French Chicken Dip Sandwiches #Recipe @PegCochran

 

 

 

This recipe came from a web site called Skinny-Ish.  You can serve them for lunch or dinner, perhaps with a side of Cole slaw.  For my serving, I took out some of the soft inside of the roll to create a trough for the chicken and also to eliminate a few carbs!  Of course this is usually made with beef, but we try to keep our consumption of red meat to a minimum.  And these were quite tasty with chicken!

Ingredients

2 lbs. chicken breast raw

1 large yellow sweet onion thinly sliced

2 tbsp butter  

1/2 tbsp olive oil

3 cups of chicken broth

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp white flour

4-5 cloves garlic minced

2 tsp kosher salt

 Pepper to taste

1 cup shredded mozzarella

 

6 hard rolls  

 

Heat olive oil and butter. Add thinly sliced onions, salt and pepper to taste, and cook for approximately 12-15 minutes until the onions become very soft and a little caramelized.

Place chicken breasts in a slow cooker, followed by the cooked onions, minced garlic, chicken broth and salt & black pepper.  Go easy on the salt unless you are using low sodium chicken broth.

 

Whisk together flour and Worcestershire sauce and whisk the mixture into the broth on top of the chicken. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

Remove the chicken, place onto a cutting board, and cut into pieces or lightly shred with two forks.

 

Assemble the sandwiches

Preheat oven to 415 degrees. On a sheet pan lay bottom of the roll down, top each roll with about 4 ounces of chicken, 1/4 cup of the au jus from the slow cooker, two tbsp of shredded mozzarella, and then the top of the bun.

 

Bake for approximately 10 minutes or until the bread is slightly toasted and the cheese is melted. Serve with the remainder of the au jus for dipping.  

 

Writer-in-residence Penelope Parish will need to use every trick in her quaint British bookshop to unravel a murderous plot that threatens to ruin a ducal wedding.

The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Upper Chumley-on Stoke has all the makings of a fairy tale, complete with a glowing bride and horse-drawn carriage. But it wouldn't be much of a story without a villain, and as American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish is coming to learn, happy-ever-afters are as fraught in this charming British town as they are in her books.

When the Duke's former girlfriend is found murdered at the reception it's up to Penelope and her newfound family at the Open Book bookshop to catch the killer before they strike again.

 

AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE

Murder in the Margins has everything: England * Charming town * Book shop * Writer-in-residence * Royalty * Cute detective * Murder!

 

 

The plot thickens for American gothic writer Penelope Parish when a murder near her quaint British bookshop reveals a novel's worth of killer characters.

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Welcome Elizabeth Spann Craig with Guest Post and #Giveaway

(Click to learn more.)

Please join me in giving a warm welcome back to Elizabeth Spann Craig!

Elizabeth is a talented author of multiple bestselling (and absolutely delightful) mystery series, a busy mother of two, and a dedicated blogger who has offered online fellowship to the writing community for years. (Her Twitter feed is a marvel, and I encourage you all to follow her!) 

Elizabeth is also a beloved alumna of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, and we're thrilled that she's returned for a visit. Take it away, Elizabeth! 

~ Cleo 




Thanks to Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen for hosting me on the blog today! It’s good to be back. 

One fun thing about being on the blog is that I get to fall into a rabbit hole by looking to see all the recent delicious recipes that have been posted lately.  I like to make sure no one posted one just like mine recently...and then, the next thing you know, I’ve spent over an hour on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen and my Evernote recipe folder is filled to the brim! 

I thought I’d share my grandmother’s recipe for vegetable sandwich spread. If you’re from the South and you’re of a particular age, you’ll remember vegetable sandwiches. They’re crustless on platters at funerals, on trays at weddings and other special occasions, and may even be allowed at home with no event taking place at all (although, in my experience, that was sadly rare).

A food processor makes the chopping for this dish non-existent. Maybe everyone would have enjoyed this spread on a daily and casual basis with a food processor in their kitchen. 

I will admit that some traditional Southern recipes are a little formidable or may not really be suited to today’s more sophisticated palate. I grew up with a lot of tomato aspic. Desserts were frequently a sliced canned pear with a dab of mayonnaise and shredded cheese...and a cherry on top, if it was a fancy occasion. I’m not sharing those recipes with you today (you’re welcome, ha!)  Today’s recipe does have some plain Knox gelatin in it, but I’m sure the other ingredients will seem refreshingly normal. And you won’t taste the gelatin at all. 😊 

Not to start a debate in the comments, but I’m using Miracle Whip in the recipe instead of Hellmann’s or Duke’s. That’s only because that’s the way the recipe had it and I don’t want to be haunted by any of my Southern forebears. 
Also, if you’d prefer, you can use this veggie mixture as a dip.  

So here we are...

Southern Veggie Sandwiches

Ingredients: 

2 tomatoes, cut very fine
1 large bell pepper, seeded, cut very fine
1 large cucumber, cut very fine
1 medium onion, finely cut
2 envelopes of Knox gelatin
1 pt. Miracle Whip
3 T water
½ cup boiling water 

Directions: 

After chopping the vegetables, put them in a colander to drain a bit. Put a few tablespoons of cold water on the gelatin mix to soften it, about a minute. Then add ½ cup boiling water. When gelled, let cool and combine all ingredients. Put in fridge to cool and set. Spread thickly on bread. Sandwiches are better if spread hours before eating and then refrigerated. 

Here’s all you need to get started (minus the boiling water):

Drain your veggies to personal taste (I don’t mind a fairly juicy sandwich, but tastes vary!). If you’re making a dip, you may want it to drain less than if you have it in a sandwich. 

After putting the gelatin together, mix all in a large bowl and put in the fridge for a bit to set. 

You may end up with folks in the kitchen who don’t want to wait for the mixture to set. 

When you’re done, enjoy some yummy sandwiches. A dollop of potato salad goes well on the side.  

Enjoy!  And, I’m curious to know…what are some of your favorite family recipes? 

For more Southern life, cooking (and murder, of course), I hope you’ll take a chance on one of my books. I’m currently writing three series (The Myrtle Clover Mysteries, The Southern Quilting Mysteries, and The Village Library Mysteries) and am also the author (as Riley Adams) of the Memphis Barbeque Series. 

Elizabeth's Giveaway!

Today, I’m giving away a copy of the first book of my newest series, Checked Out. If you like libraries, cats, and murder, you’ve come to the right place. 😊

(Click the cover to learn more.)

Thanks again to Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen!

Elizabeth is the bestselling cozy mystery author of the Southern Quilting mysteries, the Myrtle Clover Cozy Mysteries, the Village Library Mysteries, and Memphis Barbeque mysteries for Penguin Random House, Midnight Ink, and independently.  

Find her at her website: elizabethspanncraig.com.  She lives in Matthews, North Carolina with her husband and is the mother of two. 

Thank you, Elizabeth!


Leave a comment on this post with
your email address and you'll be entered
to win the first book in Elizabeth's charming
Village Library Mysteries: Checked Out. 

This contest is now over.

Congrats to the winning comment,
selected by random number draw...

"CENTRAL EAST 2"



Those who entered answered
Elizabeth's question:

"What are some of your
favorite family recipes?"

Sticky Ham Sandwiches #Recipe @PegCochran

Sliders are so easy to make and they're always a hit.  They're perfect to bring to a potluck or a family gathering.  I made these for our get-together last night where everyone brings a dish to share.  I saw the recipe on the Today show--it's Carson Daly's wife's recipe.  I've made ham and cheese sliders before, but the glaze on these takes them to a whole new level!

Glaze:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 TBL dry mustard
1 TBL Worcestershire sauce
2 TBL brown sugar
1 TBL poppy seeds

Sliders:

1 package Hawaiian sweet buns
1  lb. ham
1 lb. Swiss cheese or cheese of your choice

Put all ingredients for the glaze in a pan and simmer gently until butter melts and ingredients are incorporated.

Assemble sliders:

Slice buns in half and separate the top from the bottom.  (I found them easier to slice if I popped them into the freezer for about 10 minutes first.)  Place bottom half of buns in a pan that will hold them relatively snuggly.

Layer ham on top.  You may or may not need the entire pound of ham.

Layer cheese slices over ham.

Replace tops of buns and pour glaze over the top smoothing it out with a spatula so all the buns are well covered.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a 325 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.

They can be a little tricky to cut because of all that delicious melted cheese so I separated them before serving so guests didn't have to wrestle with them.  They were gone almost before the gathering got underway!
 

OUT NOW!

Amazon review: "Murder, She Encountered by Peg Cochran is a terrific quasi-cozy mystery and a terrific read for anyone who likes WWII era fiction. One of the outstanding things about this book, which doesn't always happen, is that the author kept us solidly in 1939 New York between speech patterns, history happening in real time, and social history as it was happening....This was an excellent mystery and museum piece, both. I highly recommend it."

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

New York City, 1939. A rising star at the Daily Trumpet, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams has been sent to the World’s Fair—billed as the “World of Tomorrow,” a look toward a brighter future even as the drumbeats of war grow louder—to cover a robbery. What she stumbles upon instead is a dead woman, dumped into the Aquacade’s pool with a nylon stocking wrapped around her neck.

Elizabeth snaps a photo as the police arrest Joey Dorman, a gentle young hot dog vendor who made no secret of his obsession with the murder victim. Even though she’s thrilled that her photo makes the front page, the fear and confusion evident on Joey’s face are haunting. So Elizabeth vows to prove his innocence—or his guilt—with her partner at the Daily Trumpet, Ralph Kaminsky. Meanwhile, her romance with Detective Sal Marino is heating up, and Elizabeth is more determined than ever to follow her heart.

But when Kaminsky’s efforts to expose the real killer land him in the hospital, Elizabeth is forced to continue the investigation on her own. And as she tries to narrow down the long list of suspects, she discovers a dark secret running through the Fair—a secret some would kill to protect.

Please Welcome Guest Toni Lo Tiempo!

The main character in my Nick and Nora mystery series, Nora Charles, is an ex-investigative reporter who returns to her hometown to take over her mother’s sandwich shop after her death. Many people ask me if Nora is patterned after myself. Well, all I can say is when I was younger I did want to be Lois Lane when I grew up, but to be quite honest I was never any great shakes in the kitchen.  Nora Charles is more of a Lois Lane meets Paula Deen type of person.

However, I must admit that in the past year I have started cooking more, and I credit the Rangemate that I bought on QVC with my new love of cooking.  For those of you who have never heard of it, the Rangemate is a device that turns your microwave into an oven. That’s right, an oven! I’ve cooked chops, steaks, even a roast – and they all come out moist and delicious!

That being said, I thought I’d share one of my favorite Rangemate recipes:  Lemon Breaded Chicken

For this you will need:

Sliced chicken Breasts (I prefer the thin sliced)

½ cup Lemon juice

½ clove garlic, finely chopped

1 cup breadcrumbs

Take your Rangemate and cover the bottom with PAM, or EVOO, whichever you prefer.  Take your chopped garlic, and mix it into the lemon juice.  Then take your chicken breasts, dip into the lemon/garlic juice, roll in breadcrumbs until covered, and place in Rangemate.  Cover Rangemate and put in microwave. Micro on High 8-9 minutes.  You will have moist, delicious lemon breaded chicken  that would take you at least an hour in a regular oven in minutes!   And I promise you…it’s EVEN BETTER than Debra Barone’s famous lemon chicken from EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND!

My character Nora, though, doesn’t own a Rangemate…yet.  But she is a fabulous sandwich maker. Here is one of the sandwich recipes from CLAWS FOR ALARM (out now!)  Nora names her sandwiches after famous personalities: today we’re going to take a look at her Antonio Banderas Cuban!

Antonio Banderas Cuban Special

Panini Bread (or long roll, if desired)

2 tablespoons mayo

Oil and Vinegar

Spicy Mustard

6 slices of Jack Turkey

6 slices of Italian Speck

6 slices of Colby Jack Cheese

Sliced Dill pickles

Olive Oil

Mix the mayo and oil and vinegar and spread liberally on panini bread (or roll if preferred)

Place layers of Jack Turkey, Speck, and Colby Cheese, spreading spicy mustard in between each layer.

Place sliced dill pickles on top, spread top of bread or roll liberally with spicy mustard.  Close sandwich, brush top of bread lightly with olive oil. Place under press or grill until cheese is melted. Slice and serve hot.

 

 

CLAWS FOR ALARM, book 2 in the Nick and Nora Mystery Series, out November 3!

“The purrfect sleuthy duo”* is back, and this time murder hits close to home for Nora Charles and her partner Nick, a stealthy little feline gumshoe groomed to solve a shocking crime.

Since inheriting her mother’s sandwich shop, Nora Charles is more about hot grilled paninis than cold-blooded murder—until her sister Lacey is arrested. The victim, an esteemed art collector and Lacey’s bullying professor, was stabbed in the heart. Apparently, all over a lousy grade. 

Off campus, things were just as dicey. The prof had an ex with secrets, a trophy wife set to inherit a fortune in masterworks, and a scorned student mistress. Going undercover, Nora realizes that investigating this crime is the biggest test of her sleuthing career. Because if she fails, even Nick’s animal instinct won’t be enough to rescue Lacey from a perfectly executed framing.

Born in New York City, T. C. LoTempio is the national bestselling author of Meow If It’s Murder, the first in the Nick and Nora Mystery series. She has been a staff reporter at the young adult magazine Susabella Passengers and Friends for more than a decade. When she isn’t reporting or writing novels, she and her cat Rocco fundraise for Nathan Fillion’s charity, Kids Need to Read!

 

Chicken sandwich melt

After a sweltering week, we experienced a cool and very wet day recently. What to eat? It called for something warm and filling and yet we didn’t have time to make soup or simmer a stew. Plus we wanted to change up our lunches a bit and thought it would a bit of a thrill to turn on a burner before the next wave of heat and humidity.  Luckily, we had quite a bit of leftover cooked chicken.

This reminded me of a recipe from back in the day with chicken and creamy filling in a sandwich that was then French-toasted.  Of course, the recipe was long gone, but we had fun improvising in an attempt to duplicate it.

As usual with our recipes, everything is approximate. We assume you’ll vary the ingredients to suit your tastes.  

We tried this both ways: French toasted and also just lightly sautéed without dipping in egg. We loved it both ways, but our dense bread didn't absorb the egg mixture as well as a lighter (perhaps even white!) bread.  We'll give that a shot some other cool summer day.

All you need is:

4 slices of your favorite bread (We used six-grain Chia bread, but any nice bread will do - we think walnut or cranberry or both would be terrific).

4 – 6 ounces of cooked chicken, cubed

3 tablespoons of good quality mayo - we used reduced fat

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon lemon juice

2 ounces of soft cheese, grated – we used Havarti

2 teaspoons butter

1 tablespoon chopped chives, divided

S & P to taste

1 extra large egg

2 tablespoons milk


 

All you do is:

Mix the chicken, mayo, Dijon, grated cheese, lemon, 1 teaspoon chives and S & P and spread on the bread.  You could butter the bread first. We didn’t but might next time.  Cover with second slices.

You could make it ahead to this point.

Beat the egg and milk in a flat bowl.  

 Dip the sandwiches in and let the mixture soak in for a few minutes.  Turn to dip the other side.

Heat a sauté or frying pan and melt butter and 1 tsp chives until bubbly.  Cook the sandwiches over medium heat until brown.  Flip and cook until other side is browned too and the cheese inside has melted (a bit of a guessing game).   We're not sure who ate those photos, but it's pretty straightforward.

We tried this a second time without the egg. (There was a small mountain of cooked chicken in the fridge). Perhaps the denseness of the bread didn’t let the egg do its magic. We  liked second version just as much, so that will be the recipe we keep. It’s like a melt but with a crispy outside. Next time we’ll add a bit of lemon zest and maybe a few dried cranberries, if we’re not keeping them for the salad.

We served it with a crisp green leaf lettuce salad and a carrot salad (that’s where the cranberries were).  The carrot salad may be messy, but it's yummy.,  Next time we'll use an ice cream scoop.


Both versions were big hits and I hope one or the other will be at your house too. 

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?

That shadowy body known as Victoria Abbott is actually artist and photographer Victoria Maffini and her mother Mary Jane.  Together they write the book collector mysteries.  They are very happy to announce that THE MARSH MADNESS, the fourth in the series, is now available for pre-order by clicking the links below or through your favorite source of books!

If you haven't started this series yet, we're having a draw for a REVIEW COPY of THE CHRISTIE CURSE, first in the series.

 


 Just leave a comment below and your name goes in the hat.  Be lucky!

 

 Pre-order paperback

Or  Pre-order Kindle

They'd love it if you would friend them on Facebook where there's a lot going on.
 

Friend Mary Jane

Friend Victoria Abbott

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