Cover an 11 × 15–inch sheet pan with parchment paper so the paper hangs off the sides. (The paper will stick better if you grease the pan, then lay the parchment on top.) Dump the shortbread mixture into the pan and spread it evenly. Bake this for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
While the crust bakes, whip the eggs in your food processor and then add the other ingredients up to the nuts. Fold in the broken pecans. When the shortbread crust has baked, remove the pan from the oven and pour in the filling, taking care to spread the pecans evenly over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until nothing jiggles.
Let the pan of bars cool completely before lifting the bars out of the pan with the parchment overhang. Place them on a large cutting board and divide them into individual squares. Store in the refrigerator or freeze them for your party!
Sam’s Cornbread Sausage Stuffing
Sam contributed this recipe to the big Thanksgiving dinner—he credits it to his grandmother.
1 pound bulk sausage
4 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
2–3 sticks celery, finely chopped
Fresh sage leaves (optional)
8 ounces mushrooms, baby bella or whatever you like, sliced
1 recipe cornbread (make this a day ahead)
2–3 cups cubed whole-grain bread (stale is good!)
Butter for greasing
Chicken broth
Fry the sausage until well done, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Drain the sausage well on a plate covered with paper towels. Wipe the frying pan clean and melt the butter.
Add onion and celery and sauté in the butter several minutes until soft. If you have some fresh sage leaves, you may cut those into slivers and add them at the end.
Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they give up their liquid.
Crumble the cornbread and mix it with the cubed bread.
Stir the sausage, vegetables, and butter into the bread mixture, and turn this into a buttered dish. Moisten with chicken broth until it reaches the consistency you prefer. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
Butternut Squash Pasta with Leeks and Fried Sage
This makes a good no-meat main dish, or it can be served with the Thanksgiving feast for your vegetarian guests.
1 medium butternut squash
3 large garlic cloves, unpeeled
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 cup chicken broth, divided
3 medium or 2 large leeks, cleaned and finely chopped
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided
1-pound good-quality rotini or penne pasta
8–12 fresh sage leaves, stems discarded
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano to serve on the side
Cut the squash open, seed it, and cut it into slices. Place these on a baking pan with the garlic, drizzle with half the olive oil, and toss to coat. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until soft and just beginning to turn golden. Cool and peel, then process the vegetables in a food processor until smooth along with ½ cup chicken broth. Keep this warm.
While the squash is baking, sauté leeks in remaining olive oil until soft and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the prepared squash to the pan and simmer over low heat, about 2 minutes. Stir in ½ cup cheese and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook rotini in a pot of boiling water until al dente.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the vegetable oil in an 8- to 9-inch skillet over high heat until it shimmers. Add the sage leaves and fry until crisp but still green, under 30 seconds. Transfer to paper towels to drain. Crumble these into smaller pieces, reserving a few whole leaves for decoration.
Drain the pasta and add it to the squash mixture and the crumbled sage leaves in a large bowl, thinning with warm chicken broth if it’s too thick. Decorate with a few of the fried sage leaves and serve with remaining grated cheese.
Hayley Snow’s Holiday Pumpkin Pie
Hayley uses maple syrup and chai spice to jazz up her pumpkin pie and help it stand out from the flocks of pies served at Thanksgiving. You can substitute cinnamon if you don’t have chai spice.
For the crust:
1½ cups flour
Scant tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons chilled cream cheese
3 tablespoons water
Mix the dry ingredients together in a food processor. Add the butter and cream cheese and pulse until you have small crumbles. Don’t overdo this. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the crust barely holds together. (You will think you haven’t added enough, but you did!)
Dump the dough onto a piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap, and gather it together, then press into a disk. Refrigerate for an hour or more. (This is a good time to make the filling.)
Roll the crust out between two sheets of waxed paper, trying not to overwork it. Peel off the top piece of paper and lower the crust into your 9-inch pan. Bake for about 40 minutes until the crust seems done, just browning around the edges and golden all over.
For the filling:
1 15-ounce can organic pumpkin
½ cup good-quality maple syrup
⅓ cup brown sugar
1¼ cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon chai spice or plain cinnamon
2 tablespoons flour
3 eggs
Whip the pumpkin with the two sweeteners, the milk, and the spice, and taste to see if it’s sweet enough for your crowd. Add a little more if needed. Then beat in the flour and eggs until the filling is smooth.
Carefully pour this mixture into the hot pie crust. (This is the hardest part of the recipe.) You should have the pie pan on a sheet pan in case of spills or drips. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, then check to see if the crust is too brown. If it is, fold some thin strips of aluminum foil to cover the crust. Bake until set, that is, barely jiggly, probably 50–60 minutes.
Cool to room temperature and either serve as is or refrigerate overnight. Serve with freshly made whipped cream. Hayley likes a teaspoon of vanilla and a dash of maple syrup in hers!
Decadent Lobster Macaroni and Cheese
There is nothing low calorie or health conscious about this dish, but it is delicious and good for special celebrations. I don’t know how close my rendition is to the one that Hayley eats at Bagatelle, but it’s pretty darn good. If you want, you can add garlic or shallots to the roux, as Hayley did. I decided to leave those out and let the cheeses and the lobster stand alone.
4 cups shredded cheese (I used 2 cups Gruyère, about 1½ cups white cheddar, and ½ cup Havarti; you can mix and match according to what’s in your fridge and which are your favorites—but avoid preshredded)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
3 tablespoons flour
2 cups whole milk
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into chunks
Several splashes of Tabasco sauce, to taste
2 or 3 slices good-quality bread for bread crumbs
1 pound good-quality short pasta, such as ziti
Meat from the claws and tails of 2 lobsters
Grate the cheeses and set them aside. Melt 3 tablespoons of butter in a large pan over low heat, and stir in the flour to make a roux. Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until everything is absorbed and the white sauce is beginning to thicken. Stir in the grated cheese, cream cheese, and Tabasco. Whisk until smooth.
Toast the bread, break it into crumbs, add a tablespoon of melted butter, and set aside.
Cook the pasta in boiling water, but for 2 minutes shorter than the package tells you.
Tear or cut the lobster meat into bite-size chunks, and whisk this into the cheese mixture. Stir the white cheese sauce into the pasta. Pour this into a well-greased 9 × 13–inch pan.
Top with the buttered breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 for half an hour until everything is piping hot and the top is starting to brown.
; Strawberries and Lime Sponge Cake Wedding Trifle
Martha Hubbard brings this dessert to serve at Hayley and Nathan’s wedding reception. She layers the ingredients in individual-sized mason jars, but you could also serve slices of the cake garnished with whipped cream and strawberries. It would also be nice with raspberries or peaches, depending on what’s in season.
For the strawberry layer:
2 cups hulled and halved or quartered strawberries
Sprinkle of sugar
For the whipped cream layer:
2 cups whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the cake:
6 large eggs, separated
½ teaspoon cream of tartar
1½ cups sugar, divided
2 teaspoons grated lime rind
¼ cup lime juice
¼ cup water
1¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar and set aside.
Whip the cream until stiff with the powdered sugar and vanilla. Put this in the refrigerator while you make the cake.
In a large bowl, combine the egg whites with the cream of tartar and beat with an electric mixer until they hold soft peaks. (You can test this by slowly withdrawing the beaters from the eggs. Soft peaks should stand up with the slightest droop at the top.) Next, gradually add ½ cup of the sugar, beating until whites are stiff but not dry.
In another large bowl, place the separated yolks. Beat them with unwashed beaters until thick. Add the remaining sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating until the yolks are very thick and ivory colored.
To the beaten yolks, add the grated lime rind, lime juice, and water, beating until just blended. Beat in the flour and salt at a very low speed. Add the beaten egg whites to this mixture, and fold them in with a rubber spatula—gently.
Turn the cake batter into an ungreased 10-inch tube pan. Cut through the batter several times with a knife to break up any air bubbles and then smooth the top.
Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes to an hour. The top of the cake will appear golden and the cake should spring back when lightly touched.
Invert on a wire rack to cool. Loosen cake from the sides of the pan with a spatula. Set on a serving plate.
When the cake is completely cool, cut it into bite-size squares. In small mason jars, alternate squares of cake with strawberries and whipped cream. Refrigerate until it’s time to serve.
Also available by Lucy Burdette
Key West Food Critic Mysteries
Death on the Menu
An Appetite for Murder
Death in Four Courses
Topped Chef
Murder with Ganache
Death with All the Trimmings
Fatal Reservations
Killer Takeout
Author Biography
Clinical psychologist Lucy Burdette has published 15 mysteries, including the latest in the Key West food critic mysteries. Her books and stories have been shortlisted for Agatha, Anthony, and Macavity awards. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and a past president of Sisters in Crime. She lives in Madison, CT and Key West, FL.
This is a work of fiction. All of the names, characters, organizations, places and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real or actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reaction to the recipes contained in this book.
Copyright © 2019 by Roberta Isleib
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Crooked Lane Books, an imprint of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Crooked Lane Books and its logo are trademarks of The Quick Brown Fox & Company LLC.
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication data available upon request.
ISBN (hardcover): 978-1-68331-969-6
ISBN (ePub): 978-1-68331-970-2
ISBN (ePDF): 978-1-68331-971-9
Cover illustration by Griesbach/Martucci
Book design by Jennifer Canzone
Printed in the United States.
www.crookedlanebooks.com
Crooked Lane Books
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New York, NY 10001
First Edition: May 2019
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A Deadly Feast Page 22
