgundy, France, because my new book is set there)

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

the juice of 1 orange

the zest of that orange, but save 4 lengths of peel for decoration

a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg

4 firm pears, peeled but not cored

Make the poaching liquid by combining everything except the orange peel and the pears in a tall saucepan and bringing to a high simmer so the sugar dissolves.

When that has happened, reduce the heat, add the pears and poach, spooning liquid over the pears at least a few times. The cooking time required will depend on the type of pear and how much poaching liquid touches the pears. You don’t want them to get mushy! (To keep them looking pretty, test them for doneness near their bases.)

Gently remove the pears from the poaching liquid and either chill them or set them aside while you bring the heat up and reduce the poaching liquid to a syrup. Spoon the syrup over the peaches and decorate with a curl of orange peel. If you cool the syrup first, you can serve the pears with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or tart lemon sorbet. 

Susan will give a copy of Love & Death in Burgundy to one lucky person who comments today.

Biography: Susan C. Shea is the author of the Dani O’Rourke mysteries, set in San Francisco ("Fresh, fast-paced and great fun." - Library Journal) and a new series, set in France (“…a pleasant getaway from hard-core killers” - NYTBR). Before quitting her day job to write full time, she was a non-profit executive for more than two decades.

You can find her at www.susancshea.com and on Facebook

About the book: After three years of living in the small town of Reigny-sur-Canne, all Katherine Goff really wants is to be accepted by her neighbors into their little community. But as an American expat living in the proud region of Burgundy, that’s no easy task.

When the elderly Frenchman who lives in the village chateau is found dead at the bottom of a staircase, the town is turned into a hot bed of gossip and suspicion, and Katherine suddenly finds herself drawn deeper and deeper into the small town’s secrets. A motherless teenager, a malicious French widow, a brash music producer, and a would-be Agatha Christie are among those caught up in a storm that threatens to turn Katherine’s quiet life upside down. As more and more of the villagers' secrets are brought to light, Katherine must try to figure out who, if anyone, in the town she can trust, and which one of her neighbors just might be a killer.

"Shea launches a cozy series that richly details life in a small French village. The outlandish antics of the eccentric locals add to the humor. Suggest to fans of Rhys Bowen's early "Evan Evans" series for the humor, the characters, and the charming setting." -Library Journal

Pear and Ginger Crumble

What, no cake? Well, it's still a dessert. One must be careful of withdrawal symptoms.

I found this recipe in a recent newspaper, and immediately I started tweaking. Hmm, pears and ginger—that sounds promising. Kinda early in the year for juicy fresh pears, but whatever—there are plenty of pears in the market. I like ginger. I have plenty.

The original recipe called for chopped nuts. I'm not wild about nuts, and I didn't like the combination of nuts suggested with the pear and other flavors. Axe the nuts. I swapped in candied ginger, which I do like. Adds an interesting texture to the crumble on top.

The suggested oven setting of 375 degrees seemed a little high—the top gets brown long before the pears get soft. I cut it down to 350 degrees and baked it longer.


Pear-Ginger Crumble

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch-square baking pan (or any pan which would hold the same amount—a ten-inch round pan would do).

Crumb Topping

1/2 cup flour
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Pinch of ground nutmeg
5 Tblsp unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup candied ginger, chopped into 1/4-inch bits

In a bowl, whisk the flour, granulated and brown sugars, salt, and nutmeg to blend them. Add the butter and stir with a fork until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the diced ginger and toss to combine.

Pear Filling

6 pears (enough to make about 

five cups of filling), peeled, quartered,

cored and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tblsp lemon juice
2 Tblsp honey
1 Tblsp grated fresh ginger

In a bowl, combine the pears, orange and lemon juices, honey, and ginger and toss. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with the crumbs.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown and the pears are tender. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm with ice cream or whipped cream.

Sure and it's not Saint Paddy's day yet, but here at MLK we'll be havin' a guest on the day next week, and my book's comin' out on Tuesday next, so I'd better be offerin' the giveaway to yiz now. Tell me what's your favorite Irish dish in a comment (with your email, más é do thoil é--that'd be "please") and I'll be drawing the name of the lucky winner out of a hat!

"Move over, Agatha Christie: a pub owner in County Cork fancies herself a young Miss Marple... A fine read in the classic style."

―Kirkus Reviews

Snow is a rarity in Maura Donovan's small village in County Cork, Ireland, so she wasn't sure what to expect when a major snowstorm rolled in around Sullivan's Pub. But now she's stranded in a bar full of patrons—and a suspected killer in a long-ago murder.

Maura's been in Ireland less than a year and hasn't heard about the decades-old unsolved crime that took place nearby, let alone the infamous suspect, Diane Caldwell. But the locals have, and they're not happy to be trapped with her. Diane, meanwhile, seeks to set the record straight, asserting her innocence after all this time. And since no one is going anywhere in the storm, Maura encourages Diane to share her side of the story, which she'd never had a chance to do in court.

Over the next few hours, the informal court in Sullivan's reviews the facts and theories about the case—and comes to some surprising conclusions. But is it enough to convince the police to take a new look at an old case?

Find it at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

www.sheilaconnolly.com