DeeDee stepped up beside Al. “Mm, that smells good. I didn’t know you could cook, Al.”
“There’s plenty of things y’all still don’t know about me,” Al said with a wink. He handed her a plate with a juicy steak on it. “Here ya’ go, birthday girl. The salads are over on the table. Oh, and DeeDee?”
“Yes, Al?”
“There’s chocolate cake for dessert.”
RECIPES
HEIRLOOM TOMATO SALAD WITH MUSTARD DRESSING & CANDIED WALNUTS
Ingredients:
4 large heirloom tomatoes
1 cup salad greens of your choice
Dressing Ingredients:
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
½ tsp. black pepper
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
Candied Walnuts Ingredients:
16 oz. walnut halves
1 egg white
½ cup brown sugar, packed
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil the bottom of a cookie sheet.
In a medium bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the egg white until foamy. Add the walnuts and the brown sugar. Combine until the walnuts are evenly coated. Arrange the walnuts on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake 12-14 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan and cool.
Salad Dressing:
Whisk all the ingredients together until thoroughly blended. Put in refrigerator for at least one hour. (Salad dressing will keep in refrigerator for a month.)
Assembly:
Place an equal amount of the greens on four salad plates. Slice the tomatoes and arrange on the plates. Put 2-3 tablespoons of the dressing over the greens and tomatoes, per plate, depending on how much dressing you prefer. Put the unused dressing in refrigerator for another time. Scatter the walnuts over the salad. Enjoy!
NOTE: I recently made the candied walnuts and only had about 4 oz. of walnuts. The result was small cookies, which were absolutely fabulous. If you like cookies, this is really easy and wonderful!
ASPARAGUS WITH LEMON MUSTARD SAUCE
Ingredients:
1 lb. asparagus, trimmed
¼ cup plus 1 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Brush the asparagus with 1 teaspoon olive oil and season with salt to taste. Place in large frying pan and lightly cook over medium heat, turning several times, until the asparagus is tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
While asparagus is cooking, whisk the remaining olive oil, lemon juice, and mustard in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place asparagus on a serving plate and drizzle the olive oil mixture over it. Enjoy!
MAPLE GLAZED DUCK BREAST
Ingredients:
4 duck breasts, each about 8 oz.
3 tbsp. maple syrup
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. brown sugar
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions:
Preheat a frying pan over medium high heat. With a sharp knife, score the skin of on each duck breast in a diamond pattern, cutting through the skin and fat layer, but leaving the meat intact.
Combine the butter, maple syrup, and brown sugar in a small bowl.
Cook the duck breasts in the frying pan, skin side down, for 7 minutes. Turn the breasts over and cook them for an additional 3-5 minutes or until a thermometer reads 135 degrees. Season with salt and pepper. Enjoy!
MERINGUES
Ingredients:
4 egg whites, room temperature
½ tsp. cream of tartar or 1 tsp. lemon juice
1 cup sugar
Parchment paper
Vanilla ice cream
Chocolate Sauce
2 tbsp. slivered almonds, toasted
Directions:
Preheat oven to 225 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment.
Put egg whites and the cream of tartar in a mixing bowl and beat with a mixer until foamy. Slowly add the sugar and beat until glossy and stiff. Spoon the mixture onto the parchment-lined cookie sheets, making circles approximately 4” in diameter. Place in oven for 1 1/2 hours, then turn the oven off and leave them in the oven for an additional 30 minutes.
To serve, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a meringue, drizzle with chocolate sauce, and scatter slivered toasted almonds on top. Makes about 12 meringues. Enjoy!
NOTE: Avoid making meringues on high humidity days. The humidity affects the sugar and makes it very difficult to get the meringue mixture stiff when you’re beating it. It can also affect the meringues after they’re baked, by making them soggy.
CHERRY CRUMBLE
Ingredients:
6 tbsp. butter
1 1/8 cup flour (I use rye or all-purpose white)
½ cup rolled oats
6 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1 can cherry pie filling (21 oz.)
Optional: vanilla ice cream
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Melt butter in large saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in oats, flour, brown sugar, and salt until a crumbly dough forms. Press about 2/3 of the dough into the bottom of a 9” glass pie plate. Spread the cherry pie filling over the oat mixture and sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Cut into desired sized pieces, top with ice cream if desired, and enjoy!
*****
I'm giving away FREE paperbacks. Find out more at www.dianneharman.com/freepaperback.html
ABOUT DIANNE
I live in Huntington Beach, California, with my husband, Tom, a former California State Senator, and my boxer dog, Kelly. My passions are cooking, reading, and dogs, so whenever I have a little free time, I am either in the kitchen, playing with Kelly in the back yard, or curled up with the latest book I'm reading.
Her other books are available below:
Amazon: Blue Coyote Motel
Amazon: Coyote in Provence
Amazon: Cornered Coyote
Amazon: Coyote Series
Amazon: Kelly’s Koffee Shop
Amazon: Murder at Jade Cove
Amazon: White Cloud Retreat
Amazon: Marriage and Murder
Amazon: Murder in Cottage #6
Amazon: Murder in the Pearl District
Amazon: Murder and Brandy Boy
Amazon: Murder in Calico Gold
Amazon: The Death Card
Amazon: Murder at The Cooking School
Amazon: Murder & The Monkey Band
Amazon: Murder at The Bed & Breakfast
Amazon: Murder at The Secret Cave
Amazon: Murder in Cuba
Amazon: The Blue Butterfly
Amazon: Trouble at the Kennel
Amazon: Murdered by Words
Amazon: Murdered by Country Music
Amazon: Murder at the Big T Lodge
Amazon: Murdered in Argentina
Amazon: Murder on the East Coast
Amazon: Murder at the Clinic
Amazon: Murder at the Polo Club
Amazon: Alexis
Amazon: Trouble at the Animal Shelter
Amazon: Murder in Calistoga
Amazon: Murder on Bainbridge Island
Amazon: Murder & The Movie Star
Amazon: Murder in Whistler
Amazon: Murdered by Plastic Surgery
Amazon: Murder in Seattle
Amazon: Murder after Midnight
Amazon: Murder in San Francisco
Amazon: Murder at Le Bijou Bistro
Please feel free to follow me on these social media sites:
Website: http://www.DianneHarman.com
Blog: http://www.DianneHarman.com/blog
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @DianneDHarman
Google+
&nb
sp; Facebook Author Page (Thriller)
Facebook Author Page Cozy Mystery
Amazon Author Page
SURPRISE!
NEW BOOK BY B.R. SNOW
The Case of the Nattie Newfie
If you read my newsletter, you know I’m a huge fan of B.R. Snow and his brilliant series, Thousand Island Doggy Inn Mysteries. Here’s a description of his latest one in the series and the link: http://amzn.to/2j78ANa If you’ve ever read his books, trust me, you’re in for a treat!
As the launch date of their new dog toy company approaches, Suzy, Josie, and Chef Claire are in Ottawa to do a photo shoot with their dogs as part of the initial marketing campaign. But the photographer, who moonlights for the tabloids, is a young man with a very bad public image and a reputation for being a bit of ladies’ man. And when his assistant is found dead in his downtown loft, the photographer is the number one suspect.
Suzy soon finds herself working with two Canadian detectives she met the last time she was in town and right in the middle of a bizarre case that includes some rather scandalous photographs, blackmail, and, quite possibly, a case of mistaken identity. Further complicating things is a huge early winter snowstorm that has everyone on edge and more than a few people severely under the weather.
As Suzy digs into the case, she comes face to face with a diverse group of potential suspects including The Black Widow, a socialite with five dead ex-husbands, a mining magnate who has inexplicably signed up to be husband number six, a couple of famous models, and the aunt of Suzy’s new boyfriend, Max, whose career ended abruptly when she was caught in an embarrassing situation, quite possibly by the very same photographer they’re using for the dogs’ photo shoot. Despite her latest resolution to take a step back and let the police do their thing, Suzy’s neurons are soon on fire, and, once again, she finds herself up to her neck in the case, and up to her waist in snow before she can get a good handle on exactly what’s going on.
The Case of the Natty Newfie is the latest installment in B.R. Snow’s popular Thousand Islands Doggy Inn Mysteries and deals with dogs, food, and the power of friendship set in one of the most beautiful spots on the planet.
Murder at Le Bijou Bistro: Northwest Cozy Mystery Series (Northwest Cozy Mysteries Book 5) Page 14
