Basque Cheesecake #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

 

Look at this beautiful cheesecake. You might well ask if anyone needs to eat anything this rich. If you do ask, and ask it seriously, then consider reading the recipe just for the vicarious thrill. This cheesecake is smooth and creamy and not nearly as sweet as traditional cheesecakes. It’s also fairly easy to make. And it really is gorgeous, isn’t it?

A small slice is excellent for dessert or a treat with your afternoon tea. I made the one you see here for a group meeting. The cake did everything it was supposed to – it wowed the group, it tasted delicious without being too heavy, and it disappeared quickly, saving the four of us at home from overindulging.  

 Basque Cheesecake

(adapted from Tanya Sichynsky, in the New York Times, who adapted it from Marti Buckley)

 

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

2 1/4 pounds cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

5 large eggs

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 F with a rack in the center. Grease a 10-inch springform pan and line with parchment paper, leaving 2 or 3 inches overhanging the rim of the pan. A fun way to make the parchment conform to the pan is to first scrunch it into a tight ball. This relaxes the paper and after you've un-scrunched it, it will line your pan beautifully. Use two pieces of paper, if you need to, to completely line the pan. Grease the paper (and if you’ve used two pieces, grease between the layers so they stick and lie flat).

In large bowl, using a hand mixer (or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment), cream sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Our 46-year-old hand mixer can’t handle that kind of work, so I creamed the mixture with a wooden spoon for about 5 minutes.

Add salt and mix. Add eggs one by one, beating until fully incorporated before adding the next. (At this point I was able to use the hand mixer.) Beat in cream. Add flour and mix on low.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until browned and almost burnt on top, 50 to 60 minutes. The center will still be jiggly. Remove cake from oven and cool completely on a rack. It will have risen dramatically in the oven and will sink as it cools.

Before serving, remove rim of springform and gently tug away parchment paper. Serve at room temperature.

 Look for Molly’s new series—the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries—coming June 25, 2024!

Book 1: Come Shell or High Water 

When widowed folklorist Maureen Nash visits a legendary North Carolina barrier island shell shop, she discovers its resident ghost pirate and the mystery of a local’s untimely death . . .

Buy links:

IndieBound (locally owned independent bookstores near you)

Barnes & Noble

Amazon 

And in the meantime, you can enjoy Molly's other books.

 

The Boston Globe says Molly MacRae writes “murder with a dose of drollery.” She’s the author of the award-winning, national bestselling Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries and the Highland Bookshop Mysteries. As Margaret Welch, she writes books for Annie’s Fiction and Guideposts. Her short stories have appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and she’s a winner of the Sherwood Anderson Award for Short Fiction.

Visit Molly on Facebook and Pinterest and connect with her on Twitter  or Instagram.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easy Chicken Stroganoff @MaddieDayAuthor

MADDIE DAY here. Well, I'm actually at Malice Domestic in Maryland! If you're at the conf, I hope you find me and say hello, and don't forget to pick up your packet of Mystery Lovers' Kitchen recipe cards as you enter Malice-Go-Round this morning or in the hospitality room any time until Sunday.

Last week I found myself with a cabbage and a pound of mushrooms that needed using. I always have boneless chicken thighs and breasts in the freezer, and it was an easy walk to our local market to pick up some sour cream.

I wish I'd remembered parsley, too, to add a pop of green, but the dish was plenty tasty without it.

Chicken Stroganoff

Ingredients

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1 pound mushrooms, sliced (or halved if small)

1 teaspoon salt

1 onion, chopped (not shown in photo)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 chicken breast and two chicken thighs, skinless and boneless, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon  salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup chicken stock

1 teaspoon whole grain mustard

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 cups slivered cabbage

1 cup sour cream

Directions

Heat one tablespoon oil and the butter in a large and deep pan on medium heat. Saute onions for several minutes, then add mushrooms and stir until both are wilted.  

Add garlic and cook for one more minute. Remove vegetables to a separate plate and set aside. 

To the same pan add one tablespoon oil and raise the heat to medium high. Add chicken. Sprinkle with flour and salt and brown on all sides for 5-7 minutes. When the chicken is browned pour the white wine all over and scrape the bottom of the pan with a spatula to release the brown bits. Add the chicken stock, pepper, mustard, tomato paste, and paprika.

Return the onions and mushrooms back to the pan, bring everything to a boil and then lower the heat. Add the cabbage and simmer until cabbage is limp. Add the sour cream and heat through uncovered for 5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened to a desired consistency. Do not boil after sour cream is in.

Serve hot over rice or wide egg noodles (pasta works, too).

Readers: Is stroganoff an exotic food for you or a comfort dinner? If

🐔🍷🍄

A Case for the Ladies is out and available wherever books are sold!

My most recent releases are Deep Fried Death, #12 in the Country Store Mysteries.

And Murder Uncorked, Cece Barton Mystery #1, which released in late October.

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.

Thin and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies @vmburns #recipe

 VMBurns: Most people want soft, ooey, gooey cookies, and I get it. But, I like thin, crispy, chocolate chip cookies. Add nuts to those chocolate chips and I'm hooked. I have tons of recipes for chocolate chip cookies. I have chocolate chip, oatmeal chocolate chip, white chocolate chocolate chip, etc., etc. But, what makes them flat? I realize that baking powder will make the dough rise, so you would think leaving it out would make a flat cookie. But, is that it? Well, no because I want thin and crispy cookies, not hockey pucks. So, I went on a recipe hunt for thin and crispy chocolate chip cookies and I found this recipe from Handle the Heat. I also learned a lot about baking soda and baking powder in my research. This recipe provided good spread and good color (baking soda) without the puffiness (baking powder). I made a couple of minor changes (nuts). But, this recipe created just the cookie I was looking for.

THIN AND CRISPY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITH PECANS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• ▢1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢1 stick butter, melted and cooled
• ▢1/2 cup granulated sugar
• ▢1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• ▢2 tablespoons light corn syrup 
• ▢1 large egg, room temperature
• ▢1 tablespoon milk
• ▢2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ▢1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
3. Beat the melted butter, sugar, brown sugar, and corn syrup until well combined.
   
   
   
4. Add the egg, milk, and vanilla to the sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
   
   
   
5. Gradually add the flour mixture and stir until just combined (DON'T OVERMIX). Gently stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts if using.
   
   
   
6. Drop balls of dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet spacing 2 inches apart. There's baking soda in this recipe and these cookies will spread!
   
   
   
7. Bake for 12 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet midway.
8. Let the cookies cool.
   
   
   

READERS: How do you like your cookies? soft and chewy? Thin and crispy? Nuts? Something else? Leave me a comment below. I'll enter your name in a drawing for a Kindle copy of MURDER on TOUR.  Please include your email address in the comments to be considered (US ONLY). 







Bookstore owner and Michigander Samantha Washington is thrilled to see her debut historical mystery finally on the shelves, but a killer seems determined to steal away the spotlight . . .
 

While Sam wraps up her first whirlwind book tour, Nana Jo has kept Market Street Mysteries running smoothly. The last stop is a prestigious book festival in Sam’s hometown of North Harbor, Michigan. But not everyone thinks the guest of honor, bestselling author Judith Hunter, deserves stellar reviews. Sam witnesses nasty arguments between Judith and two different authors—who accuse her of plagiarism and sabotage . . .
 
When a publicist is poisoned during a cocktail reception, Sam wonders if the killer missed the intended target. It’s a twist that echoes the plot of Sam’s mystery, Murder at Wickfield Lodge. But fact can be stranger—and deadlier—than fiction. How much collateral damage is the killer willing to risk? With feisty Nana Jo and the girls from Shady Acres Retirement Village lending a hand, Sam tries to solve the case before the festival delivers another fatality . . .
 
BUY LINK

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad with Papaya-Yogurt Dressing #recipe by @LeslieKarst

 

This recipe--along with other scrumptious recipes inspired by the Hawaiian Islands--can be found in my brand new release, MOLTEN DEATH. It's a flavorful and eye-pleasing composed salad, all of which can be prepared in advance save for the avocado slices (which turn brown quickly once cut). The tartness of the grapefruit provides a lovely contrast to the richness of the avocado, and the combination of the refreshing papaya and yogurt with the bite of the vinegar and peppery papaya seeds makes for a zesty dressing. 

 

I like to prepare this recipe as individual, composed salads, to highlight the different colors and textures of the dish, but the downside to this is that the dressing isn’t mixed in with the lettuce. So if you prefer, feel free to toss everything together in one bowl and then plate it up.

Grapefruit and Avocado Salad with Papaya-Yogurt Dressing

(serves 4)

 

Ingredients for the Dressing

(makes about ¾ cup—more than you’ll need for four people)

½ cup fresh papaya, cut into rough chunks

1 tablespoon papaya seeds

¼ cup plain full-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 teaspoon honey

¼ teaspoon cumin powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon juice from the cut up grapefruit

 

Ingredients for the Salad

1 large pink grapefruit

1 large avocado

4 cups butter or other green leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bite-size pieces

Directions

Place all the dressing ingredients into a blender except for the olive oil, water, and grapefruit juice. 

 

Blend at a high speed, pushing the contents down the sides of the blender as needed, until the dressing is well blended and the papaya seeds are the size of small specks.

Add the oil to the blender and pulse a couple times, till well-blended. Then add the water, and pulse one or more times more. If it’s still too thick, feel free to add more water, a teaspoon at a time. Scrape the dressing into a small pitcher and refrigerate until time for service.

 

Using a very sharp knife, slice the top and bottom (the “poles”) off the grapefruit, then, cutting from the north to the south pole, slice off the skin and the white pith of the fruit. 

 

Place the peeled grapefruit on a large plate (to catch the juices that run off). Turn it on its side and cut into thin slices, latitudinally, then cut these slices into bite-size pieces, removing any remaining pith or tough pieces of membrane you desire. Place the grapefruit pieces and any accumulated juice into a bowl, and refrigerate till service. (All steps up until now may be done several hours in advance.)

 

Divide the lettuce among four large plates. Cut the avocado in half from top to bottom, then cut the halves in half, so you have four quarter-avocado pieces. Discard the pit, then peel the skin off the avocado pieces. 

 

Set two of the quarters together face down so they make a half, which makes it easy to slice. Then cut them into thin slices, and arrange one quarter of the avocado on each plate on top of the lettuce. Repeat with the other half of the avocado. 

 

Scatter the grapefruit pieces on top of the lettuce and avocado, retaining the accumulated juice in the bowl.

 

Stir 1 tablespoon of the grapefruit juice into the dressing (more, if it needs additional thinning), then drizzle the dressing on top of the salad. (Note: You will likely have far more dressing than you need; don’t overdress the salads!) 

 

🌴 🍋 🌿

Now available!

MOLTEN DEATH

Orchid Isle Mystery, book 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. 

 

Advance 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

Nominated for the Lefty Award

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 a finalist for the coveted

IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award!

(winner to be announced April 26)

Buy link here

 

"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 are available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Bookshop.