Ingredients
Pork:
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp allspice
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 1-lb pork tenderloins, trimmed
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Sauce:
4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper
3 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cup vegetable broth
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 can (14.75 oz) crushed tomatoes
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure the oven rack is in the center position for an even cooking.
Whisk cocoa powder, allspice, brown sugar, salt, and pepper in small bowl. Place pork on foil-covered baking sheet. Rub cocoa mixture into pork. Drizzle with olive oil. Roast 25 to 30 minutes or until temperature at center of pork reaches 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from oven. Let rest for 10 minutes.
While meat is cooking, make the sauce. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onions, salt, and pepper. Cook until onions are transparent. Stir in cocoa powder, broth, vinegar, and tomatoes. Simmer covered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cut pork into ½ inch slices. Spoon sauce over the pork and serve.
Bertie's Cheer-Me-Up Chocolate Chip Pancakes
This editor has been told time and again that the secret ingredient in Bertie’s light and flavorful pancakes is love. Love may help them taste this good, but it takes a few other ingredients to make these the best pancakes in the South. Perfect for a Sunday morning brunch, you’ll be going back for seconds.
Ingredients
6 oz Greek yogurt
1 egg
½ cup flour (gluten free flours will work with this recipe)
½ tsp baking soda
6 oz of fair trade 70% or more dark chocolate, chopped
Combine yogurt and egg in mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda. Combine yogurt and egg mixture with bowl with flour mixture. Stir in chopped chocolate. Yes, the batter is thick. Heat butter in nonstick pan over medium heat. Spoon batter into pan. Turn when begins to bubble. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Makes 4 large pancakes or 8 small. Serve with maple syrup, butter, and fresh fruit.
Acknowledgments
Every book is special to me in its own way. I’ll always remember this book as being the one where I got to use my wildlife biology background, feature sea turtles, and the natural environment as part of a bigger mystery. I’d like to thank author Mary Alice Monroe for her expertise on turtle patrol teams and how they work. And I need to give a big shout-out to the talented dog behavior expert, Susan Marett, for taking the time to answer my questions and provide insights into the mind of a dog trainer. Without her, Stella would still be running around like a wild beast. Also, Susan has been so patient while working with me and my pups over the years. I’ve learned so much from Susan … not just about dogs but also about myself. She’s wonderful.
I must thank my agent, Jill Marsal, for believing in my series, and my talented editor Anne Brewer (and all the folks at Crooked Lane Books) for making this book possible. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: y’all make publishing a book fun.
I’d also like to thank the incredible authors in the Lowcountry Chapter of Romance Writers of America, Sisters In Crime, and Mystery Writers of America, especially Vicki Wilkerson Gibbins, Cynthia Cooke, Amanda Berry, Nina Bruhns, Dianne Miley, Nicole Seitz, and Judy Watts for patiently listening as I worked through the sometimes bumpy process of writing.
Finally, a million thanks to Jim and Avery. These books are for you and wouldn’t happen without you. I love you.
Also by Dorothy St. James
The Southern Chocolate Shop Mysteries
Asking for Truffle
Playing with Bonbon Fire
The White House Gardener Mysteries
Oak and Dagger
The Scarlet Pepper
Flowerbed of State
Author Biography
Dorothy St. James is the author of the White House Gardener mysteries. For the past twenty years she made her home on Folly Beach, an artsy island community in South Carolina with her sculptor husband. Dorothy is a member of Mystery Writers of America (MWA) and the International Thriller Writers (ITW). This is her third Southern Chocolate Shop mystery.
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 © 2018 by Dorothy McFalls.
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): 978-1-68331-743-2
ISBN (ePub): 978-1-68331-744-9
ISBN (ePDF): 978-1-68331-745-6
Cover illustration by Rob Fiore
Book design by Jennifer Canzone
Printed in the United States.
www.crookedlanebooks.com
Crooked Lane Books
34 West 27th St., 10th Floor
New York, NY 10001
First Edition: September 2018
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