One Pot Shrimp and Spinach #Recipe Peg Cochran/Mararet Loudon

 

This was so quick and easy and only one pot! I didn't have any parsley so I omitted it and it was still very good. The lemon zest gives it such a nice fresh flavor and the red pepper flakes add a bit of spice although you can omit them if you prefer.  And bonus, there's only one pan to clean!

 

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

6 medium cloves garlic, sliced, divided

1 pound spinach

¼ teaspoon salt plus 1/8 teaspoon, divided (or to taste)

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or to taste)

1 pound shrimp (21-30 count), peeled and deveined

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper (eliminate if you don’t want spice)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

1 ½ teaspoons lemon zest (or more to taste)

 

Heat 1 TBL olive oil over medium heat.  Add half the garlic and cook until starting to color.  

 

Add spinach, 1/4 tsp. salt and lemon juice and cook, stirring, until spinach is wilted.

 

Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.

In the same pan, heat remaining oil, add remaining garlic and cook until beginning to color.  Add shrimp and salt and cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through.

 

Serve shrimp over spinach.  Sprinkle with lemon zest and parsley. 

 

The Open Book Series

When murder taints writer-in-residence Penelope Parish’s charming British bookshop, she must follow the clues to catch a killer before tempers boil over.

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

 

Family fireworks lead to murder in the new Cranberry Cove Mystery from USA Today bestselling author Peg Cochran!

The Fourth of July always means endless celebrations in Cranberry Cove, and this year Monica and Greg have the added pleasure of spending it with Monica’s college roommate, Kelly Cargill. When they join Kelly and her family to watch the fireworks, it’s all very exciting—until the elderly matriarch of the family dies on the spot. Then evidence comes to light that she was poisoned, and Monica promises to do what she can to catch the culprit.

Just about everyone in Kelly’s family wanted to get their hands on what was sure to be a sizable inheritance. But Monica also discovers that one of them was trying to hide a messy love affair the older woman had discovered, and that the victim’s caretaker may have wanted revenge for enduring years of mistreatment. And just as more secrets surface and the clues begin to fall into place, Monica realizes that as she’s closing in on the killer, the killer is closing in on her . . .

Includes a mouthwatering cookie recipe!

 

Cranberry Cove #10 coming Summer 2024!

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

 

My article on the Enduring Appeal of Cozy Mysteries  

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Miso Butter Poached Shrimp #recipe by Mia P. Manansala @MPMtheWriter

I gushed about my love for miso butter last year, a two-ingredient compound butter that’s been an absolute game-changer for me. I almost always have a tub of it in the fridge because it goes with just about anything and lasts forever. I’ve also mentioned before that I’m trying to work more seafood into my diet (it’s my favorite protein, but I don’t eat it that often) so when I saw this Instagram post by @itsholly featuring miso butter poached shrimp banh mi, I knew I had to try it!

Miso butter poached shrimp and hard-boiled egg served with steamed asparagus and sourdough toast

I didn’t use her recipe, but I used the post as inspiration to come up with my own. It’s delicious straight from the pan, but also great served with crusty bread and steamed asparagus, tossed with fettuccine or udon, or in a banh mi with lightly pickled carrots, daikon, and/or cucumber.

Miso Butter Poached Shrimp Recipe

Ingredients:

• ¼ - ½ cup miso butter (depending on how rich/strongly flavored you want it)
• 1 cup water
• 12 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined (if frozen, thaw, rinse, and drain)
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Splash of vinegar (rice, sherry, or apple cider all work great here) or big squeeze of lemon, optional

Directions:

1. Add the water, miso butter, and as much black pepper as you can stand to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Stir the mixture until the miso butter is fully melted and the sauce is fairly homogeneous.
3. Turn off the heat and add the shrimp.
4. Stir so that the shrimp is fully coated in the hot butter sauce, then cover the pan and let cook in the residual heat for 4-7 minutes (depending on how tender/firm you prefer your shrimp).
5. Taste, and if the sauce is a little too rich for you, add a good splash of vinegar or lemon juice. Enjoy!

Cast of characters: black pepper, sherry vinegar, miso butter, thawed frozen shrimp

Add water, miso butter, and black pepper to a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Stir the melted miso butter and black pepper so it becomes a sauce, then turn off the heat and add the shrimp. Stir the shrimp so they're completely coated with the sauce, then cover and let cook in the residual heat for 4-7 minutes. Taste and see if the sauce needs any acidity.

Enjoy!
(I added a hard-boiled egg I happened to have in the fridge and it goes really well with the sauce)

I’ll be at Malice Domestic this week, where my novel, ARSENIC AND ADOBO, has been nominated for Best First Novel! If you plan on being there, come say hi and please give me a vote!

If you liked this recipe, make sure you sign up for my newsletter! I include a Filipino-themed recipe every month, as well as giveaways and book recommendations!

 

Homicide and Halo-Halo

Death at a beauty pageant turns Tita Rosie’s Kitchen upside down in the latest entry of this witty and humorous cozy mystery series by Mia P. Manansala.

 

Things are heating up for Lila Macapagal. Not in her love life, which she insists on keeping nonexistent despite the attention of two very eligible bachelors. Or her professional life, since she can’t bring herself to open her new café after the unpleasantness that occurred a few months ago at her aunt’s Filipino restaurant, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen. No, things are heating up quite literally, since summer, her least favorite season, has just started.

 

To add to her feelings of sticky unease, Lila’s little town of Shady Palms has resurrected the Miss Teen Shady Palms Beauty Pageant, which she won many years ago—a fact that serves as a wedge between Lila and her cousin slash rival, Bernadette. But when the head judge of the pageant is murdered and Bernadette becomes the main suspect, the two must put aside their differences and solve the case—because it looks like one of them might be next.

 

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Mussels with White Wine and Tomatoes #Recipe @PegCochran

 

I love mussels.  Living in Michigan, our fish counter has them sometimes and sometime they don't.  I was thrilled to find this pack of frozen mussels in the shell in Aldi.  They are pasteurized and already cooked in brine.  They just need heating with some other ingredients to bring out the flavor.  Hubby doesn't care for mussels so I saved them and made them one night when he was away.  I was pleasantly surprised!  I thought the mussels were excellent and they were so easy to prepare.  I served them over spaghetti.

1 package frozen mussels
A bit of olive oil
1 small onion, minced
1 or 2 garlic cloves or according to taste, minced
A splash of white wine or dry vermouth
1 can diced tomatoes

 

 

 Heat olive oil in a skillet, add onion and garlic and sauté until onion is translucent.  

 

 

Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine or dry vermouth. Simmer for a minute or so to reduce the liquid.

 

Add one 14-ounce can of diced tomatoes and simmer for several minutes so tomatoes absorb the flavor. 

 

 

Add mussels (no need to thaw), cover and steam for approximately six minutes.  Mussels will open as they heat.

 

Serve over pasta of your choice or with some crusty bread to soak up the sauce.

"A Fatal Footnote is a delightful romp in the English countryside sure to entertain any cozy mystery reader."  Open Book Society

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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Seafood Stew from The Little Kitchen

Bear with me, friends--this will be my first post from my "new" kitchen, and I'm still figuring out how it works. But mostly it does work, so now it's just getting used to it. Details like "where did I put that?" and "I can't set that down there--it's hot!"

My kitchen!

The title is kind of a pun. Yes, my kitchen is little, although bigger than my first apartment kitchen, although the appliances are smaller. But this recipe was inspired by a dish I had for lunch at An Chistin Beag, which is the Irish for The Little Kitchen. It's a small place in the center of Skibbereen, with a handful of tables, and the women who run it put out very good food. The seafood stew was on the menu when I ate there a week ago (not for the first time!).

There it was served in small bowls, which was a nice size for one person. Here at the cottage I needed to serve two people. All the ramekins I saw were tiny (about half a cup) and weren't suitable for cooking, so I opted for a midsize casserole dish, which was just right for two.

Okay, recipe: it's lovely chunks of fresh fish (I bought half a kilo at the fishmonger's in Union Hall yesterday morning--it doesn't get fresher than that) poached in milk and stock. The fish goes into the casserole, and you thicken the liquid and pour it over. Then you top the whole with mashed potatoes and some grated local cheese and pop it in the oven for 15 minutes or so, and you're done!

Seafood Stew from An Chistin Beag

Ingredients:

(Note: measurements here would make one largish casserole, or two medium ones)

mixed bits of fish (I used a mix of salmon and an unidentified white fish)--half a pound would serve two, a pound serves four nicely. The fish should be in chunks about an inch square

3 cups cooking liquid--I used a mix of milk and chicken stock (I didn't have any fish stock on hand)

half an onion

a few sprigs of parsley

more parsley, chopped
a dash of dried thyme

salt and pepper

3 Tblsp butter
3 Tblsp flour

2-3 cups homemade mashed potatoes, fresh or left-over

1/2 cup coarsely grated cheese (I used a locally-made cheddar)


Instructions:

Put the fish pieces in a deep saucepan and pour the liquid over them. Toss in the half-onion and the parsley. Set over low heat and simmer until the fish is cooked but still tender.

Drain the fish in a colander, reserving the cooking liquid, pull out the half-onion and the parsley, and place in a casserole.

In another pan, melt 3 Tblsp butter, then add the flour and whisk together. Let the mixture cook over low heat to cook the flour. Then add the cooking liquid, whisking constantly, and cook until the mixture thickens. Add the chopped parsley, thyme, salt and pepper and mix. Pour the thickened liquid over the fish in the casserole.

Spoon the mashed potatoes over the fish and spread gently to cover completely. Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

I made mine--no leftovers!)

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes, enough to heat the dish through and brown the top just a bit. Don't overdo it if you want the lovely fresh fish to be tender.

Can I stay in Ireland longer? I only just got the kitchen organized, and added the last piece of furniture yesterday, and there's still painting and patching to do, and the garden needs sorting, and...  In the spring? My police friend says the daffodils will be blooming.

I have so many new story ideas! I'll get back to work by next week. Really.

www.sheilaconnolly.com

Sunset at Garryglass

Linguine with Tomato-Shrimp Sauce

by Sheila Connolly

And the other cookbook I bought in Northampton was (drumroll) Beard on Pasta! Published in 1983, it’s a companion to Beard on Bread (1974), which I’ve owned since before I was married. I’m not sure I’ve ever baked any of the recipes, but Beard is a good storyteller so it’s fun reading. (Confession: I also own a copy of The Tassajara Bread Book, which is even older, not that I've used it much, but back in the day you had to have a copy.) Obviously I’ve been collecting cookbooks for a long time!

Beard goes through the whole “make your own pasta” thing at the beginning of the book. Yes, I own a hand-cranked pasta machine. I’ve even used it, now and then. Not much lately.

But to get to the recipe (at last! you say). This one caught my eye because it’s quick and simple and tasty.

Linguine with Tomato-Shrimp Sauce

Adapted from Beard on Pasta, by James Beard

28 ounces (2 cans) canned whole or chopped tomatoes in puree

olive oil

2 small onions (or one large), sliced

salt and pepper to taste

dried basil or oregano (optional; I had fresh oregano—from my herb pot!—so that’s what I used)

1/2 pound peeled raw shrimp

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tblsp Italian parsley, chopped

2 Tblsp olive oil

Red pepper flakes (optional)

1 pound linguine

In a large pot, cook the sliced onions in a little olive oil over medium heat until they are just soft. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and herbs and continue cooking over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring frequently.

If you like a smooth sauce, you can run the sauce through a food processor, or use an immersion blender. (I bought my Cuisinart immersion blender at a neighbor’s yard sale for three dollars. It’s come in handy.)

Taste for seasoning. When the sauce is finished, add the other ingredients and simmer until the shrimp turn pink (not too long).

Cook the linguine according to the package instructions. Drain, place in individual bowls, and spoon the sauce over it.

You can use frozen shrimp, or smaller shrimp, or scallops, or seafood chunks—the possibilities are endless. It’s still quick and easy.

This recipe easily serves four (we’ve got leftovers!).

When Nell Pratt isn't digging into murders (I know, a bad pun!), she gets to visit a lot of Philadelphia restaurants--which of course means that I have to investigate them thoroughly. Oh, the life of a writer is hard!

Available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble 

(and a lot of other bookstores, I hope!)

Irish Scallop Chowder

by Sheila Connolly

from The Complete Irish Pub Cookbook 2012

If you think Irish pub food is dull and heavy on the cabbage, think again: this is a great cookbook that I treated myself to, with wonderful pictures, and I’ve bookmarked a lot of the recipes and am working my way through them. And of course I have to visit a lot of Irish pubs to make sure the recipes are accurate!

A few weeks ago I found that our local market had started to stock a new line of fish products: a mixture of shellfish, shrimp and whatever, flash-frozen. Since this recipe called for a variety of seafood, it was perfect, and it was exactly the right amount. I figured it had to be a sign that this dish would be on the menu.

I'm a sucker for baby squid (ooh, a pun!)

It’s a fairly quick and easy recipe—and definitely tasty. I served it with St. Brigid’s bread, which rounded out a nice meal.

Irish Pub Scallop Chowder

3-1/2 Tblsp butter

9 oz large scallops, quartered

4 bacon strips, chopped

1 large onion, chopped

2 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, diced

3 starchy potatoes (russets or Yukon Gold), diced

2 fresh thyme sprigs

2 cups chicken stock (or you could use fish stock)

2 cups whole milk, scalded

9 oz. mixed cooked seafood (shrimp, mussels, etc. (not fish)

salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the scallops in batches (not all at once) and cook for 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside. [Note: you may find that the scallops release a lot of liquid, which makes it hard to brown them. Don't worry about it--you just want to cook the scallops lightly. The remaining liquid will cook down over the next few steps.]

Add the bacon to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, until it starts to brown.

Add the onion, celery, carrots, and potatoes. [I have a confession to make: I don’t really like celery. I find that if I include it in a dish—and I know a lot of recipes do!—the result always tastes too much like celery to me. It’s up to you if you want to include it.] Season with salt and pepper, then cover and cook over medium-low heat until the vegetables start to soften.

Add the thyme to the vegetables. Pour in the stock, cover the pan, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

Remove the thyme sprigs. Mash a few of the vegetable with a spoon, to thicken the soup. Pour in the milk (which will already be warm, since you scalded it--a microwave works well for this).

Add the scallops and mixed seafood to the pan. Cook until they are heated through but don=t let the mixture boil.

Serve in warm bowls.

Ah, yes, the book: An Early Wake, third in the County Cork Mysteries, released February 3rd.

#10 in Barnes & Nobles mass market mysteries! #12 in all Barnes & Noble mass market books! And! (Drumroll, please) #10 on the New York Times Mass Market Bestseller list!

The reviews have been so lovely. I'm thrilled that I've been able to make readers "see" Ireland the way I do, and now they want to visit. It's worth the trip!