Fennel, Celery and Pear Salad -- a bright spot in midwinter -- #recipe by @LeslieBudewitz

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  We made this salad for Thanksgiving dinner, and it was a terrific side dish – light, pretty, and slightly acidic to counter all the richness of, well, everything else. Plus, it’s easy and doesn’t involve the oven or stovetop! But I didn’t think you needed to wait another 10 months to enjoy it – it’s a lovely touch of sweet-tart and tender-crisp that’s perfect for midwinter.

Pears can be challenging – they can go from rock-hard to mush in no time – but the paper bag trick really does work. (Hey, even Harry & David endorse it, and they know pears!) To ripen a pear in a day or two, stick it in a brown paper bag with a ripe banana or apple – the other fruit will give off a gas that spurs the pear. And take it from me, the banana doesn’t even have to be all that ripe!

The original recipe, in the Washington Post, recommended a mandoline if you have one, to get the slices really thin. Go ahead; I’ll keep the Band-aids handy.

You can also do as we did and make a full dose of the dressing but use half the fruit and veg. It can be hard to cut amounts for a dressing in half, and it’s easily used on other salads within a few days – or more of this one. Simply store in a jar and bring to room temperature, shaking the jar to re-emulsify. We used white wine vinegar in place of the white balsamic.

Enjoy! 

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Fennel, Celery and Pear Salad 

For the dressing:  

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar 

2 tablespoons minced shallot

2 teaspoons honey

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly cracked or ground black pepper, plus more to taste

For the salad:

1 large fennel bulb (12 ounces), with stalks and fronds

4 large celery ribs 

1 firm, ripe Bosc pear 

Flaky sea salt

Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight lid and shake to combine or emulsify. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. 

Cut the tough stalks off the fennel bulb – it’s okay to keep an inch or two that will be crunchy but not tough. Trim off the fronds and chop for garnish. Trim the root end off the bulb. Cut the bulb in half vertically. Lay each half on your cutting board, cut side down, and slice thinly. Add to a large, flat serving bowl. 

Trim the celery, slice thinly, and add to serving bowl. 

Cut the pear in half and remove the seeds and core. (No need to peel.) Slice thinly and add to bowl.

Just before serving, add the dressing and toss gently toss to coat the fruit and vegetables evenly. Top with fronds and flake salt. 

Makes 6-8 servings. 

What dishes are you loving during this long winter days?

💕  Click here for a free printable PDF!  

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

TO ERR IS CUMIN:A Spice Shop Mystery (Seventh St. Books, out now in paper, ebook, and audio)

From the cover: One person’s treasure is another’s trash. . .

Pepper Reece, owner of the Spice Shop in Seattle’s Pike Place Market, wants nothing more than to live a quiet life for a change, running her shop and working with customers eager to spice up their cooking. But when she finds an envelope stuffed with cash in a ratty old wingback left on the curb, she sets out to track down the owner.

Pepper soon concludes that the chair and its stash may belong to young Talia Cook, new in town and nowhere to be seen. Boz Bosworth, an unemployed chef Pepper’s tangled with in the past, shows up looking for the young woman, but Pepper refuses to help him search. When Boz is found floating in the Ship Canal, only a few blocks from Talia’s apartment, free furniture no longer seems like such a bargain.

On the hunt for Talia, Pepper discovers a web of connections threatening to ensnare her best customer. The more she probes, the harder it gets to tell who’s part of an unsavory scheme of corruption—and who might be the next victim.

Between her quest for an elusive herb, helping her parents remodel their new house, and setting up the Spice Shop’s first cooking class, Pepper’s got a full plate. Dogged by a sense of obligation to find the rightful owner of the hidden treasure, she keeps on showing up and asking questions.

One mistake, and she could find herself cashing out. . .

Available at Amazon  * Barnes & Noble  * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * And your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. 

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

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. 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.

 

Oven Filet Mignon by Maya Corrigan #Recipe MLK Day

Six inches of snow and temperatures in the teens made me consider using the oven, instead of the gas grill where we usually cook meat, even when it's 40 degrees outside. I found directions for roasting a 1.5 to 2-inch filet on the Rosebud Steakhouse site. The instructions stopped me in my tracks a couple of times as I explain in the recipe below. 

But first, some side notes. 

Today we celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, who preached and practiced nonviolent protest against racial discrimination.

 

Amen, Reverend King. The struggle goes on.

On a different note, words from Agatha Christie: In The ABC Murders Hercule Poirot compares various crimes to dishes on a menu. Like Poirot and Christie, all of us at the Kitchen love good food and a good murder.

Now back to today's dish. The only ingredients are filet mignon, salt, pepper, and two types of oil. The recipe is perfect for my sleuth's grandfather, who won't cook anything with more than five ingredients. The photo here shows only four ingredients because I forgot to take the picture with the olive oil included. 

Take the steak from the fridge 30 minutes before cooking so it comes to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

1. Just before popping the filet in the oven, season the beef liberally on both sides with salt and freshly ground black pepper and then lightly coat the meat with olive oil.

What does "season the beef liberally" mean? That instruction might be clear to the steakhouse chef who came up with the recipe, but not to me. I erred on the low side, figuring salt can be added later but not taken away. 

2. Heat a cast-iron or other heavy skillet at medium-high until it is hot, not smoking. Add vegetable oil. When the oil is wavy, place the filet mignon carefully in the pan. 

Oil gets wavy? Another mysterious instruction. I went online to search for an image of wavy oil and found it in a Washington Post video about shimmering oil.

3. Sear the top, bottom, and sides of the filet for 2 to 3 minutes until it looks golden-brown.

4. Put the filet in the oven. For how long? That depends on the size of the filet and your doneness preference. Use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature in the thickest part of the steak. Here are some rules of thumb with approximate cooking times.

Rare:120-125 degrees. Cook 4 to 6 minutes.
Medium Rare: 130-135 degrees. Cook 6 to 8 minutes.
Medium: 140-145 degrees. Cook 8 to 10 minutes.
Well-Done: 150-155 degrees. Cook 10-12 minutes.

5. Remove the filet from the oven when it’s 5 degrees below the temperature you want. It will continue cooking while it rests. Loosely cover the steak with aluminum foil for 5-10 minutes. Resting it helps retain the juices.  

I cooked the filet to medium rare.

The verdict? The filet was good but not great. I prefer beef grilled rather than baked, maybe because I marinate it for half and hour before it goes on the grill. If the weather forces me to cook a filet in the oven again, I'll marinate it first and hope it's tastier than one with just salt and pepper. Going with simple seasoning, though, is probably sufficient for the higher quality beef available to steakhouse chefs than what we get from a supermarket. 

READERS: Do you prefer to grill, pan fry, or roast meat 

or veggies?

📚

Maya Corrigan writes the Five-Ingredient Mystery series. It features a young cafe manager and her young-at-heart grandfather solving murders in a Chesapeake Bay town. Each book has five suspects, five clues, and Granddad’s five-ingredient recipes. Maya has taught college courses in writing, literature, and detective fiction. When not reading and writing, she enjoys theater, travel, trivia, cooking, and crosswords.

Visit her website for book news, mystery history and trivia, and easy recipes. Sign up for her newsletter there. She gives away a free book to one subscriber each time she sends out a newsletter. Follow her on Facebook.

A PARFAIT CRIME: Five-Ingredient Mystery #9

Set in a quaint Chesapeake Bay town, the latest novel in Maya Corrigan’s Five-Ingredient Mysteries brings back café manager Val Deniston and her recipe columnist grandfather – a sleuthing duo that shares a house, a love of food and cooking, and a knack for catching killers.

At the site of a fatal blaze, Val’s boyfriend, a firefighter trainee, is shocked to learn the victim is known to him, a woman named Jane who belonged to the local Agatha Christie book club—and was rehearsing alongside Val’s grandfather for an upcoming Christie play being staged for charity. Just as shocking are the skeletal remains of a man found in Jane’s freezer. Who is he and who put him on ice?

After Val is chosen to replace Jane in the play, the cast gathers at Granddad’s house to get to work—and enjoy his five-ingredient parfaits—but all anyone can focus on is the bizarre real-life mystery. When it’s revealed that Jane’s death was due to something other than smoke inhalation, Val and Granddad retrace the victim’s final days. As they dig into her past life, their inquiry leads them to a fancy new spa in town—where they discover that Jane wasn’t the only one who had a skeleton in the cooler.

Read an excerpt and see where to buy A Parfait Crime.  

Praise for A Parfait Crime

📚

Killer Pies: A #Recipe Roundup

Vicki Delany:   

Pie! Did someone mention pie? Let me grab my fork.

In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing better than an in-season fruit pie. I’m not one for cheesecake or mousse pies or anything with a creamy filling. Give me fruit pie or nothing! (Okay, maybe not nothing.)

I recognize that everyone has different taste in pie, so I put together this fun round of pie recipes we’ve featured at MLK over the years. Something for everyone, I hope.

When I searched the MLK archives for the word “pie” I had 425 hits. My gosh, but that’s a lot of pie.

 Here’s a very small sample.

First off: My blueberry pie. I only make this when blueberries are in season, because I truly think it’s something that should be looked forward to and savored.  The anticipation is half the enjoyment. When I put this recipe up on MLK, I divided it into two parts: Pastry and Filling.

MysteryLovers' Kitchen: Blueberry Pie - Part 1: The crust. From Vicki Delany(mysteryloverskitchen.com)

MysteryLovers' Kitchen: Blueberry Pie Part Two: The Filling by Vicki Delany(mysteryloverskitchen.com)

Another of my favourite fruit pies is cherry.  Leslie Budewitz gave us this classic as made by her own mother.

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Alice's Classic Cherry Pie (mysteryloverskitchen.com)

You can’t have too many fruit pies, and here’s a favourite from Maddie Day

MysteryLovers' Kitchen: Peach Pie from @MaddieDayAuthor plus #giveaway(mysteryloverskitchen.com)

Some of the best pies are traditional and bring back a lot of wonderful memories. I’m sure we all remember our grandmothers or great aunt’s pies. Such as this recipe Lucy Burdette took from a charity cookbook she happened to stumble across.  

MysteryLovers' Kitchen: Old Time Banana Cream Pie @LucyBurdette(mysteryloverskitchen.com)

We were all heartbroken to hear of the death of our good friend and blogmate Sheila Connely not long ago. Sheila left a lot behind her, including great books and this lovely recipe for a cream pie.

Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: FRANGIPANE CREAM PIE (mysteryloverskitchen.com)

As well as the classics, there are new and exciting things happening in the world of pie. Such as this recipe from Molly MacRae

MysteryLovers' Kitchen: Chocolate Raspberry Cheese Pie from @MysteryMacRae(mysteryloverskitchen.com)

Pie doesn’t always come in the traditional pie shape. As in this version of pecan pie from Cleo Coyle, which are bars.

Pecan Pie Bars (or Bites)

from Cleo Coyle (mysteryloverskitchen.com) 

Do you have a favourite pie? Or do you love them all? The old favourites or new and updated? Whatever your taste in pie I bet we have something at Mystery Lovers Kitchen for you

 

Candied Sweet Potatoes #Recipe Peg Cochran/Margaret Loudon

 

I know Thanksgiving is over but sweet potatoes are still plentiful in the grocery stores. And they are so good for you--full of vitamins, fiber and antioxidants.  These were delicious--everyone agreed they liked them even better than the sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows.  (My granddaughter has braces on her teeth so marshmallows were out this year.)  This would make a great side dish to any roast--chicken, turkey or beef.

5–6 medium sweet potatoes (3–4 lbs)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup  unsalted butter

1 Tablespoon water

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 cup packed light or dark brown sugar

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

optional: 2 teaspoons orange zest

optional for garnish: chopped fresh or dried rosemary, flaky sea salt

 

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees

Make the sauce:

Combine butter, water, syrup, sugar and spices (and optional orange zest) in a saucepan.  

 

Cook over medium heat, stirring, until the butter is melted.  Bring to a boil and boil, without stirring, for two minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.

 

Prepare Potatoes

Peel and slice the potatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. salt over them and toss to coat.  Place slices in a greased 9x13 baking pan.

 

 

Pour sauce over potatoes and stir. 

Bake for one hour, stirring after 20 minutes.  Cover with aluminum foil after first 20 minutes.

 

Remove from oven and sprinkle with flaky sea salt and optional rosemary.  Let sit 10 minutes while sauce thickens. 

 

Soba Noodles with Bok Choy From Vicki Delany

For a night when you don’t want meat or you’re looking for a hearty side dish, this is a very quick and very easy way to prepare soba noodles. I had it on its own for dinner, but I think it would work very nicely as a side for a summer BBQ or something to bring to a pot luck.  

SOBA NOODLES WITH BOK CHOY

Ingredients:

10 oz dried soba noodles

1 lb. baby bok choy, trimmed and sliced

½ cup toasted walnuts

3 tbsp red miso

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 medium garlic cloves, minced

Salt and pepper

Method:

Bring large pot of water to boil.  Add soba noodles and cook until al dente.  Reserve ¼ cup of the cooking water. Add bok choy to the pot and continue to cook until noodles are tender and the bok choy is slightly done.  Drain and return to pot.

In a blender, combine 3 tbsp of the reserved cooking water, walnuts, miso, oil, garlic. Puree until smooth. 

Add walnut mixture to the noodles and boy choy, toss. Add more cooking water if needed to create a smooth sauce.   

Season with Salt and pepper.

Follow Vicki at www.vickidelany.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. You can sign up to receive Vicki’s quarterly newsletter at Vicki Delany – Canadian Author of Mystery Novels and Suspense Novels » Contact

Now Available: A Slay Ride Together With You, the 7th Year Round Christmas mystery from Crooked Lane.

 

 

 

Viral Tuna Salad Sandwich @LucyBurdette

LUCY BURDETTE: I first saw a video of a tuna sandwich like this on Facebook. It was made in a deli in Brooklyn and it had gone viral. I had to try making one of my own! The good thing, as long as you like to go rogue, is that you can add or delete ingredients as they suit you. We had a nice tomato and a red pepper and I chose those for both flavor and color. We use three kinds of peppers and pickles from the fridge and the last of the fresh dill from the garden. I added a bit of chili crunch because I love the stuff. This makes two very generous sandwiches or could easily makes three depending on the ingredients you add.

Ingredients

One can fair-catch tuna in water

Large spoonful mayonnaise 

Pickles of your choosing—we used bread and butter, cornichons, and sweet pickled jalapenos

Several sprigs fresh dill

Cheese of your choice (mine was yellow cheddar)

Half a green or red pepper

Half a teaspoon (or more) chili crunch

Several grinds of fresh pepper

Half a tomato

Nice rolls

Drain the juice from the tuna and offer it to the cat or the dog. Scrape the seeds and the juicy bits out of the tomato, or the sandwich will be too wet. Cut everything else into long strips, the pepper, the tomato, the cheese, and load it on top of the tuna on a piece of parchment on a cutting board. Pile on the peppers, pickles, dill, and chili crunch. Add the mayonnaise and cover it all with a few rounds of ground pepper.

Now the fun begins! Chop everything all together, folding the ingredients on themselves so that they get well distributed. 

When the condiments are the size that you like, pile the rolls with the tuna mixture. Serve and enjoy!

Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including USA Today bestselling A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. 

You can order that wherever books are sold. If you’re all caught up, try Lucy’s first women’s fiction title, THE INGREDIENTS OF HAPPINESS.

 Lucy Burdette's Kitchen is now out in large print hardcover!

Also follow Lucy on Facebook, and sign up for her mailing list right here.