Recipe Wednesday: Joanna Aislinn

Hello everyone! Many thanks to Chris for allowing me to drop in again. This time I’m sharing an “accidental” summer recipe (chicken-zucchini stuffed tacos) that can easily be made all year. (This one surprised the heck out of me. Guess it’s that creativity-thang spilling into other areas. )

I love zucchini—especially fresh from the garden (nothing else like it); it works so well with other flavors. While making beef tacos for my kids, I made a base recipe (zuch and onions, see below) and was thinking about using it to top grillled chicken breast. (Use store-bought/pre-cooked or your own–you can even use leftover chicken from a rotisserie or home-roasted bird.) I wound up stir-frying fresh (raw) chicken breast (cut into one-inch thick strips) in the same pan I made the base recipe, adding the base at the end to heat it through. I seasoned all of it with taco seasoning, stuffed my (crunchy) taco shells (soft will do, too; it’s a preference), topped it with mild salsa and shredded Mexican style cheese–OMG! Delicious!

Base recipe: zucchini-onion sauté: Small to medium zucch are best; vary amounts based on how many people you’ll be feeding. (Make extra and use it for something else—it keeps in the fridge, cooked or not.) A small zucch will feed one person; a medium 2-3 depending on how you use the base. Heat about 2-3 tablespoons of oil (canola or olive oil are my preferences) in a large non-stick frying pan. Cube zucch (about one inch in size), chop a medium or large onion and sauté both to desired level of tenderness. Season to taste with any/all of the following: salt, pepper, Adobo, seasoned salt, salt-free seasoning. The base is done! (BTW, this recipe lends itself just as easily to roasting. Heat your oven to at least 375˚F. Spray a glass or metal pan with cooking spray, add the veggies, spray them and stir to coat, add your seasonings and roast until the mix is tender and even a little browned. Well-cooked onion carmelizes and has a sweet flavor to it. Done! (The latter, roasted version is particularly suited to any diet—both veggies are considered ‘free’ foods, meaning, you can eat unlimited amounts.)

Using the base: (1) Eat as is—you just made a side dish. (2) Use it to top any kind of pasta, ravioli or perogies—a vegetarian special. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and grated cheese, add a quick tomato salad* or grilled tomato oreganata* as a side and an elegant lunch or light dinner is on the table in a very short time. (3) make chicken-zucchini tacos or (4) stuff the Bam-Bam club*!

*See my new blog page for these recipes and don’t forget those at my website.

BTW, I’m always thrilled to have reader-feedback from anyone who tries my culinary concoctions—I mean creations, lol! And I love when people share theirs.

Again I express my heartfelt thanks to Chris for allowing me this visit in her corner of the World Wide Web, and to all of you who stopped by today.
NO MATTER WHY Jan 2010

Trust and stability are empty words to Carrie Norwell. Her brothers were murdered; her father died upon arrival at the scene. Five years later, her heart remains impenetrable. Billy Jay Eldridge believes Carrie is the right girl but is clueless his noble career aspirations will be the biggest obstacle to getting Carrie to accept what she wants and needs most.

Joanna Aislinn is an avid reader whose writing roots stretch back to her early teenage days. Life got in the way until ten years ago, when the story playing out in her head insisted she put it down on virtual paper. She's been writing and honing her craft ever since. No Matter Why (The Wild Rose Press), Joanna's debut novel hit the virtual shelves on January 15, 2010. At present, she’s busy revising its sequel, learning all she can about promo, building her web presence and finding time to work a day job and manage a home along with everything else!

Recipe Wednesday: Laura Vosika

BIO:


Laura Vosika spent years as a freelance musician, private music teacher, and band director, before returning to her first love, writing. She is the mother of 9 children, and lives in Minneapolis.

RECIPE:

Lasagna:

Ingredients:

Servings Size: always enough for a family of 11

• 1/2 lb lasagna noodle

1/2 lb ground beef or 1/2 lb turkey

1 onion

1 green pepper

salt

pepper

1 (6 ounce) can tomato sauce

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/3 cup margarine

1/8 teaspoon onion powder

1/3 cup flour

• 2 cups milk

Change Measurements: US
Metric

Directions:

Prep Time: 25 mins

Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. Boil and drain lasagna noodles.

While noodles boil, brown ground beef or turkey and chopped onion.

Add to meat: green pepper, salt and pepper, tomato sauce, garlic salt, basil, oregano, sugar, and parmesan cheese.

White Sauce: Melt margarine. Combine onion powder, pepper, salt, and flour. Stir into margarine to make a paste. Slowly add milk, stirring constantly over medium heat until thick.

Layer white sauce, noodles, meat sauce, parmesan cheese. Repeat.

Cover and bake for 45" at 375 degrees.

2. Let sit 10-15" before serving.

BLURB:

Shawn Kleiner has it all: money, fame, a skyrocketing career as an international musical phenomenon, his beautiful girlfriend Amy, and all the women he wants--until the night Amy has enough and leaves him stranded in a Scottish castle tower.

He wakes up to find himself mistaken for Niall Campbell, medieval Highland warrior. Soon after, he is sent shimmying down a wind-torn castle wall into a dangerous cross country trek with Niall's tempting, but knife-wielding fiancee. They are pursued by English soldiers and a Scottish traitor who want Niall dead.

Thrown forward in time, Niall learns history’s horrifying account of his own death, and of the Scots’ slaughter at Bannockburn. Undaunted, he navigates the roiled waters of Shawn’s life--pregnant girlfriend, amorous fans, enemies, and gambling debts---seeking a way to leap back across time to save his people, especially his beloved Allene. His growing fondness for Shawn’s life brings him face to face with his own weakness and teaches him the true meaning of faith.

Blue Bells of Scotland is both a historical adventure and a tale of redemption that will be remembered long after the last page has been turned.

Thanks for that yummy lasagna recipe Laura and for stopping by.
cmr

Recipe Wednesday - Dorothy Francis

Mystery author Dorothy Francis has a killer recipe for Crab Bisque today. Killer? Would Kate serve it to Jon?

Hmm.

Dorothy Francis is an award-winning author who for years has written mystery novels and short stories from her home offices in Iowa and the Florida Keys. She is a member of MWA, S-in-C, Key West Writer's Guild, Short Mystery Fiction Society, and the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators.


Eden Palms Murder:



Key West visitor Bailey Green faces death at the hands of blackmarket thieves when police ignore her claim that her brother's homeless friend was murdered.





Recipe:



CRAB BISQUE



1 small onion chopped

4T butter or margerine

1can celery soup

1can potato soup

1 can milk

1 can half & half

5 to 7 oz. can of crab meat

1/4 c sherry

salt to taste



Saute onion in 2T margerine until tender. Add soup, milk, cream, and drained crab meat. Heat to just boiling. Add sherry, salt and pepper. Heat. Add remaining butter.
Makes 4 to 6 generous 3/4 cup servings

Recipe Wednesday - M.E. Kemp

A warm welcome to M.E. Kemp today author of Death of a Bawdy Belle with a yummy chocolate cake recipe.

M. E. Kemp was born in Oxford, MA, the town her ancestors settled in 1713, although family roots go back to Salem in 1636. Because of a strong sense of family history Kemp decided to write a series set in Colonial America with two nosy Puritans as detectives. She lives in Saratoga Springs, NY with husband Jack and two kitties but she frequently travels back to her hometown where her family still reside in the family home

ONE BOWL CHOCOLATE CAKE

3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. Flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsn baking powder
1 tsn baking soda
1/4 tsn salt
1/2 cup buttermilk (mix in 1/4 tsn vinegar to make buttermilk)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbsn vegetable oil
1 tsn vanilla
1/2 cup hot strong black coffee


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9 inch pan with oil/spray and line pan with a circle of waxed paper. Whisk flour, granulated sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add buttermilk, brown sugar, egg, oil and vanilla. Beat with mixer for 2 mins. – Add hot coffee and beat to blend. (Mixture will be thin.) Pour batter into pan and bake until center is firm, 30 – 35 mins. Cool in pan for 10 mins.; remove from pan, peel off paper backing and cool completely. Dust with confectioners sugar when cool. (Serve with vanilla ice cream if desired.)

Book Blurb: When the beautiful Arabella Edwards, mistress of the Royal Secretary of the Provinces, is found as an extra corpse hanging from the Salem gallows it’s up to wealthy widow Hetty Henry and young minister Creasy Cotton to comb through a host of suspects – Arabella shared her favors – and to uncover a clever killer while themselves escaping from the witchcraft hysteria of Salem, 1692.

Recipe Wednesday - Maryann Miller

GRINGO CHILI

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. pork sausage (mild)
1 onion (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)
3 toes of garlic (more if you are a garlic lover – chopped fine or pressed)
3 lg. cans crushed tomatoes
1 lg. can tomato paste
2 cans pinto beans drained and rinsed
1 can green chilies
3 tsp chili powder
½ tsp. crushed red pepper
½ tsp cinnamon
2 tblsp. sugar

Brown meat with crushed garlic, onions and peppers. Cook until vegetables are soft. Drain. Add tomatoes, beans, and tomato paste, then add seasonings. Simmer, stirring often, for at least an hour.

When I was a child, this chili was made every Sunday and that was the one day of the week that the “cook” took the rest of the day off and we were free to eat a bowl whenever we were hungry. Some of us liked to eat it spread generously over an open-faced hamburger bun. We called it a chili burger.

I thought of those great, lazy Sunday afternoons when Jenny in One Small Victory needed some “comfort food” for her children. What better than a bowl of Gringo Chili.

One Small Victory Blurb:
Life can change in just an instant. That's the harsh reality that Jenny Jasik faces when her son is killed in an automobile accident, but never in her wildest dreams did she ever expect to be working undercover as a member of a drug task force. She is, after all, just a Mom. But don’t discount what a mother can do when the safety of her children is at stake.

BIO:
Maryann Millers professional experience includes magazine and newspaper work on a national and regional level. The Rosen Publishing Group has released nine of her nonfiction books including the award-winning, COPING WITH WEAPONS AND VIOLENCE In School and On Your Streets. In addition to One Small Victory, she has two other books published. Play It Again, Sam is a “second time around” romance, and Friends Forever is a young adult novel on Kindle. Open Season, the first book in a mystery series featuring two women homicide detectives in Dallas, will be released in hardcover December 2010.

Maryann Miller
One Small Victory
See the book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/user/Maryannwrites
Web site: http://www.maryannwrites.com

Recipe Wednesday - Peg Herring

Welcome Peg Herring and her recipe for Spiced Pecans

Recipe: A favorite treat of Tudor era folk and people today, spiced nuts smell wonderful at craft shows and flea markets, but the price can be scary. You won’t believe how easy it is to make them yourself. Go ahead, experiment with different spices, but my favorite is below.
Spiced Pecans
1 pound pecan halves
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Beat egg white and water into a froth. In a large zip-bag, combine sugar, salt, and cinnamon. Dip pecans in egg white, then drop them into the bag and shake, coating well with sugar mixture. Place on well-greased cookie sheet and bake for 40 minutes or until egg white is dry. Stir every 10 minutes. Cool on waxed paper. (They freeze well.)
Blurb: Her Highness’ First Murder, Peg Herring, Five Star Mysteries, January, 2010.
In London, several beautiful women are found dead, their heads missing and their blood-soaked copses dressed as nuns. The first victims are prostitutes, but later murders demonstrate that all women face the same peril.
When one of her own ladies becomes a victim, Princess Elizabeth decides to act. To bring the killer to justice she recruits Simon, a crippled young man who sometimes keeps her company; and Hugh, a captain of her fathers’ trusted Welsh Guard. Since the king would be furious if he knew, Elizabeth’s involvement is a secret among the three of them.
Possibilities abound: is it one of the handsome courtiers in Henry’s circle, the unsavory clerk who keeps financial accounts, the madman captured inside the castle gates, or even Elizabeth’s own castellan? As the princess, Simon, and Hugh close in on the depraved killer, he turns his focus on them, weaving them into his plan. He’s clever, cunning, and dangerous, and suddenly, unless all three act quickly, two of them will not survive the chase.

Amazon link: http://tinyurl.com/ycnf99l

Prize: The names of all who comment on this post or on my website, http://www.pegherring.com/, will go into my U of Michigan cap. The name drawn will receive an autographed advance copy of HER HIGHNESS’ FIRST MURDER.

Recipe Wednesday - Anna K. Lanier

Anna K. Lanier shares a recipe one of her characters cooks

In THE PERFECT GIFT, Laura keeps up the family tradition of baking at Christmas. One family favorite recipe is Pumpkin Bread.

Grandma Scott’s Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients

3 C sugar
1 C oil
4 eggs, beaten
2 C cooked pumpkin (16-oz can)
3 ½ C flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground allspice
¾ C water
1-1 ½ C chopped nuts

Directions

1) Combine sugar, oil and eggs until light and fluffy. Stir in pumpkin.
2) In another bowl, combine dry ingredients. Stir into pumpkin mixture.
3) Add water and nuts.
4) Spoon batter into well greased and floured pans (2-3, depending on size*).
5) Bake at 350º for 60-70 minutes.

*If making 1 pound loaves, you can make 6 loaves with one batch.

Anna Kathryn writes contemporary and historical westerns. She currently has three short stories published with The Wild Rose Press and several more in various stages of writing. She lives in Texas with her husband and three cats. She has two grown daughters and three grandchildren - Ethan, Emma and Lacey. Find out more about her at http://www.aklanier.com/ or http://annakathrynlanier.blogspot.com/