Valentine's Day Recipe Roundup Day 1 | Mystery Authors

Welcome to the Fresh Fiction Valentine's Day Recipe Roundup! Every day this week, some of our favorite authors will be on the blog chatting about their new books, their main characters, and a recipe for a meal or treat those characters would enjoy this festive week. Today, we have mystery authors from Midnight Ink. Enjoy, and come back tomorrow for more fun! JD Allen, SKIN GAME

The Sin City Investigations books launched in 2018 with 19 Souls, February 8th,
Skin released. Private investigator Jim Bean has worked hard to create his new
identity in Las Vegas. Now his life's on cruise control, destination nowhere.
He's got clients enough to pay his bills, a cat, and a stash of Scotch.

But life's not as static as he'd like. His tragic past collides with a dangerous
present when ex-fiancé Erica Floyd walks into his investigation. She's looking
for her missing sister. Bean can't refuse her and the clues lead him to human
traffickers and one of Vegas' biggest hotel moguls.

He's got to face ghosts of his past, his anger of the present, and a brand new
enemy to save four women from a fate worse than death.

Jim's not a fancy guy. And his choice of food is no exception. When he's not
hanging out at the Coffee Girl Diner, he eats out a can. His Cowboy Beans are
his go-to.

Jim's Cowboy Beans

• One can black beans
• One can chopped chilis
• Some coarse black pepper, and fresh garlic.

Dump the whole mess in a skillet and heat to a good boil. There ya go. Beans for
dinner.

They 're great to eat cold out of a plastic container on a long stakeout. No one
to mind the gas. And they pair well with a domestic beer.

***

Victoria Hamilton, A GENTLEWOMAN'S GUIDE TO MURDER

London, England, 1810: A founding member of the Crones, a group of ladies who
have gathered to rescue the downtrodden - especially abused scullery maids and
young ladies being forced into unwanted marriages - Miss Emmeline St. Germaine
is like a caped and masked Regency-era Wonder Woman. She skulks along the dark
back alleys of London to affect her rescues, but this time, she also threatens
an abuser, Sir Henry Claybourne; if he ever abuses another little scullery maid
he'll feel the point of her dagger.

Later that night Sir Henry is brutally slaughtered, and London is agog with the
news of the late night marauder, the daring Avengeress, as Emmeline is becoming
known; did she murder the knight and steal away with the scullery maid and the
silver?

She'll have to investigate and clear her name, but before she does she might enjoy a cup of refreshing tea and delicious Rosemary Cheddar Apple Scones… (though her cook would be hard–pressed to make these, since baking powder, the leavening ingredient, would not be available for another 30 or more years!) Enjoy these with your Valentine's Day tea! Rosemary Cheddar Apple Scones

(makes 12 – 15, depending on how you roll them out and cut them)

• 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup butter
• 4 oz old cheddar, grated
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 cup peeled, shredded apples, packed down (about 2 - 3 small-to-medium apples)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon cold milk or water (if necessary)

Cut the cold butter into small cubes, then cut into the flour using a pastry
cutter or your fingers, breaking down the cubes of butter just until the pieces
are smaller than a pea. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbles.

Stir in the grated cheddar, baking powder, salt, sugar, and rosemary.

In a separate bowl combine the shredded apples and the beaten egg. Gently fold this with the flour mixture in a large bowl until the dough just comes together. If it's too dry to do this (it was for me) add a splash of milk or cream. I used 35% cream because… well, why not? Do not overmix. Once the dough comes together, form it into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Chill for at least 30 minutes (or up to 24 hours).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Press out the dough onto a lightly
floured surface and form it into a roughly square or rectangular shape about ¾
inch tall. Cut using a sharp cookie cutter or biscuit cutter. I love my antique
biscuit cutter because it gives a pretty edge to the scones. Or… you can form it
into a circle and cut it into 8 wedges, separate the wedges on a parchment paper
lined baking sheet at least 1 inch apart from one another. Bake for
approximately 20 minutes, or until tops are golden-brown. Let cool slightly
before serving.

***

Lissa Marie Redmond, THE MURDER BOOK In my two books A Cold Day in Hell and again in The Murder Book my main character, Lauren Riley, enjoys eating the local cuisine. People don't often think of Buffalo, where my novels take place, as food destinations. Lauren Riley is often accused of being too thin but it's not because there's a shortage of good eats. In fact, the foods we are most associated with are things that can be made quickly and eaten on the run.

Buffalo, New York is famous for two food items: the chicken wing and beef on
weck. While I could share some wing recipes with you, I'd like to introduce the
lesser known, but equally delicious, beef on weck. A Buffalo staple, it's also
very easy to make, great for taking to parties, and comfort food for cold
weather. Weck, in case you were wondering, is short for Kummelweck. It's a salt
and caraway seed encrusted roll that makes the sandwich. You might have a bakery
near you that has them, but if not, you can do it yourself at home.

What you'll need for six Beef on Weck sandwiches:

• Half a dozen Kaiser rolls
• One and a half pounds of thinly sliced roast beef (We like to load our sandwiches up).
• As much Au jus as the grocery store will give you
• 1/3 of a cup of sea salt
• ¼ of a cup of caraway seeds
• 1 egg
• Horseradish sauce
• A crockpot or slow cooker set to low.

Put your beef and au jus in your slow cooker or crockpot. Set it to low. If you
are taking this to a party you can turn it up a little when you get there, but
this is a sandwich you can enjoy all day long once you make the rolls.

To make the Kummelweck rolls:

Preheat the oven to 175.

Put the salt and caraway seeds in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Beat the egg in a bowl.

Dip the tops of Kaiser rolls in the egg wash, then in the salt mixture. Don't be
shy, really squish them in there to get maximum salt and seed. Put them on a
baking sheet and heat them in the oven for 3-5 minutes (this helps to set the
salt mixture on top). Do not overbake the rolls.

Take the rolls out, let them cool, and then stack them near the crockpot.

Make sure to leave the horseradish sauce nearby! I like to dip the underside of
my roll in the au jus, but that's just my preference.

It's that easy. Enjoy!

***

Kirsten Weiss, CHOCOLATE A LA MURDER

"Is that it?" I asked and eyed my best friend, Adele Nakamoto, chic as ever in an ice-blue, Jackie-Kennedy style suit and apron.

She set an espresso cup on my glass counter, and I inhaled the rich scent of chocolate. It blended delightfully with the faintly musty smell of the paranormal museum. Photographs of the haunted dead (mostly murderers) stared down at us from the wall. A trio of creepy dolls, their old-fashioned gowns smudged with soot, watched balefully.

"Chai-spiced drinking chocolate," she said, impervious to the haunted vibes. "Not hot chocolate. It's drinking chocolate, European style. I already sell chocolate-chai tea in the Fox and Fennel, so I wanted something special for San Benedetto's Wine and Chocolate Days."

Adele's tearoom, the Fox and Fennel, was conveniently located next door to my museum. We even shared a secret passage between the two, a cleverly designed bookcase door. Granted, most of the traffic flowed out of my museum and into her tearoom, but my customers got to use the Fox and Fennel bathroom, so it was still a win for the museum.

GD, the museum's cat, leapt onto the counter and sniffed the small, white cup. His whiskers twitched.

"Try it." Adele shook a finger at the ebony cat. "And I'm talking to Maddie, not to you."

I took a sip and closed my eyes. Pure chocolate heaven. This was nothing like the hot chocolate I'd grown up with. It was thick and sinfully rich – as sweet as drinking melted chocolate, but somehow lighter, and with a kick of chai spice.

"This is terrible," I said hoarsely.

Her eyes widened. "What? What's wrong?"

"For Wine and Chocolate Days, I'm bringing a woman to the museum to tell fortunes with hot chocolate. You know, like reading tea leaves, but she'll read the chocolate dregs. Who's going to want to drink regular hot chocolate when you're serving this next door?"

She whisked the espresso cup from my hands. "Your chocolate includes a fortune. How is my tearoom supposed to compete with that?"

"I think you just did," I said, rueful.

Adele's Chai-Spiced Drinking Chocolate Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• Pinch black pepper
• Pinch ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 ounces good quality unsweetened chocolate, chopped
• Additional sugar or sweetener, if desired
• Optional: Whipped cream for topping.

Instructions

Combine everything EXCEPT the vanilla extract and chopped chocolate in a
saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the vanilla extract, stirring until
combined.

Add the chopped chocolate, but don't stir it in! Instead, let it sit in the
mixture to melt for three minutes. Then whisk the mixture, combining the
chocolate well.

Allow the mixture to cool and thicken in the saucepan for 10 more minutes. Whisk
again and if desired, add additional sweetener to taste.

Serve in espresso mugs or small teacups.

Optional: top with whipped cream.

***

BOOKS AND AUTHORS FEATURED IN THIS ARTICLE: *** *** ***