Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: summer entertaining

Showing posts with label summer entertaining. Show all posts

Friday, July 9, 2010

5 Ways to Use Your Grilled Leftovers by Cleo Coyle

Burgers, steak, hot dogs, ribs, and chicken were probably the most commonly grilled meats in the USA last weekend.

I grilled pork chops, which I blogged about last Friday. To get my recipe for Pork Chops with Apple Juice and Sage marinade, click here.

Then New York was hit by record levels of heat (over 100 degrees). This kept me grilling, because our little, urban kitchen is not air conditioned and there was no way I'd crank up an oven or even a gas burner in airless heat that brutal.

When the unbearable temps finally came down to plain old uncomfortable, I took a look at our fridge full of grilled leftovers and thought—okay, now I know what I’m blogging about this week!

Before I get to my ideas, however, I have to ask about your own. Do you have favorite ways to use those day-old grilled meats (or veggies)? Feel free to leave your ideas in the comments below –- and if you blog, you are more than welcome to leave a link so everyone can check out your recipe posts, too.

Finally, here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen, we are all still proudly celebrating this week's debut of two delightful new mystery series by two of our own mystery writing cooks. Congratulations again to...

Avery Aames on the release of
The Long Quiche Goodbye,
the first book in her Cheese Shop
Mysteries and to...

Riley Adams' on the publicaiton
of Delicious and Suspicious,the first
book in her Memphis BBQ Mysteries!

Cheers to you both!

And, now, here are my...

Five Ways to Use
Your Grilled Leftovers

#1 Leftover Burgers – I confess: I will eat cold pizza out of the fridge. But I’ve never met anyone who enjoys an ice cold hamburger. Sure, you can feed it to Fluffy. But why turn deliciously grilled burger meat into cat food? Here’s what I like to do...

Slice the meat patties lengthwise into three or four thick strips, splash on some Worcestershire sauce and re-heat in the microwave. Warm a skillet on your stovetop and toss in soft, flour tortillas, one at a time, flipping to heat both sides. Plate the tortilla and create a Hamburger Wrap, using the re-heated burger strips and the same “fixin’s” you’d use on your burger: mustard, pickle, tomato, shredded lettuce, mayo, ketchup, crumbled bleu cheese, whatever you like!

#2 Leftover Steak – Simple. Place a bit of butter on each steak and re-heat in the microwave. Slice newly sizzling steaks into strips and serve over a salad tossed with your favorite dressing. We like either homemade Caesar or bleu cheese dressings. For the latter, I’ll mix crumbled bleu cheese into mayonnaise, stir in a little chopped garlic, squeeze in a bit of lemon, toss in some chopped scallions, and add a bit of anchovy paste. If you don’t like or have anchovy paste on hand, try a dash of Worcestershire. That deep, umami flavor of the anchovy or the Worcestershire perfectly balances the brighter, more astringent notes of the other ingredients in the dressing.

#3 Leftover Hot Dogs – Here in New York, our mayor is the billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg. During one of the many posh events that he attended a few years ago, the buffet was as lavish as one might expect at such a function, including jumbo shrimp bigger than a toddler’s fist. As this legendary story goes, the succulent shrimp didn’t interest the mayor. What Mr. Bloomberg kept reaching for were savory little wieners wrapped in pastry dough. Yes, that’s right, our billionaire mayor couldn’t stop eating good old Pigs in Blankets!

Pigs in Blankets - Billionaire Mayor Bait!

If you’ve never had Pigs in Blankets made with hot dogs and either pastry or biscuit dough, then you’re missing out. Take your leftover grilled hot dogs and cut them in two. Make a shallow incision lengthwise in each piece and place a sliver of your favorite cheese inside (cheddar, Monterey jack, queso blanco, mozzarella, Swiss).

Break open a tube of Pillsbury Cresents (or your favorite brand of refrigerated pastry dough). There are eight triangles per tube. Cut the triangles of dough in half (lengthwise or widthwise, your choice). You now have 16 pieces of dough. Roll the dough around your cheese-stuffed hot dog halves. Place on a baking sheet that’s been sprayed with a bit of non-stick cooking spray. Bake for about 10 to 14 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F. When dough is puffed and golden brown, remove from oven. Serve warm with a side of tiny pickles and a “dipping sauce” of ketchup and mustard mixed together at a 1:1 ratio. (It’s classic!)

(And if you have unused pieces of dough, then simply sprinkle them with cinammon sugar and roll into mini croissants. You can enjoy them with coffee after dinner or for breakfast in the morning.)

#4 Leftover Ribs (or any other pork) – Last week, I grilled up pork chops and posted a recipe for an easy Apple Juice and Sage marinade. Click here if you missed it. This week, I’d suggest stripping any pork meat off the bone and creating a classic Soft Taco with fresh guacamole, slices of jalapeno, your favorite hot sauce, and a dollop of cooling sour cream. I’m fine with eating the grilled pork cold this way, but you can always re-heat it in a microwave or on your stovetop.

Cleo Coyle's Amazing Coffee Glazed BBQ Chicken...
This recipe will be in my next E-newsletter.
The newsletter is free. To sign up, just send an email
to VillageBlend@aol.com that says "Sign me up."

#5 Leftover Chicken – I’ll never say no to a cold piece of chicken, whether grilled or breaded and fried. To me, it’s good old fashioned picnic basket comfort food. If you're not a fan of eating cold chicken off the bone, however, here is another grilling leftovers idea, one I made this week after grilling my very special “coffee” chicken (pictured).

To get my recipe for Coffee Glazed BBQ Chicken, sign up for my newsletter, which will be going out soon with that exclusive recipe included. (To find out how to sign up, read the photo caption.)

In the meantime, here’s my recipe for Grilled Chicken, Bacon, and Egg Salad – perfect for an easy, tasty lunch or a refreshingly chilled dinner on a butally hot day.

Cleo Coyle’s

Grilled Chicken,

Bacon, and Egg Salad

3-4 pieces of leftover grilled chicken.

3-4 strips of bacon, sliced into small pieces, cooked and drained

3 hardboiled eggs, chopped

¼ cup fresh parsley chopped (I use the flat-leaf “Italian” parsley)

5 Tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon lemon juice (about 1/2 a fresh lemon)

Sea or Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper (white is prettier for presentation but I’ll use black when it’s all I have on hand)

Strip the chicken from the bone and cut the meat into bite-size pieces. You should have about 2 cups of chopped meat. If not, add meat from another piece of chicken. Mix in the cooked bacon piece, hardboiled eggs, and chopped parsley. Add mayonnaise and lemon juice and mix again. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Chill and enjoy on slices of a crusty baguette, your favorite crackers, or make a sandwich with your favorite toasted bread.

Eat with joy!

~Cleo Coyle

author of

The Coffeehouse Mysteries

To get more recipes ideas or to find out about the books in my nationally bestselling Coffeehouse Mystery series, visit me at my official website:
www.CoffeehouseMystery.com

On Sale
August 3, 2010

Roast Mortem

by Cleo Coyle

Comments for Cleo
welcome!

What are you favorite ideas
for using grilled leftovers?

Friday, June 25, 2010

Welcome Guest Blogger - Carol Prisant!

Please welcome Carol Prisant to our kitchen. Carol is the author of Dog House, A Love Story: One Love, Ten Dogs, and a Forty-Two-Year Marriage. Isn't that the greatest title? She's sharing a wonderful summer soup recipe with us today, along with a few great reasons you'll want to spend a little time in her Dog House. Take it away, Carol... ~ Cleo Coyle

In my new, hilariously funny, small and very readable new book, Dog House, A Love Story, the painful truth is, no one eats well but the dogs. And if there’s a mystery, the mystery is how my patient husband and food-adoring son put up with me.

Well, actually, I know how they put up with me: we went out to diners a lot. Now the great thing about diners is that the men can order and eat a (not very good) 12 course meal while the women – or woman – can have a big (also not very good) Greek salad.

But I have a confession. I going to “come out”, and you (however many thousand you are!) have to promise not to tell anyone . . . because these days, I might be locked overnight in a restaurant and tortured for what I’m about to admit.

I don’t really care much about food. Not the cooking of it. Not the eating of it. I was born that way.

So while I could get my husband to take us to the diner (every now and then, just for a change, we went our for a pizza. Why order in? You’ll have to wash the dishes.), we weren’t allowed, of course, to take the dogs. So guess what? I cooked for them. Nothing much, you know, just tender poached chicken breasts daily, mixed with some rice and baby peas in a little butter. (Well, they need their green veggies, right?) All this was added to some very nice kibble.

So here’s a delicious summer soup recipe that panting dogs just love. Serve it in an attractive dog bowl – maybe a piece of your grandmother’s Meissen – and don’t add the pepper or shrimp. You don’t want any night time accidents under, or on, your bed.

Cold Avocado
and Cucumber Soup

Time: 20 minutes, plus chilling

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves, smashed
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted and peeled
1/4 cup buttermilk or plain yogurt
2 tablespoons fresh dill
2 teaspoons salt
Freshly ground black pepper and
a pinch of cayenne
1-1/2 cups fresh orange juice
8-16 boiled shrimp

Directions: In a blender, puree garlic, cuke and avocado. Add buttermilk or yogurt, 3/4 cup water, dill, salt, pepper, and half the orange juice. Add remaining orange juice in increments until you like the flavor. Serve chilled with the shrimp.

If your dogs don’t like it, try it yourselves. You will. And while you’re waiting for the soup to chill, read Dog House. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll be glad you don’t have a dog. You’ll be oh so glad you do.

~ Carol

You can find out more about
author Carol Prisant
and her books at her web site:

www.carolprisant.com

And now I'd like to make sure
you don't miss your chance to enter my fellow
mystery writing cook's June contest...

Win Books in Avery's
"You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

The first book in Avery Aames's A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6! To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6: You be the sleuth!

Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

One of you will win a $25 gift certificate at your favorite bookstore. Two of you will win signed copies of The Long Quiche Goodbye. Three of you will win a Long Quiche Goodbye magnet. You can ask friends for help. Spread the word and share the fun. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering a book on Avery's booksellers page. Here is the link to Avery’s website to help get you started. Good luck!

Comments for Carol welcome,

just hit the "comment" link below...

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Welcome Guest Blogger Terry Odell and her 2 Key Lime Pies!

Terry Odell's Frozen Key Lime Pie

A little over a month ago, I tweeted about an ice box lemon pie that author Dean James shared with us here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen.

In the mountains of Colorado, author Terry Odell saw my tweet and tweeted back that Dean's recipe sounded a lot like her Key lime pie, which she used to make when she lived in Miami.

"Hmmm," I thought from my desk in Queens, "why not have a Southern citrus pie showdown?" I invited Terry to come by our virtual kitchen for a bake-off. Because Terry also has a brand new book coming out this summer, I also asked her to give us a sneak peek at her fiction. Terry agreed to both. She even found us two fun scenes with the perfect theme for this blog -- and on the perfect day. Terry writes romantic suspense with wonderful male leads and today, of course, is Father's Day!

And so, by way of the global twitterverse, I am pleased as punch to give you author Terry Odell...

~ Cleo Coyle

Author Terry Odell

Thanks to Cleo for inviting me to appear here at the Mystery Lovers' Kitchen. I love reading, writing, cooking and eating. Almost all my books involve food in some way or another—even when it's a heroine whose entire cooking repertoire revolves around kid food.

In my July release, NOWHERE TO HIDE, Graham, the hero, is a gourmet cook. In an early scene, he's faced with creating a meal in the home of a total non-cook, and to make things worse, she's just moved in and hardly has basic ingredients in the house. Here's a peek – Graham speaks first...

"You can go sit down so I don't worry about you. I've got everything under control." He turned to the refrigerator and pulled out a bowl of salad. "You have any balsamic vinegar?"
"What the hell is that? You're lucky I have vinegar, period. I've been to the market once. There should be some Thousand Island in the fridge."
He grimaced. "Never mind." He reached into the refrigerator and removed a jar of mustard and a lemon. "This will do."
She watched in fascination as he began rolling the lemon under his palms. "What are you doing?"
"Breaking down the pulp. You get a better juice yield." He cut the lemon in half and squeezed it through his fingers into a small bowl.
"Don't tell me. Straining the pits."
"Sometimes the God-given tools are the best ones for the job." He added some mustard, salt and pepper and started trickling a stream of oil. "Now go sit down," he said as he mixed everything together.

In WHEN DANGER CALLS, my heroine, Frankie, is the total opposite. Hero Ryan shows up for breakfast. Here's a look at her cooking "expertise."

The youngster smiled at him. "Mommy's making me happy pancakes."
Ryan, who was comfortable hiding in the jungle, trekking across the desert, or scaling a mountain, had never felt more out of his element than right now in this Mayberry kitchen. He turned, expecting Aunt Bea to wander in with a basket of fresh eggs.
"Sit down, please," Frankie said. "Juice is on the table."
Ryan pulled out his chair and sat. His orders were to stay low. Dalton was on his way. Meanwhile, he was starved, and when in Mayberry....
Frankie opened the oven door, and using mitts shaped like chickens, pulled out a platter of pancakes. She set it on a padded mat, then slid into her seat at the other end of the table. She forked two pancakes onto her daughter's plate.
"Why don't you pass me your plate," she said to Ryan. "The platter is hot."
Ryan did as she asked, then gazed at three pancakes, each with two round eyes and a curved grin, staring up at him from his plate. His amusement must have shown, because Frankie laughed.
"Happy pancakes. It's one of my few specialties. All you do is start the eyes and mouth and let them brown a bit before you pour the rest of the batter. I'm not much of a cook."

*******

In my first book, there's serious bonding over homemade spaghetti sauce. And I think I have an ice cream eating scene in almost all my books!

But today, I promised to talk about my 2 Key lime pie recipes. It's probably a good thing Cleo limited me to those, or I'd be here for months.

We moved from Los Angeles to Miami many years ago, and I was intrigued with trying new-to-me regional dishes. Restaurants all boasted about their Key lime pies, and I quickly learned there were as many variations as there were restaurants serving them.

These were pre-computer days, so no Googling to find recipes, but I found one in a magazine that was supposed to be the classic, original, very best. (And not only were these pre-Google days, but they were also pre-uncooked egg paranoia. I feel like those guys on Good Eats are going to show up and recite chapter and verse about the risks taken when eating uncooked eggs, but honestly, almost all cases of problems come from restaurant eggs, not grocery store eggs.)

Note: It's much better if you can walk into your yard and pick the limes. But you can find Key limes nowadays in grocery stores. At the very least, they sell bottled Key lime juice. The big, green Persian limes are not Key limes. If anyone serves you a green Key lime pie...run. It might be a lemon meringue pie made with limes, but it won't be a Key lime pie. It's not supposed to look like a classic lemon meringue pie. Ever. Key lime juice is pale yellow. Nobody adulterates a Key lime pie with food coloring. Ugh.

So, here's recipe #1...

Key Lime Pie

Baked pie crust, or Graham cracker crumb crust (my preference). I confess to making a lousy "regular" pie crust.

Filling:
1 can Eagle brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
6 egg yolks
½ cup key lime juice

Whip sweetened condensed milk and egg yolks together at medium high speed, about 8 minutes. Add the key lime juice; let the beaters rotate slowly about 1-2 seconds. Fold with rubber spatula to blend. Pour into pie shell; let stand.

Meringue
6 egg whites
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup sugar

Beat egg whites with the cream of tartar about 5 minutes, until stiff. Add the sugar and beat another 5 minutes, or until glossy. Put on pie; brown at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

The next recipe was a variation given to me by a neighbor, who used to whip them up at a moment's notice. The best part is that it's a frozen pie, so you can make it well in advance—or make more than one—and freeze until you have a need for it.

Frozen Key Lime Pie

Graham Cracker Crust
1 can Eagle brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
4 eggs
½ cup key lime juice
Lime peel, grated
Pinch salt

Separate eggs. Beat whites until stiff. In another bowl, beat yolks, add milk, lime juice and salt. Fold egg whites and peel into the mixture. Pour into crust. Sprinkle with some graham cracker crumbs. Freeze.

Also good topped with whipped cream. Really good.

*******

Now, once you have the basics, you can dress them up any way you like. Lime zest, chocolate shavings, whatever.

Now that I live in the mountains of Colorado, I'm going to have to find new regional recipes to try. Not to mention adjust to cooking at 9100 feet.

*****

To learn more about Terry, her books,
or her popular "Terry's Place" blog,
visit her website at

http://www.terryodell.com/

Thanks again to Terry
for joining us and...

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY,
EVERYONE!

--------------------------

Before you go, I'd like to make sure
you don't miss your chance to enter
our special June contest...

Win Books in Avery Aames's
"You Be The Sleuth" Contest!

The first book in Avery's A Cheese Shop Mystery series, The Long Quiche Goodbye, debuts July 6! To celebrate its release, Avery is running a contest from June 9 to July 6: You be the sleuth!

Track down the recipe on Avery's website that includes eggs, Edam, and white pepper. Enter your answer by clicking on this link: CONTEST ENTRY FORM.

Friday, June 4, 2010

Quickies Challenge: MISSION...POSSIBLE!

SECURITY LEVEL:
Eyes Only

THE MISSION:

Take on the Quickies Morning, Noon and Night Cooking Challenge

KEY INGREDIENTS:
Avocado and Feta Cheese must be used!

VARIABLES:

Open – add any ingredients to complete the dish

THE JUDGES:

Chef and author Denise Fletcher of Quickies on the Dinner Table; Lazaro of Lazaro Cooks; and Natasha of Five Star Foodie Culinary Adventures.

FULL DISCLOSURE:

Although one of the prizes for winning this challenge is Denise’s gorgeous cookbook, Quickies: Morning, Noon and Night, I must confess that I already purchased it, and I’m so very glad I did.

Quickies: Morning, Noon and Night
by Denise Fletcher

Denise's Quickies is not just a book of recipes. It's a joyous, vividly illustrated trek through breakfast, lunch, dinner, drinks, and desserts with a knowledgeable culinary professional by your side chatting wonderfully witty insights as you go. The recipes themselves are by turns eclectic, exciting, comforting, and inspiring. (I LOVE this book!)

In fact, inspired by the many useful tips she includes throughout (like how to pair wine and food or choose a tender cut of meat), I decided to make my own cheap, little visual aid to go with this recipe. Just click the arrow in the window below (and please hold your guffaws until you've finished reading the entire post…).

So what is my mission here? Amuse Denise, Lazaro, and Natasha with my own fumbling attempts at a recipe using any ingredients I wish as long as they include avocado and feta cheese.

Okay, here we go…

My first try working feta and avocado into the same recipe was this savory cheese tart. Pretty, isn’t she?

The filling for my tart (ricotta and feta) was delicious with the tomatoes and thyme. I planned on creating an avocado-cilantro coulis to drizzle over the slices, but ... I took a wrong turn with the crust. Instead of pastry dough, I wanted to try something very different. Too different as it turned out. You see, I’d just made a graham cracker crust for a frozen key lime pie (a Terry Odell special, stay tuned for that delicious recipe) by pulverizing sweet crackers and mixing in butter.

I decided to try the same kind of press-in crust method by swapping seasoned bread crumbs for the graham crackers and olive oil for the butter. Sounded logical. Tasted like shite.

Try, try again, right? But as I prepared to re-make the tart, another thought struck me. With the start of summer here in the USA, many households will be looking for meals to make on the grill or stovetop—anything to keep from using that oven.

I also thought about the ricotta, which is a very neutral carrier of flavor, just like...avocado. So, why not just mix the avocado pulp with the feta cheese? A generous squeeze of lime was a no-brainer for flavor and to keep the avocado pulp nice and green. (Note better living through food chemistry – an acid will prevent your avocado’s flesh from darkening right away.)

While you can certainly eat this yummy feta guacamole with tortilla chips, I had a much better idea for lunch. You see, I live in Queens, New York, a short hike from the neighborhood of Astoria, where Greek immigrants bake the most delicious pita bread in the US (IMO). So I decided to make the base a pita bread—Naan bread, flatbread, or a pre-baked round of pizza dough will work just as well.

Toppings? When nobody’s looking, I’ll be piling it on (red onions, roasted peppers, black olives, anchovies…) but since my Quickies pita pizza needs to be photographed, I decided to stick with sweet, brilliant and currently plentiful grape tomatoes. A little chopped cilantro adds aromatic floral fun for the olfactory senses as you bite and chew.

And that’s the ticket. Probably not a dish that will get me hired onto Wolfgang Puck’s gourmet pizza brigade, but a nice, light summer lunch just the same—easy, healthy, colorful, and best of all Quickies-inspired.

Quickies Challenge

A “Quickie”
Fresh Summer Pizza
with Feta Guacamole

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

1 round of pita bread (or Naan or 8-inch round of flatbread or baked pizza dough)

1 tablespoon olive oil (approximately)

1 small ripe avocado (I use Hass)

1 teaspoon lime juice

2 ounces (about 50 grams) feta cheese

8 grape tomatoes, halved

1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped

Method:

Step 1 - Toast the pita bread: For an outdoor grill: lightly coat the pita on both sides with olive oil. Place the round over the heat of your grill and turn several times until bread is toasted and crusty. For a stovetop: Coat the bottom of a skillet with olive oil. When the pan is good and hot, add the pita bread, turning several times. Bread should not be soft when you remove it. You are doing more here than simply heating the bread; you are making it firm and crunchy. Plate the bread.

Step 2 – Make the feta guacamole: Remove the flesh from the avocado and mash it with the prongs of a fork. Mix in the lime juice. Crumble the feta cheese and continue mixing with a fork or spoon until you’ve created a smooth paste.

Step 3 – Assemble, top, and serve: Spoon the feta guacamole onto the toasted pita and use the back of the spoon to work it into a smooth, even layer. Place the grape tomato halves on top of the pizza, sprinkle on the cilantro. Slice into quarters and serve.

Additional topping ideas: This pizza is also delicious with roasted red peppers, black olives, anchovies, and red onions. Instead of cilantro, you might try chopped parsley or thyme leaves. You might also try tossing the grape tomato halves with olive oil, cumin, oregano, and sea salt before placing on the pizza. Then...