What's your pie pleasure?

It's National Pie Day! I'll bet there're three or four on offer everyday at Booked for Lunch. What's your favorite pie? (Mine is actually turkey pot pie. It has a crust--it qualifies!)

If you have a cool (or cold) night--this is perfect.

While we're already deep into spring, Mother Nature doesn't seem to have noticed. We had frost earlier this week, which gave me a hankering for some good English comfort food.  I read a bunch of recipes for Shepherd's Pie and Cottage Pie and US recipes just weren't going to cut it, so I went to the BBC to find 3 different recipes--and all were quite different. I picked one and had to make some adaptations.  (Example:  Finding ground lamb around here was going to be a BIG problem, so I decided to go for Cottage Pie, which uses mince ... er, I mean hamburger.)

Last summer I found a really cool, OLD casserole dish that I knew would be perfect for this dish.
Here're the ingredients:

 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
 1 large onion, finely chopped
 2 medium carrots, diced
 2 stalks celery
 1 cup frozen peas
 1 pound hamburger
 1 tablespoon plain flour
 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
 3 tablespoons tomato puree or sauce
 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
 16 fluid ounces of or beef stock
 salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the mashed potatoes
 1½ pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into halves or quarters
 ¼ cup milk
 2-3 tablespoons butter
 1 egg yolk
  

 In a large frying pan, add 2 tablespoons olive oil and fry the hamburger, stirring, until browned all over. While the meat is frying, break up any lumps with the back of the spoon.  Add the flour and stir. Mix well and add the thyme, Worcestershire sauce and stir. Set aside.

 Boil the potatoes.
 
 
 Deglaze the hamburger pan with a little stock. and saute the onions, carrots, celery, and stock. Cook until the onions and carrots are soft.  (About ten minutes).  Add the peas and the tomato sauce.

 Preheat the oven to 400°F.


Add the cooked hamburger to the veggies and bring to a high simmer, adding a pinch of salt and pepper, stirring regularly.  Once it's all heated through, put it in the casserole dish.

For the mashed potatoes, boil the potatoes until tender (about 10 minutes). Drain, add the milk, butter and egg yolk, then mash until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
 
 Spread the mashed potatoes on top, smooth over and drag a fork over the top for decoration.

 Put the dish into the oven and cook until the surface is golden-brown. (About 40 minutes.)

 And here's a picture of my dinner.

 Serves 4 good sized portions.  Yum!  Enjoy! (And you just know this recipe is going to end up in one of my books, right?)

 What's your idea of comfort food on a COLD day???

Foodie Friday: Tacos for everyone!

Today is National Taco Day ... and my character Angelica Miles of the Booktown Mysteries is celebrating with her own recipe.  It's from the fourth book in the series, Chapter & Hearse.

Here's the recipe.

Hacienda Tacos

Ingredients
3 cups coarsely chopped or shredded (pulled) simmered chicken
1 onion, chopped
½  green pepper, chopped
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 ½ to 2 teaspoon chili powder (according to taste)
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
8 oz. water
12 corn (or flour) 8 or 9 inch tortillas (or taco shells)
1 cup lettuce cut into strips
1 tomato, chopped
¾ cup grated or shredded Cheddar cheese
Your favorite bottled salsa

In a large skillet, mix together the chicken, onion, green pepper, salt, pepper, chili powder, tomato sauce and water. Cook covered over low heat for about 15 minutes. Cook, uncovered for five to ten minutes, until excess liquid is gone. Oven heat the tortillas and fill the lower 3/4 with chicken mixture and the remainder with the tomatoes, cheese and lettuce. Top as needed with a spoonful of the salsa. 

It's Foodie Friday! Pancakes on the menu

Some days you just need to eat breakfast for supper ... or lunch ... or even (heaven forbid!) breakfast.

That's the beauty of National Pancake Day -- you can eat them any time of the day or night. (Especially if there's an IHOP nearby.)

Pancakes have a number of aliases, too.  Like flapjacks, griddle cakes, hotcakes, crepes, blintz ... they all sound yummy to me.

So celebrate!

Related articles

FOODIE FRIDAY: Why British Food Doesn't Suck

Foodie Friday: Ruminations on Rhubarb

I had a load of fun putting together y little cookbook RECIPES TO DIE FOR: A Victoria Square Cookbook together. The odd thing is, most of the recipes are ones I really do use over and over again. (It's kind of nice to have them all in one place.)

It's springtime and for me that means fresh rhubarb. What an odd vegetable.  I never thought about it as a vegetable, since the only thing I use it for is desserts and chutney, but it really is a veggie, and the leaves are very, very poisonous.  (If you value your liver, never, EVER eat them.)  But the stalks are just fine to eat--and EXTEMELY tart! We've got rhubarb up the wazoo and I've been even tossing it in my green smoothies.  (Yes, VERY TART indeed.)

Mr. L is partial to rhubarb crisp. Here's my favorite recipe

Ingredients:
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup quick cooking rolled oats
½ cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced rhubarb
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°. In mixing bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, oats, butter, and cinnamon; mix together until crumbly. Press half of the brown sugar and oats mixture into a buttered 8-inch square baking dish. Top with the sliced rhubarb. In a saucepan combine 1 cup granulated sugar, cornstarch, and the 1 cup of water and vanilla. Cook together until the liquid is clear, then pour over the rhubarb. Top the rhubarb with remaining crumb mixture and bake for 45 to 55 minutes. Serve warm, and if desired, with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream.

Yield:  4-6 servings.

Mmm-mmm good!

And in case you are interested in RECIPES TO DIE FOR, here are a few links.

Watch the video!  (Made by Ellery Adams and me!)

Trade PaperbackKindle US
Kindle Worldwide
Nook
iBooks
Kobo
Smashwords

P.S.  New recipe up on my Lorna Barrett Website from Bookmarked for Death.  Find it here!

Related articles

Hey, It's Foody Friday

Foodie Friday: Dahl ain't Dull!

FOODIE FRIDAY: The story behind the recipe

Because I'm basically lazy, I'm updating the recipes on my Lorna Barrett website at a rate of once a week.  Maybe people will keep showing up to get the next one, maybe they won't.  (I'm not seeing a huge influx of hits, so it's undoubtedly the latter.)

In MURDER IS BINDING, Angelica makes homemade meat sauce.  Well, there's always a little bit of me (okay, sometimes a LOT of me) in my books, and there's always a story behind every favorite recipe.

When I was growing up, my mother made sauce from scratch. So, the first time I invited my boyfriend over and made him a home cooked meal, I decided to make my sauce from scratch, too. We always had spareribs, meatballs, and sausage in the sauce we ate growing up.  I never cared for the pasta--just the sauce (and LOTS of Italian bread plastered with butter).

I decided to impress this boyfriend (now known as Mr. L) by making homemade lasagna WITH my mother's homemade sauce. I spent the ENTIRE DAY in the kitchen.  The house smelled HEAVENLY. (Formerly) Mr. S showed up, and when I brought out this GIGANTIC lasagna, he ate ONE TINY PIECE. I offered to send a big chunk of it home with him (hey, he had three teenagers at home) and he said, "No, thank you."

Let me tell you, Mr. S lost a helluva lot of points that night. In retrospect, he says he was a fool to turn down the leftovers, but his excuse was he didn't want to look grabby. My mother, father, and I ate that lasagna for a week. (Damn fine it was, too.)

Anyway, long story short(er), the recipe this week is my mom's homemade sauce. You're going to love it.
===================

Want your own Foodie Friday mug?  Get one here!
.

Foodie Friday: The Miles Sisters talk murder and food

The contest is still on and the giveaway is a Foodie Friday mug.  Wouldn't you like to pour your coffee (tea, or cocoa) into this mug every Friday morning when you read the latest Foodie Friday blog post?  You can ... by submitting a recipe idea for Angelica to make while she and Tricia talk in Booktown #9, which I am calling A FATAL CHAPTER.  Here's what the sisters are saying in this snippet:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I change my toast,” Angelica said, raising her glass once again.  “Rest in peace, Pete.” She took a healthy slug.  “But there’s more, isn’t there?”

Tricia nodded.  “Pete may not have died of natural causes.”

Angelica raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

Tricia took a sip of her martini.  She wasn’t sure if she’d ever really like them.

She hadn’t told Angelica what Pete had muttered before losing consciousness, but she’d have to tell Grant Baker when he came to talk to her—and he would. Not that what Pete had said made sense. He’d died with his secret and now no one would never know what it meant.

Angelica tasted the [whatever], declared it done, and enlisted Tricia to set the table. She did so on autopilot but had no appetite. She’d been wounded to learn Angelica’s secret and now shocked to hear of Pete’s death.

She wasn’t sure she would take any more shocks that day.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

So, what should Angelica be making for a summer supper while the sisters talk?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

TO ENTER ...

I've been having giveaways on Teacup Tuesday and been trying to chase people down to send them the prizes. No more. To enter, you need to send me your recipe and supply your SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS. And if you enter the contest, you agree to be added to my mailing list (if you aren't already there.) Send your entry in before April 1st to Contest @ LornaBarrett.com (close up those spaces).  The winner will be announced on April 4th.

Related articles

Foodie Friday: Wanted--Good Summer Dinner Suggestions

Foodie Friday: Dahl ain't Dull!

Foodie Friday: Homemade ranch dressing. YUM!

 I'm trying to get away from processed food.  I'm eating more grains, more veggies (which I love), and limiting what I eat that comes out of a can, box, or bottle.  The latest?  Homemade (low-fat) ranch dressing.  The recipe calls for fresh herbs, but I've made it with dried and it's still pretty tasty.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup fat free sour cream
3/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1/3 cup olive oil mayonnaise
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp salt
 freshly ground pepper
1-2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
2 cups 1% low fat buttermilk

Directions:
In a small bowl or large measuring cup, combine the sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic powder, onion powder, parsley, chives, salt, and cracked pepper. Mix well. Stir in the white balsamic vinegar; then buttermilk.  Adjust the seasonings to taste, adding another tablespoon of balsamic vinegar if desired. The flavors will become bolder over time.

Do you have a favorite homemade salad dressing? .

Foodie Friday: A Sweet for your Sweetheart

Oh, how I love cake.  It used to be that cookies were my favorite dessert/sweet, but not anymore.  Mind you, I will not turn down an oatmeal cookie (or chocolate chip, peanute butter, snickerdoodles, molasses ... well, you get the drift).

Once upon a time, I even took a cake decorating course.  It did not go well.  Oh, the cakes tasted fine, and I think once or twice I might actually have made an icing rose that sort of (kind of) resembled a flower. But that was years ago.

These days, I stick to mostly unfrosted cakes.  If not, I always make my own frosting, because those tubs of stuff from the supermarket are LOADED with Trans Fats, which are really, REALLY bad for you. (And you HAVE to look at the ingredients to see it, too--they're not going to advertise the fact next to the dough boy.)

One thing that's bad about cake (one?) is a double layer or bundt cake makes a lot, and we're just two (not so tiny) people. That's why I love this recipe. It's just right!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
2¼ cups cake flour
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ tablespoons lemon zest
4 ½ tablespoons poppy seeds
1 1/3 cups unsalted butter, softened
5 eggs
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup lemon juice

DIRECTIONS: 
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.

Sift together the flour, sugar, and salt. Then mix in the lemon peel, poppy seeds and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Meanwhile, In a saucepan over low heat; cook 3/4 cup white sugar and the lemon juice until stirring until sugar is dissolved. Let cool to just warm or to room temperature.
Remove the cake from the oven and place the pan on a wire rack-place a cookie sheet underneath this rack. Prick the top of the cake several times with a toothpick. Brush the top of the cake with the warm or room temperature syrup, allowing lots of the syrup to run down and soak into the sides and bottom of the cake. Cool slightly in the pan before removing the cake to the wire rack to cool completely. When completely cooled, wrap the cake in foil or plastic freezer wrap and let the cake rest at least one day before serving to your guests.

(Okay, I'm not very patient.  I've eaten in the same day.  Tastes great.)

What are you baking up for your sweetheart on this Valentine's Day?

Food Friday: Winter got you down? Bake a cake!

I love to bake.  I've been telling Mr. L for weeks, "I feel like baking."  Well, today's the day, and I'm going to make my favorite carrot cake. This cake is GOOD. In fact, it's so good, I don't even put cream cheese frosting on it. Just dust it with a little confectioner's sugar. I like to pretend that it's good for me because it has a veggie in it, but the truth is -- it's decadent!  It's not a cake I bake often because it is so rich, but once in a while it's fun to indulge.

Try it -- you'll like it!

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable oil  (can substitute unsweetened applesauce)
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple in juice—drained
2 cups grated carrots
1 1/3 cup sweetened coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Spray a Bundt pan with pan spray. Preheat oven to 350F.

Mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, beat oil, sugar and eggs at medium speed until thoroughly blended. Add the flour mixture and beat until smooth. Add the pineapple, carrots, coconut, and nuts. Pour into the Bundt pan and bake 50-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Cool for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and completely cool on rack before frosting.

What's your most favorite cake in the entire world???  (Share recipes???)

Foodie Friday: Summer Comfort Food

There's something really comforting about comfort food.  (No kidding, huh?)  I know it's still winter, but I'm hankering for spring.  That's a lie, I want to jump right over spring and skid right into summer.

This recipe is something my aunt made one summer Sunday: cracker salad. OMG, is it good?  (It is, take my word.)  It doesn't take a lot of ingredients, it's easy, and it tastes great.  How can you miss?

Ingredients

1 sleeve saltine crackers
1 large tomato, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
1 hard-boiled egg, finely chopped
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium size bowl, coarsely crush the crackers with your hands - you should have big cracker pieces. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, and serve immediately. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.  (Don't let this dish sit, or the crackers become mushy.  Don't worry; it won't last long enough for leftovers.)

What recipe says "summer" to you?

Foodie Friday: A different kind of pie

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a lover of pie.  Fruit pie that is. But meat pie?  Now that's a different kind of pie. My aunt makes the world's best steak and mushroom pie. I make a pretty mean chicken pie.  But here's one you probably haven't tried:  sausage pie.

OMG -- it's soooooo good.  I found this recipe via Taste of Home magazine and adapted it by adding an onion.  I love it, and I bet you will, too.

Ingredients
4 Italian sausage links, casings removed, halved and cut into 1/2-in pieces
1 medium tomato, cut into chunks
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
1 small yellow tomato, cut into chunks
1 cut thinly sliced zucchini
1 cup thinly sliced yellow summer squash
1/2 cup julienned green pepper
1/2 cup julienned sweet red pepper
1 tablespoon Italian salad dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed
Pastry for double-crust pie (9 inches)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup (4 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, cook sausage over medium heat until no longer pink; drain.  Stir in tomatoes, squash, peppers, salad dressing mix, garlic powder and fennel seed.  Cook and stir for 10 minutes; drain.  Cool for 10 minutes.

Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry; trim even with edge.  Fill with the sausage mixture.  Sprinkle with cheeses.  Roll out remaining pastry to fit top of pie; place over filling.  Trim, seal and flute edges.  Cut slits in top.

Bake at 375F for 35-40 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden brown.  Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.  Yield:  6-8 servings.

What are you having for supper tonight?

Foodie Friday: Much better than orange veggies

My character, Amanda Shelton, from the Tales of Telenia (not-quite trilogy), found herself stranded on a strange planet where most of the fruits and veggies are ... orange.  Not only are they odd-looking, but they sure don't taste like the food she grew up eating in Minnesota.

In fact, poor Amanda really doesn't like the food on Telenia.  Except for one thing:  honey cake. It's absolutely delicious and the one thing she found on the planet that vagely reminds her of the food back home.

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
1 cup sliced almonds
 2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup honey
4 large eggs
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan. Sprinkle 3/4 cup of the sliced almonds in the bottom of the pan, reserving 1/4 cup for the batter.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the butter, honey, and eggs. Stir in the reserved flour mixture, then the sour cream or yogurt and reserved almonds.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to be sure everything is evenly moistened, then mix for one minute more. Gently pour the batter over the almonds in the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until the edge of the cake pulls back from the edge of the pan. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, invert the cake onto a serving plate and allow it to cool before serving.  Decorate the top with powdered sugar if desired. Yield: 1 cake, 16 servings.

Yum-yum.  I know you'll enjoy it just as much as Amanda does!
==============================================
So far, two of the three books in this series are now available. (I'll eventually get to #3 -- I promise!)  They are:
Tales of Telenia: THRESHOLD  Amanda Shelton is clever, adventurous, and tough--and she's going to have to be, because she's just crash landed on a world where her saviors might really be her enemies. It takes fierce determination to prevent the people of this frightening and unfamiliar place from stealing her shuttle technology, or from imprisoning her while they do it. Yet what she knows could save countless innocent lives—including the life of one she’s come to trust. Facing this terrible test of spirit will take everything Amanda has...if she survives at all.
Kindle | iBooks | Kobo | Nook | Sony | Smashwords
Watch the book trailer!

Tales of Telenia:  JOURNEY   Life takes an unexpected turn when Prince Paxdon bans Amanda Shelton from Telenia’s Summer Palace, but that’s just the first step in an incredible journey that has her leading the province’s oppressed women into a life of self-sufficiency. The threat of war remains, and others are watching her every move as Amanda leaves the safety and security of the rural north and ventures to the capital city where she faces peril and life altering decisions.  Will her future be a life of luxury or despair?

Kindle | iBooks | Kobo | Nook | Sony | Smashwords

Foodie Friday: Skillet Hash

Many Christmases ago, when I was 12, my mother gave me a Betty Crocker cookbook.  It has been my go-to basic cookbook ever since.

The other night we celebrated the holiday with a prime rib dinner.  It was like a classic English Sunday Roast, with Yorkshire pudding, honey carrots, Brussels sprouts, and peas.  Yum!  But guess what?

LEFTOVERS!

What should you do with leftover prime rib?

Why, make hash, of course.

And what cookbook did I turn to?  You got it, Betty Crocker.

Here's the very simple recipe for (skillet) hash:

Ingredients:
2 cups chopped cooked beef
2 cups chopped cooked potatoes
2/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons snipped parsley (I used frozen from my garden)
dash of salt and pepper
1/4 cup shortening
2/3 cup water
(I added 1/2 cup of frozen green peppers, too)

Combine beef, potatoes, onion, parsley, salt and papper.  Melt shortening in a large skillet over medium hat.  Spread meat mixture in the skillet.  Brown hash 10-14 minutes, trning frequently with a wide spatula.  Stir in water.  Reduce heat; cover and cook 10 minutes or until crisp.

Serves 4 (yeah, right)

You can also toss cheese on the top or a couple of eggs and let them cook through.  Either way, it's wonderful on a cold, snowy night.

What are you making for dinner tonight?

Foodie Friday: Whole lotta baking going on!

What is it about the holidays that makes us want to eat more cookies (than usual)?

I found a great recipe for dipped coconut shortbread.  (Mmmmm.)  It's been hanging around for so long, I have no idea where I got it from, but it's GOOD.

3/4 cut butter (no substitutes)
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup flaked coconut
1 1/2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon shortning

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy.  Combine flower and baking powder; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.  Stir in coconut.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm.

On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness.  Cut with a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 300F for 20-25 minutes or until edges begin to brown.  Cool on wire racks.

Eat and enjoy!

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt chocolate chips and shortening.  Remove from the heat; dip cookies halfway into chocolate.  Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheet until set.  Yield:  about 2 dozen.

Looking for a cute little cookbook as a stocking stuffer?  Look no further:  Recipes to Die For.
Trade Paperback:  http://tinyurl.com/9j8page
Kindle:  http://tinyurl.com/mcmrtlf
iBooks:  http://tinyurl.com/mxabj7f
Kobo:  http://tinyurl.com/m5pnuml
Nook:  http://tinyurl.com/6ncwq7c
Sony:  http://tinyurl.com/k3o7aaa
Smashwords:  http://tinyurl.com/l77fwfj