Around the Kitchen Table: What's in your Freezer? Plus 4-Book #Giveaway

VICKI DELANY: Here in winter climates, we’re slowly coming to the end of the cold season, but it will be several months more before lovely fresh local produce is in the fields and the stores. Time to drag out the last of the canned foods and the frozen meals we put up last fall.

I do a small amount of freezing and canning. I usually make some sort of tomato chutney or chilli sauce, some pickles.  I make soups, mostly tomato or butternut squash and have a recipe for pasta sauce with peppers and eggplant and tomatoes that’s a real standby.  I freeze whole tomatoes and they’re great for tossing into a soup or pasta sauce, although when unfrozen the texture is dreadful. Berries are good to put in the freezer and enjoy with your cereal in the cold winter months.

Here’s my recipe for the eggplant pasta sauce I make a lot of when tomatoes are in season and enjoy all year.

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Eggplant Pasta Sauce from Vicki Delany #CanadianThanksgiving

Here it is, all these months later, ready to be made into a warming winter dinner.

What about you? Do you make use of your freezer to see you though winter? Or do you rely on your local supermarket? Do you live in a climate that doesn’t have the long winter months?

 

📘 📚 📙

 LESLIE KARST: A couple years ago, Robin and I bought half of a heritage Duroc hog from a local farm and had it parted out and packaged to our specifications. But before we did so, we had to buy a chest freezer in which to store all the meat. (The pork was amazingly delicious, by the way. I still have the two hocks, which I swear I’ll finally cook this year.) 

The pig only took up about half the freezer, and I didn’t believe I’d ever fill it up completely, but it didn’t take too long before I had. Homemade turkey and chicken stock takes up a fair amount of room, not to mention the breast from last Thanksgiving’s free turkey (I made the legs, thighs, and wings into confit, which is long gone). But since I’m too lazy to do “real” canning, it’s also packed with frozen apples and pears, chutney and jam, and blanched green beans (not to mention blocks of butter and yes, Marie Callender’s pot pies from Costco.)

 frozen turkey stock

Time to make a pot of soup! (Here’s a fool-proof recipe for homemade meat stock that I learned in culinary arts school.) 

 

🌿 🍗 🌱

MAYA CORRIGAN: Basil plants thrive in our garden, so every summer we make several batches of basil pesto to freeze in small containers. They don't take up as much room as Leslie's pig, but there are more of them than any other single item in the freezer. 

I just counted 19 of those pesto containers in the freezer drawer of our fridge, and that's three months after we made the last batch. Here's the recipe for freezer pesto that we've used for decades.

🌿🌿🌿

LESLIE BUDEWITZ: Whoa, Maya! Serious pesto envy here. Basil's a container plant for me, so I usually manage just a few pints for the freezer, but we do love snipping a few leaves for Caprese salads, tomato pie, and other savory treats in season. We had a long, warm fall, and while the basil came inside as protection against chilly nights, it actually thrived and even continued to grow well into December, which is a first. 

Like Vicki, I love freezing whole tomatoes. We also grow strawberries and get quite a few bags of sliced berries, 2 cups to a bag, for a burst of summer flavor mid winter. I love small, tender zucchini, but I've been known to let one or two grow a little larger, then grate and freeze it, again in 2 cup portions, for winter cooking. These classic Zucchini Muffins freeze beautifully -- I had one this morning with my cappuccino! (And yes, you can freeze, thaw, and bake with the grated zucchini and freeze the muffins again.) And this Zucchini Butter Pasta is seriously easy and yummy. 

I think I just figured out dinner, even if the deck where this photo was taken is now blanketed in snow!

🍓 🍅 🍪

MADDIE DAY: Yes to freezing summer produce to enjoy all winter! I grow blueberries, and it wouldn't be fall without eight to ten quart bags of frozen berries ready to pop into muffins, pancakes, and cakes when it's cold outside. This Blueberry Pound Cake is smooth and delicious.

I also plant several basil seedlings every year and make pesto when they are in full leaf. I still have a half dozen jars in the downstairs freezer. Turkey and chicken stock after boiling down carcasses? Check. A freezer door full of Girl Scout cookies (mostly Thin Mints)? Check. Add the odd quart container full of stew or soup from a big batch ready to pull out for an emergency dinner, and that's my downstairs freezer. Upstairs has meat and butter and frozen peas and nuts and ice cubes and a miscellany of odd bits.

 🍓 🍅 🍪

PEG COCHRAN:  As a mystery writer, the mention of a chest freezer puts me in mind of something other than frozen food!  We have a refrigerator-sized freezer in the garage and it is packed. Sadly, not with home grown produce since we live in a condo.  My daughter and granddaughter live with us now and we have a lot of chicken nuggets, pizza bites, mozzarella sticks, etc. in there for my granddaughter. But we also have half a turkey hubby bought when he went to the turkey farm for our Thanksgiving turkey. We tend to eat soup and chili leftovers for lunch, but when we don't they go into the freezer for another time, like this copycat Panera broccoli cheese soup. I also have a ton of over-ripe bananas for making banana bread, muffins, etc. I also buy family packs of chicken breasts and thighs, divide them up and those are in the freezer.  Our kitchen freezer has items we want to grab quickly--pancakes or waffles for breakfast, extra butter and of course ice cream!

 

LUCY BURDETTE: Since we split the year between Connecticut and Key West, I try not to overload either freezer for fear of what would happen in a power outage. Plus, when will I learn that frozen things that don't appeal when we leave town are not going to improve six months later? Right now we have a whole organic turkey because I thought we were hosting Thanksgiving. And we have a duck for Christmas, when it turns out my sister and her hub don't like duck. Those are causing me angst!

CLEO COYLE: I smiled when Lucy mentioned the turkey in her freezer. We have one in there, too, but not for the same reason. Every Thanksgiving, when turkeys are plentiful in the stores and at their lowest prices all year, we buy two turkeys. We roast one for Thanksgiving Day and freeze the other for a tasty turkey dinner in the dead of winter. We invested in a chest freezer (not to hide body parts as Peg joked about, LOL!) but to freeze things like chicken parts and big box store extras. Marc and I will buy the price club’s strip steak pack, for example, make two for dinner tonight and freeze the rest for fajitas and steak salads. I also freeze chicken breasts, so I can just grab one and make my ONE HOUR CHICKEN SOUP when I’m feeling under the weather. This quick-and-easy homemade soup recipe is a great one for cold and flu season. Click the image below for the recipe (with a free PDF) and stay cozy, everyone! ~ Cleo

Click here or the image above for
Cleo's One Hour Chicken Soup recipe.

🍜 🌽 🍉

KORINA MOSS: Other than the usual suspects (meat, fish, veggies), I like to buy as much corn on the cob as possible in the summer, cut it off the cob, and freeze it to use in the winter months. It's so sweet and delicious. But that only lasts me a few months past the season and now I'm back to using supermarket corn. 

🍜 🌽 🍉

MOLLY MACRAE: Before we down-sized (years ago) we had a large upright freezer and kept it full of the usual suspects. There isn’t nearly as much room in the little freezer compartment above our refrigerator, but we still seem to keep an amazing amount of stuff in it. Three things we try to never run out of are: fresh ginger cut into useful pieces, tablespoon portions of tomato paste, and zest from oranges, lemons, and limes. 

🍅🍋🍒

LIBBY KLEIN - I have a ridiculous amount of gluten free ravioli from Pappardelle's Pasta. It's a treat that I discovered in Seattle at the Pike Place Market. When I find something I like I really stock up on it. They make very quick dinners for those nights when my writing goes late into the evening because I'm trying to meet a deadline. I also have several packages of Dorot Gardens crushed garlic and ginger cubes. These are my favorite timesaver that I've fallen in love with. Packaged like flavored ice cubes, I always have garlic or ginger at the ready - which is a nice change for me from buying it and eventually throwing it away because I didn't use it fast enough. 

GIVEAWAY!

Comment on our post to win these great mysteries! Include your email address so we may contact the winner.

✨ Giveaway Prize Package ✨

TROUBLE IS BREWING by Vicki Delany 

BULLETPROOF BARISTA by Cleo Coyle

FONDUE OR DIE by Korina Moss

DEEP FRIED DEATH by Maddie Day

📚

Comments open through 

Wednesday, March 5

Balsamic Peppers #Recipe Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon

This is a simple but very tasty side dish or appetizer.  The peppers become extra sweet with the roasting and the balsamic vinegar adds just a touch of tang. No need to remove stems or seeds from the mini peppers.  If serving as an appetizer, guests can pick them up by the stem or if serving with dinner, they can be cut off easily.  I scaled this recipe down for the two of us but the quantities below are for the full recipe from Ali Alexander.  Leftovers are good cold!

1 1/2 lbs. mini peppers

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tbl. balsamic vinegar

 

Heat oven to 450 degrees. If you have convection, turn it on.

 

Arrange peppers in a 9x13 dish or something similar.

 

Season with salt, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Toss to coat.

Roast for 15 to 25 minutes.  Timing will depend on your oven.  Roast until blistered to your liking and until peppers are collapsing.   

Robbie's Guacamole @MaddieDayAuthor #giveaway

MADDIE DAY here. I'm so excited for Scone Cold Dead  to release on April 1,  a month from now!

If you've read any of the Country Store Mysteries, you know that restaurant owner Robbie Jordan is a native of Santa Barbara, California. In the new book, the 13th in the series, Abe makes fajitas for dinner at home one night and Robbie whips up a batch of guacamole to go top the dish.

I always make my own guacamole at home, and it's super easy. I included the recipe in the book and wanted to share it with you all here. You'll never want to eat store-bought again!

I don't have copies yet of Scone Cold Dead to give away. Nacho Average Murder is #7 in the series, and it actually takes place in Santa Barbara. I'd love to send a signed copy to one commenter here today

Robbie’s Guacamole

Robbie makes a quintessential Cali-Mex topping to go with Abe’s fajitas.

Ingredients

Two ripe avocados, pitted

1 teaspoon fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons salsa

Hot sauce to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Scoop out avocados into a medium bowl and mash with a fork. Mash in other ingredients. Correct seasonings and add hot sauce to your own taste.

Serve atop any Mexican food or as a dip with tortilla chips.

Readers: Would you rather buy a dip in a container or try to make it yourself? Also, who has been to Santa Barbara, and what did you think? I'll send one of you a copy of Nacho Average Murder.

🌶📚🫑

Deadly Crush is out and available wherever books are sold.

Next out will be Scone Cold Dead on - no fooling - April 1! This is the thirteenth Country Store Mystery.

My most recent releases are Murder at the Rusty Anchor,

 A Case for the Ladies,

And Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

Check out all my writing.

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 and sweet cat Martin north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

Chicken salad #recipe @vmburns #giveaway

VMBURNS: I was reading a book and one of the characters had a chicken salad sandwich. Normally, I make chicken salad in the summer, but I couldn't get that sandwich out of my mind. So, here I am in the middle of winter making chicken salad. I like to make chicken salad in my crockpot, and it's crockpot season, so I guess it all works. Sometimes, I take the chicken I make in the crockpot and use it for other dishes, but today it's going for chicken salad. You'll notice lots of optional ingredients because you can add whatever you want. I don't like celery. My sister doesn't like eggs. I also like grapes and nuts. Maybe that's why I think of chicken salad as a summer dish. Anyway, I skipped the fruit and nuts this time. Anyway, this is a super easy recipe that I just dump into the crockpot and wait. I don't even bother defrosting the chicken. I like chicken thighs, but I only had chicken breast, so that's what I used. This recipe is super flexible. 

CHICKEN SALAD

 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb Chicken breast or Chicken thighs
• 1 onion, rough chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 Tablespoons poultry seasoning
• 2 Tablespoons paprika
• 1 Teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 Teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon pepper
• 1 Teaspoon Lawry's season salt
• 1/4 Cup mayo (I use Dukes)
• 2 eggs (optional)
• 2 Tablespoons sweet relish (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon diced onions (Optional)
• 1 Tablespoon yellow mustard (optional)
• 1 Tablespoon celery (Optional)
• 
  

• 
  
• INSTRUCTIONS
1. Dump everything in the crockpot and fill with water.
   
   
   
   
2. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
3. Shred chicken and mix in what you like. I used mayo, eggs, sweet relish.
   
4. Chill and serve.




READERS:  What do you like in your chicken salad? Leave me a comment below. I'll enter your name in a drawing for an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of THE NEXT DEADLY CHAPTER, the 10th book in the Mystery Bookshop Mystery series.  Please include your email address in the comments to be considered. 








THE NEXT DEADLY CHAPTER




All Sam wanted was to make a good impression on her fiancé Frank’s mother, the very proper Dr. Camilia Patterson. But when Nano Jo and the lively ladies of Shady Acres Retirement Village throw a surprise bridal shower for Sam at the Four Feathers Casino—watch out! Things spin out of control faster than a roulette wheel. Fortunately, Sam knows when to fold ’em and slips back to her room to work on her latest historical mystery set between the wars, in which a houseguest meets a grim end at an English country manor.
 
The morning after brings another rude surprise. Sam gets a frantic call from Camilia, who’s discovered a dead body in her room. Now winning over her soon-to-be mother-in-law means keeping the good doctor out of a potential scandal and attempting to discreetly solve a murder without ruffling any feathers. For that she’ll need the help of Nano Jo—not exactly the soul of discretion—Detective “Stinky” Pitt, and the ladies—because the casino killer keeps upping the ante. . .




BUY LINK

Mexican-Style Black Bean Patties with Fried Egg #Recipe by @LeslieKarst

This is a recipe I’ve adapted from the New York Times, which looked so yummy, I had to try it right away. And I’m so glad I did! (It was also the perfect use for some leftover rice I had handy.) 

The Times recommended serving the patties in a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomatoes, and other traditional burger condiments, but I decided to instead serve mine with a Mexican-inflected salad and flour tortillas. The topping of the fried egg makes this healthy dish into a delicious, flavorful treat! 

 

   

Ingredients 

1 (15-oz.) can black beans

 ½ cup cooked brown rice, cooled

½ cup chopped cilantro leaves and stems

½ cup chopped green onions (white and green parts)

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 2 teaspoons water

3 eggs

flour, for dusting patties

neutral oil (such as canola) for frying

Directions

Drain the beans in a colander set over a bowl. (Reserve liquid for other use or discard.)

Spread drained beans out on a paper towel and pat dry, then place in bowl and mash with a spoon or potato masher, leaving them chunky.

Add the rice, cilantro and green onions and mix well.

Add the chili, cumin, and salt and mix well. Taste mixture, and add more salt as needed.

Add 1 of the eggs to the cornstarch mixture and beat well with a fork.

Add cornstarch and egg to the beans and mix well.

Form the mixture into two patties about an inch thick on a small baking sheet or plate. If you’re going to fry them within a half hour, place the patties in the freezer to firm up. If longer, place them in the refrigerator. (They can be made up to a day before and kept, covered, in the fridge.)

 

Heat oven to 350° F. Take patties out of the freezer/fridge, and dust both sides with flour.

Heat a skillet over high heat, add ½ inch of oil and, when shimmering, gently slide the patties into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown (about 3 minutes), then carefully flip and brown other side.

Transfer patties to a baking sheet (the one you used to chill them is fine) and place them in the oven for about 20 minutes to allow them to crisp up further.


Meanwhile, fry the 2 remaining eggs. Serve the patties topped with an egg, and a side of green salad with avocado and tomato, and heated tortillas.

 

 

🌿 🍷 🌱

Coming April 1

Orchid Isle Mystery  #2

WATERS OF DESTRUCTION

Now available for pre-order!

Buy link here. 

 

And now available

in paperback!

MOLTEN DEATH

Orchid Isle Mystery  #1

Buy link here

 

“Karst’s first Orchid Isle novel is part murder mystery, part vividly evocative, colorful sketch of Hawaii and its history, geography, tradition, culture, food, language, and people. Armchair travelers and mystery aficionados alike will find it entertaining.”

Booklist

 

This first book in my brand-new Orchid Isle mystery series features retired caterer Valerie Corbin and her wife Kristen who, on a trip to the Big Island of Hawai‘i, swap surfing lessons for sleuthing sessions when a hike to an active lava flow turns deadly. 

 

Praise for MOLTEN DEATH:

“a compelling read that will enlighten, engage, and entertain, leaving readers longing for their next trip to the Orchid Isle.”

--New York Times bestselling author Jenn McKinlay

“a terrific debut to a series that will go on my must read list!”

--USA Today bestselling author Deborah Crombie

 

 

A SENSE FOR MURDER

2024 Lefty Award Nominee

for Best Humorous Mystery!

This newest Sally Solari mystery

is available for purchase here !

 

Praise for A SENSE FOR MURDER:

 

“[Sally is] sassy, irresistible company... Culinary cozy fans will be in heaven.”

 --Publishers Weekly

 

“An enjoyable read for mystery mavens and foodies alike.”

--Kirkus Reviews

Justice is Served:  A Tale of Scallops,

the Law, and Cooking for RBG

is the 2024 Silver Medal Winner for both the

IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award

and the IPPY Award!

Buy link here

 

 

 

Praise for Justice is Served:

 

"a suspenseful, exhilarating memoir; Karst relays her determination to serve the 'perfect' meal to RBG alongside an uplifting, enlightening portrayal of one of the most admired justices in the history of the Supreme Court." 

 

-Foreword Reviews (starred review)

 

"[This] book is a romp from cover to cover—and, just like a great meal, left me ready for more."

-Karen Shimizu, executive editor, Food & Wine-

All of the Sally Solari Mysteries (as well as my other books) are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.