A Few Recipes from PRIME RIB AND PUNISHMENT

As you know, I write culinary mysteries. I am shopping around book two in my “Dinner is Served” series, Prime Rib and Punishment. I call them “murders with taste.”

My protagonist, Alli Wesson, is a screw-up. Or she was until she and her childhood friend, Gina Smithson, started their personal chef business. With a regular income and being her own boss, it appears early-30s Alli is finally getting it together. Well, unless there’s a murder that impinges on her life. Following trails of clues means that she sometimes makes impulsive and erratic choices. Police officer boyfriend, Evan, worries about that. A lot. And so does everyone around her.

Prime Rib and Punishment finds Alli and Gina teaching at the new Culinary Arts School-Glendale (Arizona) even though the Executive Chef hates “amateur cooks.” Add in a diet scam operation and a guy with a mafia connection, and things become . . . complicated. Murder is part of the complication.

Nevertheless, Alli and Gina are gifted cooks and they’d like to share a few recipes from this book with you. When the book is published, get your two-fer—mystery plus cookbook. Enjoy these for now!

Roast Beef Roll-ups (makes one roll-up)

Makes a great lunch when traveling. Alli uses a whole block of cream cheese to make 4 roll-ups in an assembly line.

2 tablespoons cream cheese

1 teaspoon horseradish

1 whole wheat flour tortilla

3 extra-thin slices of roast beef

1 string cheese stick

10 pieces of baby spinach

Mix together cream cheese and horseradish. Spread evenly over tortilla. Press meat slices onto tortilla, covering as much of the tortilla as possible, overlapping the meat where necessary. Add spinach the same way. Lay a cheese stick along one edge then roll into a cylinder. Seal the cylinder with a small bit of cream cheese mixture to hold it together. Roll up in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator.

Orange Marmalade Pork Tenderloin (serves 8-10)

This is a special dinner for company. The leftover pork makes great sliders for lunch with a dollop of the marinade and Dijon mustard.

pork tenderloin package (two slender ones, not the whole tenderloin)

jar orange marmalade

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 clove garlic, sliced thin

4 green onions, diced

4 tablespoons white wine, divided

Put orange marmalade, all of the garlic, green onions, and 2 T wine in a zipper bag and mush around to mix.

Add the two pork tenderloin pieces. Let marinate for at least three hours, turning a few times to distribute the marinade.

Take pork out of bag and put on grill.

Drain marinade into saucepan, reserving 2 tablespoons to brush on meat as it cooks.

Grill for 1-20 minutes, turning once. Let meat rest before slicing into medallions.

Heat remaining marinade to a boil. Add reserved 2 tablespoons wine and simmer for 5 minutes. Put in gravy boat to serve alongside meat.

Cinnamon-Nutella Brownie Bites (makes 12 mini brownies)

Here is another of Gina’s calorie-controlled desserts without sacrificing taste. Small portions mean you can enjoy big flavor. The cinnamon adds an interesting flavor layer.

½ cup Nutella                                   ¼ cup mini chocolate chips
1 large egg                                       ¼ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon oil                                   ½ cup chopped nuts
5 tablespoons flour

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup mini-muffin pan with paper or foil liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Put the Nutella, egg, and oil in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended. Add the flour and whisk until blended. Add chocolate chips and cinnamon.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin (about 3/4 full) and sprinkle with the chopped nuts.

Bake until a toothpick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, 11 to 12 minutes (longer for a chewier brownie).

Set on a rack to cool completely. Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Sometimes Alli sprinkles on powdered sugar to make them prettier.

A Month-of-Eggs: Spicy Nutella Nut Brownies and Natillas

We have an extra day of February this year. That means an extra recipe this year! Actually, we have two extras because I met the most wonderful culinary mystery writers at Left Coast Crime last week. This post is up later today than usual because I shifted gears. More on Ellie Alexander and her recipe later.

I take personal responsibility for boosting egg sales this month. Not just because of the many, many dozens I have gone through, but you, Loyal Reader, have also bought more eggs than you might have normally.

To celebrate the end of this month and this year’s cycle of recipes in February, I have two wonderful and easy recipes, both desserts, to present to you. The first is the easiest brownie recipe you will EVER make. It’s egg-heavy so it’s very light (odd how that works, eh?). This brownie kinda melts in your mouth.

Spicy Nutella Nut Brownies

Spicy Nutella Nut Brownies (serves 9)

4 eggs, room temperature

1 cup Nutella, warmed

1 tablespoon cinnamon

¼ cup nuts (small or rough chopped)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray an 8x8” pan heavily with non-stick cooking spray.

Beat eggs with your mixer for 7 or more minutes. The eggs will be foamy and tripled in size. Don’t beat longer than 10 minutes.

Warm the Nutella in the microwave for 30 seconds. If not thinned out, heat in 15 second increments until you have a heavy syrupy texture.

Slowly add the Nutella to the egg mixture. Mix with the mixer until no egg is visible. Add in cinnamon and stir to blend in.

Pour the brownie batter into the baking dish. Sprinkle the nuts on top.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. To check doneness, the sides will be pulling away from the pan and a toothpick will be mostly clean when inserted in the middle.

Let cool. Slice into 9 pieces and collect the compliments.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  “This is really tasty. So you just come home from a conference and make a dessert!”

The second recipe is directly tied to said conference. I had the pleasure of serving on a panel with four extraordinary culinary mystery writers at Left Coast Crime this past weekend. There are many yummy recipes or food descriptions in all their books, but given my current egg-obsession, Ellie Alexander’s “Natillas” recipe caught my attention. I am printing this exactly as Ellie lists it in Meet the Baker, a book you should read if you like culinary mysteries as I do. 

I will be sharing more information here in upcoming posts about some of my learning at Left Coast Crime. But here is a delectable vanilla pudding, just as written in the book, that would be a luscious and easy-to-do recipe to serve your pickiest guests. You might even tuck some into some of those cream puff shells you have left. 

“Natillas

Natillas

Ingredients:

4 eggs

3 cups whole milk

1 cup of granulated sugar

¼ cup cornstarch

1 whole vanilla bean

1whole cinnamon stick

1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract

Freshly grated nutmeg and ground cinnamon

Directions:

Pour milk into a saucepan and place the cinnamon stick in the pan, heat on low, stirring occasionally. Separate eggs. Save whites in bowl for later. Whisk egg yolks with sugar and add cornstarch. Remove the cinnamon stick from the warm milk. Add the egg mixture to the warm milk and heat until it boils and thickens, stirring frequently. Slice vanilla bean, add seeds to the mixture, and add the teaspoon of Mexican vanilla. Remove from heat. In a large bowl beat egg whites until stiff and fluffy. Fold these into the mixture. Chill in parfait glasses. Garnish with fresh nutmeg and ground cinnamon.

*Carlos places a day-old biscuit in the bottom of his parfait glass before filling it with the pudding. The biscuit will absorb moisture as the custard chills. He calls this Spanish trifle.”

NOTE:  In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I didn’t have Mexican vanilla. I only use vanilla bean paste instead of the more liquid extract. I don’t think that changed either the texture or taste.

This is a very eggy-tasting pudding, so it is quite different than people expect. And the vanilla and cinnamon layers of flavor really enrich the dish.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  “This is good! It’s lighter than I thought it would be.”  I am calling his reaction “the meringue effect”. We’ve done a lot of recipes using meringue this month. Meringue really lightens up a dish.

Month-of-Mini-Desserts: Black Forest Parfaits

Did you know that the new mini-dessert craze generated some great new cooking aids? Sure there are the mini-baking pans, but they also made some small serving dishes like these glasses I use in this recipe (and others), mini-spoons included!

Using those glasses, here’s what I do with leftover Nutella Cinnamon Brownies (if any are left). I created this mini-dessert in a state of desperation. We were having about 12 people to a sit-down dinner, and I wanted to have a panoply of dessert choices for them.

I wanted to make six different mini-desserts and was trying to balance chocolate and citrus, chewy and gooey, you know, the stuff you do for a dinner party. I was already making mini-cherry crisps, so I used some of my cherry mixture and layered it in liqueur glasses with some of the brownies. I was simulating a black forest cake that is one son’s favorite birthday cake. HUGE HIT! So here you go! And it couldn’t be easier or more elegant looking!

Black Forest Parfaits (serves 6 in liqueur or dessert glasses)  

1-1½ cup sweet and sour cherry pie filling (recipe below)

6 Nutella Cinnamon Brownies

Whipped cream or Greek yogurt for topping

Crumble one brownie. Put one third of crumbs in bottom of liqueur glass.

Spoon on a tea spoon of cherry pie filling.

Add another layer of crumbs and another layer of cherries.

Add last of brownie and top with whipped cream or yogurt before serving. Put a cherry on top! 

Repeat the process with the remaining brownies and cherries.

Eat with tiny spoons. 

Note: I use an iced teaspoon to add the cherries to the thin dessert glasses.

Cherry pie filling recipe:

Mix one can of cherry pie filling with one can sour cherries (drained). Thoroughly mix together.

DH'sRating: 5 Tongues Up
Nutella and cherries? How could I fail! Yes! Another 5 Tongues Up!

Month-of-Mini-Desserts: Nutella Cinnamon Brownies

A few years ago I came across a fun cookbook: Desserts 4 Today: Flavorful Desserts withJust Four Ingredients (Abigail Johnson Dodge, 2010) that included a Nutella Brownie recipe. Nutella? Only four ingredients? Nutella? Mini-brownies? Nutella? I was in!

But, you know me with my penchant for modifying recipes. I loved hers, but I decided to add my own stamp to it. Here’s my recipe that we eat all by itself, but that I also use in tomorrow’s dessert. Intrigued? Better stop back to see what I do with these leftover brownies!

Nutella Cinnamon Brownies (12 mini-muffin servings)

½ cup Nutella                                   

1 large egg                          

1 teaspoon oil                                            
5 tablespoons flour

¼ cup mini-chocolate chips

½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ cup chopped nuts (I usually use pecans or walnuts, but any will do).

Powdered sugar to dust tops (optional)

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup mini-muffin pan with paper or foil liners or spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Put the Nutella, egg, and oil in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended.

Add the flour and whisk until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips and cinnamon.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin (about 3/4 full) and sprinkle with the chopped nuts.

Bake until a toothpick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, 11 to 12 minutes (longer for a chewier brownie).

Set on a rack to cool completely. Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Sometimes I sprinkle on powdered sugar to make them prettier.

Note: The original four ingredients were Nutella, egg, flour, and nuts.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up!
This is another one of my stand-by mini-desserts. He loves the chocolate with the slight spiciness.

A Month-of-Appetizers: Nutella Brownie Bites

I think I will put this recipe into Prime Rib and Punishment, the second book in my culinary mystery “Dinner is Served” series. Again, the perfect appetizer party has all five flavors, and when the sweet one is so tiny, it isn’t nearly so damaging as having a piece of cake or pie. I can see Alli making these as a challenge to her cooking school students to come up with a mini-dessert.

There are bunches of recipes on the Internet for Nutella brownies and other goodies. This brownie version is one I created, but all Nutella brownie recipes share some of the same ingredients and proportions. Duh.

If you haven’t used Nutella yet, why not? The chocolate-hazelnut spread is relatively new to this country, but well-known in others. These brownies are just one of the ways to explore this taste treat!

Nutella Brownie Bites (makes 12 mini-brownies)

½ cup Nutella                           ¼ cup mini choc chips
1 large egg                                ½ teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon oil                           ½ cup chopped nuts
5 tablespoons flour

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup mini muffin pan with paper or foil liners or spray with Pam.

Put the Nutella, egg, and oil in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth and well blended. Add the flour and whisk until blended. Add chocolate chips, cinnamon and nuts.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin (about 3/4 full).

Bake until a toothpick comes out with wet, gooey crumbs, about 11 to 12 minutes (longer for a chewier brownie).

Set on a rack to cool completely. Serve immediately or cover and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Usually I sprinkle on powdered sugar to make them prettier.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up! A two-bite treat is perfect for him after dinner, too, not just at an appetizer party. That’s why he looks the way he does, and why I…well, don’t!

Top Home Chef

The Arizona Republic, my hometown newspaper (circulation ~350K; 12th largest paper in the nation) is sponsoring its first-ever contest to find "unknown culinary talent" in the Valley of the Sun. I'm there! Sign me up!

Entries close for "Top Home Chef" in two days. I sent my entry in Sunday night. I hope I avoided getting caught up in the last minute filing rush that always happens with contests.

I'm pretty proud of my entry: an essay telling about my philosophy of cooking, entertaining style, and why I'm like a chef; a three-course menu; and, recipe for an appetizer and picture of said appetizer.

The contest closes April 18th and three finalists are announced on April 22nd! Yikes! How can they do that so quickly???

The three finalists prepare their menus and serve them to The Arizona Republic staff between May 1-15th. the winner of the contest is announced June 1st. That timeline surely beats the wait for manuscript feedback! I'm just sayin' . . .

I wanted to share my menu and appetizer recipe here. Let me know if you like what I sent. DH gives this 10 Tongues Up! (I know, I know. And so does he--only five tongues allowed. You try to keep his tongue under control!)

Here is my menu for six:

Appetizers

         My Hermosillo Salsa/Chips

         Fruit ke-babs with Greek Yogurt Dip

         Fish Mini-Tostadas (recipe provided)

        

Entrée

         Cocoa Chile Chicken

         Cranberry Quinoa

         Tossed Salad with Lime-Ginger Vinaigrette Dressing

         7-Up Biscuits

Panoply of Palate Pleasers (mini-desserts)

         Lemon curd tartlets with whipped cream and fruit

         Mini Nutella brownies

         Black forest parfait (shot glasses)

         Apple crisp (mini ramekin)

         Caramel Ice Cream with toffee bits (shot glasses)

Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir will be offered, along with coffee and tea

What say you? Would this menu entice you? 

Tomorrow I'll post the recipe and photo for Fish Mini-Tostadas.