Saturday, May 23, 2026

Kimchi Jeon (Kimchi Pancake) #recipe from Molly MacRae

 

I jumped at this recipe because we love kimchi. We first came across the salted, seasoned, fermented vegetable Korean dish in the 80s in the produce section of our local grocery store in the northeast corner of Tennessee—hardly a cosmopolitan area at the time. It came in a large glass jar that showed mostly cabbage leaves packed in a brine red with seasonings and spices. Yum! It became a favorite even of our small boys.

The kimchi adds nice zip to this savory supper pancake. It reminds me of a recipe for zucchini egg foo young I used to make when we had enough sun in our yard to grow too many zucchinis.

I doubled the recipe to feed four. That’s easy enough to do, and I followed the cookbook’s suggestion of making the batter in two batches and cooking one pancake after the other.

Someday I might try making my own kimchi. If I do, and it works, you’ll see it posted here at Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen.  

 

You’ll find a free, downloadable, printable pdf of the recipe below the cooking directions.


Kimchi Jeon

Adapted from The Complete Plant-Based Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen

Serves 2 


Ingredients for Dipping Sauce

5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

5 tablespoons plus 1 soy sauce

5 tablespoons plus 1 water

1 1/2 teaspoons unseasoned rice vinegar

1 garlic clove, minced

Ingredients for Pancake

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 large egg white

1 cups cabbage kimchi, drained with 2 tablespoons juice reserved, chopped coarse.

3 scallions, white parts sliced thin, green parts cut into 1-inch piece lengths

3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided

 

Directions

For the dipping sauce

Simmer all ingredients in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 5 minutes. Let cool completely before serving.

For the pancake(s)

Whisk flour, egg white, and reserved kimchi juice together in a large bowl. Stir in the scallions and kimchi until combined.


Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a 10-inch nonstick (or well-seasoned cast iron) skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pancake batter and spread into an even layer. Cook until well browned around the edges, about 4 minutes. Run a spatula around the edge of the pancake and shake to loosen. Slide the pancake onto a large plate.


Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in the now-empty skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Invert the pancake onto a second large plate, then slide it, browned side up, back into the skillet. Cook until the pancake is well browned on the second side, about 4 minutes. Slide the pancake onto a cutting board, cut into wedges, and serve with the dipping sauce.



 

 

🍳click here for a free, downloadable, printable pdf of this recipe🍳

 

 



Now available for pre-order – All Shell Breaks Loose

book 3 in the Haunted Shell Shop Mysteries!


 

On North Carolina’s Ocracoke Island, Maureen Nash sells exquisite seashells to locals and tourists—with Bonny the shop cat and the ghost of a Welsh pirate for company. And when needed, she steps in to help the police solve a murder . . .

Dr. Irving Allred is boasting around town that he’s about to get his hands on an authentic haunted sword. But minutes after Maureen hears the story, a woman walks into the Moon Shell, sword in hand. She found it while walking her bulldog on the beach—and its blade is stained with what looks like blood. Looks like it’s time to call the sheriff’s department.

Allred is furious that his prize is now in police custody—and even more agitated that an unknown buyer was trying to outbid him. He’s convinced the sword will lead him straight to the ghosts he’s been hunting. He’s not the only one on the Outer Banks who’s been searching for spirits, though. An odd visitor also showed up at Maureen’s shop claiming the ability to sense them . . . though somehow she didn’t seem to notice Maureen’s spectral friend hanging about.

When a man who’d been camping nearby is found cut down along the shore, Maureen starts providing some unofficial assistance to Captain Rob Tate by digging into the island’s maritime history. But it’s not the only mystery she’s facing—because the shop’s resident ghost is seeing ghosts himself . . .

  

Happy reading!

 

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. 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 Instagram or Bluesky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Friday, May 22, 2026

Spring Pasta Salad

MADDIE DAY here, with a warm-weather dish. Yes, it's only mid-May, but we had a heat wave here this week, and I couldn't bear much cooking in 93-degree weather. I turned on the vent above the stove and boiled a pot of pasta, then threw together this salad once the pasta cooled.


It's adaptable to whatever vegetables and herbs you have around.

Spring Pasta Salad

Ingredients


Half a box of shaped pasta

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1/2 cup diced cucumber 

3 small tomatoes, cubes

1/4 cup diced yellow pepper

1/4 cup diced feta cheese

1 teaspoon capers

salt and pepper


Directions

Cook the pasta according the directions on the box. Rinse, toss with the olive oil, and let cool. Combine all other ingredients and toss, then add salt and pepper to taste. Fresh slivered basil would be a nice addition, but I didn't have any.

We ate outdoors with grilled salmon and chilled white wine. Bon appetit!



Readers: What do you like in your pasta salad?

🥗🍷🥗

A Poisonous Pour is out and available wherever books are sold!



Next up is Murder at the Toy Soldier, Cozy Capers Book Group #8, which releases in late August.




My most recent releases are Murder at Cape Costumers,




Scone Cold Dead, #13 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.

Thursday, May 21, 2026

A Different Take on Ricotta Gnocchi à la the Smitten Kitchen from Lucy Burdette



LUCY BURDETTE: You may already recognize that I am a fool for gnocchi. I’ve already made them here and also some potato gnocchi with Nikki Bonanni that I cannot find, darn it. But I wanted to try a recipe from the Smitten Kitchen. I own several of her cookbooks, but haven’t done more than admire things so far. I think it was the pistachio arugula pesto that pushed me over the finish line here. (See Smitten Kitchen Keepers for the original recipe.)




Ingredients for the gnocchi



2 cups whole milk, ricotta

One large egg

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (this is reduced from her amount, since I find the cheese, salty enough)

One cup all-purpose flour

Olive oil oil for frying.


Ingredients for the pesto.

1/2 cup shelled pistachios, mine were salted.

One small garlic clove (reduction, per me)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (reduced from 1 teaspoon)

Freshly ground pepper or red pepper flakes or both

One and a half cups arugula leaves, washed and dried

1/2 cup olive oil


To make the gnocchi, first drain the ricotta by scooping it out onto a paper towel or kitchen towel, covering it with a second one and patting it down. Leave it to dry while you prepare the next ingredients.



Beat the egg, the salt, and the Parmesan to combine. Beat in the drained ricotta. Mix in the flour until it is absorbed.



Scoop the batter onto a floured surface. Roll it out into a long rope and divide the rope into three-quarter inch sections freeze the pasta for 10 to 15 minutes to make for easier browning.



Meanwhile, blend the nuts, garlic, peppers, and salt in a food processor. Add the arugula and process until everything is roughly chopped. At this point, you can taste to see if you need more salt and add it as you see fit. Add a half cup of olive oil and blend that as well.



Heat the olive oil in a frying pan (I added a couple tablespoons of butter too), and fry the little dumplings until they are browning. When all of them are cooked, add the arugula, pistachio pesto, gently stir, and grate more fresh Parmesan on top.




Hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Next up...Rancho Gordo's polenta gnocchi, maybe with mushroom butter sauce?? Or possibly sweet potato gnocchi, what do you think?

Meanwhile, we hope you will be fools for Hayley Snow's 16th adventure, A DELICIOUS DECEPTION, coming July 14 at a bookstore near you!

USA Today bestselling author Lucy Burdette writes the Key West food critic mystery series including A POISONOUS PALATE and A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS. Join her mailing list right here.


Coming July 14--isn't it gorgeous?


Book 15 in the Key West series, THE MANGO MURDERS, is in bookstores now!

The trade paperback edition of A POISONOUS PALATE is out now! 




And the trade paperback edition of A CLUE IN THE CRUMBS is out now!

Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Mixed Pepper Pasta, by Darci Hannah #recipe




Darci Hannah: As the weather gets nicer here in Michigan, I start looking for quicker, lighter meals to make for dinner. Our family loves sweet, colorful peppers and I seem to always have a pack in the fridge. This fun recipe for Mixed Pepper Pasta can be made in one pot, and that’s always a win for me. The original recipe for this dish was a vegetarian one, and it included some ingredients I knew the men in my life (my husband and our 3 very tall sons) wouldn’t care for, namely lentils and no meat. Since the original recipe called for water, I swapped it out for chicken broth to add more flavor, and used Great Northern beans instead of lentils, because the lads seem to love them in navy bean soup. Oh, and I used a whole pound of pasta instead of the 8 ounces the original recipe called for, because I really have no use for half a box of pasta. Of course, with more pasta came more chicken broth because you want the pasta to cook until tender. And since I was expanding the recipe I added more garlic, spices, and Italian sausage… because without it, my guys would think this was a side dish! 

Honestly, about the only thing that remained true to the original recipe after I was done with it were the peppers and the pasta! As I’ve learned, sometimes while working off a new recipe it’s okay to tweak it to suit your tastes and your needs. I’m just happy it still fits in one pot! 

Feel free to modify the recipe below! I’m sure it would make a delicious vegetarian dish too, but I shall never know.


Mixed Pepper Pasta

Cook time: 25 minutes. Serves 6-8


Ingredients:

1 pound package Italian sausage

1 pound rigatoni pasta or similar

4 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoon olive oil, divided

3 large, sweet peppers, diced in small pieces. I try to use red, yellow, and orange.

1 yellow onion, diced.

Kosher salt

2-3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 teaspoons fennel seeds

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 can Great Northern or navy beans

2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated, plus more for serving.

Directions:




Using a Dutch oven dish on the stove, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the diced peppers and onion. Season with salt and sauté until tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

In the same Dutch oven, cook Italian sausage (I’m using links here) until done. Transfer to a plate and set aside to cool. (If using links, slice into bite-sized pieces once cooled.)




Add remaining olive oil to the pan. Cook garlic and fennel seeds for 1 minute. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 more minute. Add pasta and beans to the pan. Cover with 4 cups of chicken broth and ½ teaspoon of salt. Simmer, stirring often until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes. Note: You may need to add more water ½ cup at a time, if the pasta soaks up all the liquid before it is cooked. 




Next, add 2 ounces of grated parmesan cheese to the pot and stir until a thick sauce is created. 

Next fold in the pepper mixture and the sausage. 



Heat until warm and serve immediately, garnishing with more parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Get copy of the recipe here!

Have you ever tweaked a recipe, or do you prefer to follow a recipe to the letter? Please answer in the comments below!




Darci Hannah is the bestselling author of the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series, the Food & Spirits Mystery Series, the Very Cherry Mystery Series, and two works of historical fiction, The Exile of Sara Stevenson, and The Angel of Blythe Hall. Darci grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in a small town in Michigan with her husband and two dogs. Darci is a lifelong lover of the Great Lakes, a natural wonder that inspires many of her stories. Passionate about family, dogs, food, baking, history, books, lighthouses, laughter, good conversations, coffee, and the paranormal, Darci feels especially blessed to have found a way to combine her interests in the stories she writes. It brings her great joy to be able to share them with you. 

Connect with Darci at www.darcihannah.com

Instagram: @authordarcihannah

Facebook: @Author Darci Hannah


 Just Released!

A Spirited Supper at Dundoon Castle

By Darci Hannah

Book #2 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series 


When chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride got a role on the reality show Food & Spirits, she thought “spirits” meant cocktails. Instead, she’s cooking up dinners meant to tempt the departed to appear. And to her surprise, she’s discovered abilities to connect with the beyond—and crack murder cases . . .

Now that Bunny’s entrées come with a side of the Other Side, it comes in handy to have a grandma who’s friendly with the elderly owners of a haunted Scottish castle. During Bunny’s childhood she heard all about Dundoon’s bloody history and the “ghostly piper” who roamed the grounds—and soon she’ll be visiting the ancient place with her ghost hunter and psychic co-stars. The annual bagpipe competition in the late piper’s honor will make for some good footage as well. 

After Bunny serves a feast fit for a 17th century king, including lamb chops with plenty of fresh herbs, she heads outdoors for the ghost hunt. But in the dark, dense fog, someone fatally plunges from the clifftop over the loch. The sound that follows is a mournful, otherworldly bagpipe . . . and once the body of another perished piper is retrieved, Bunny is determined to solve this Highlands homicide—and prevent a killer from getting off scot-free . . .


Trade Paperback Release!

A Fatal Feast at Bramsford Manor

By Darci Hannah

Book #1 in the Food & Spirits Mystery Series

Purchase Link

While filming at a haunted English manor, chef Bunny MacBride’s big break on her first reality TV show may be cut short by an unscripted murder in Darci Hannah’s new Food & Spirits cozy mystery series . . .

It isn’t how chef Bridget “Bunny” MacBride imagined her own cooking show unfolding. But, if preparing historic meals with a modern flair is what it takes to get her cooking on the air, she can deliver, even if her dinner guest is a ghost. That’s the premise of the new reality TV show Food & Spirits, where Chef Bunny teams up with ghost hunter Brett Bloom and psychic medium Giff McGrady to visit haunted locales around the world and tempt lingering spirits back to the table with a beloved meal. For their first episode, the Food & Spirits team sets off to investigate Bramsford Manor, a historic house turned famously haunted hotel, in picturesque Hampshire, England. The sprawling estate is said to be home to the Mistletoe Bride, a young woman who died in the 18th century, the victim of a tragic accident on her Christmas wedding night.

Bunny leaves the spectral search to the pros and focuses on the feast, creating a traditional English holiday wedding dinner, complete with a gorgeous prime rib, Yorkshire pudding, and rustic apple tarts. But Bunny’s task is made more difficult when someone steals a boning knife from her custom kit. Alas, when the blade finally turns up again—in the chest of an all-too-human dinner guest—Bunny’s woes only grow as she is named a lead suspect in the case! Now, with a haunted house full of living residents, staff, and crew, Bunny will need the help of Brett, Giff, and her clairvoyant Grandma Mac, to solve this murder before the manor gains another ghost!


Coming this July!

Murder at the Campfire Cookout

By Darci Hannah

Book #7 in the Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series

 

Preorder today!

When Lindsey Bakewell leaves behind her lighthouse bakeshop, her boyfriend, Rory, and her Newfoundland dog, Wellington, for a glamping trip with her mother in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, the bears leave them alone—but a killer doesn’t. . .

Converting the old Beacon Point lighthouse into a bakery is as adventurous as Lindsey cares to get. Her mother, Ellie, a former 80s fashion model, likes her creature comforts even more—until she sees a business opportunity for her Beacon Harbor fashion boutique when she’s invited by the Mitten Kittens Glamping Club on a woodsy getaway.

Far from roughing it, the ladies will be warm and cozy in chic vintage campers. Ellie insists Lindsey come along to win the campfire cookout contest. Campfire cooking has come a long way from bacon and beans. Soon Lindsey is making pizza, berry cobbler, and gooey Carmelita camping bars.

But the festive spirit is soon dampened when a body is found in Ellie’s camper. It seems like an accidental death until everyone’s tires are slashed and it’s clear the glampsite has become a crime scene. With no cell service to call for help, it’s up to Lindsey to smoke out the killer around the campfire . . .

Because no one is out of the woods yet.