Recipe and Book with
Norma Huss
I wrote the following
scene for Jo Durbin in my book, thinking about how I often cook in my own
kitchen—gathering together whatever I find for a meal.
“You’re taking advantage
of my good nature.” Of course he wasn’t, and he knew it. In my customary life I
was an innovative but often haphazard cook, however, Mel was such an
appreciative audience. And face it, I did need a break from outdoor research
now and then.
I found a package of ramen noodles, a few nuts, a can of mushrooms,
and a half jar of peanut butter. I lined up his spices, decided which bits of
veggies from the crisper in the bottom of the refrigerator were usable, and did
my magic.
Then I invented the
recipe to fit the book, tweaking it until it tasted quite tasty. It’s one way
to deal with leftovers.
How wonderful to have you today, Norma, and thank you for sharing your recipe. So what is your favorite kind of cake?
Garlic Chicken with Peanut Sauce, Noodles and Vegetables
Leftover rotisserie (barbecue) chicken
Noodles (rice noodles, egg noodles, ramen noodles or any pasta of your
choice)
Veggies (broccoli florets, onion chunks, carrots sliced thin,
mushrooms, celery, or any others of your choice) Note: You won’t find any peppers in Jo’s
recipes because she doesn’t like them - but feel free to use them as well.
Garlic - 1 clove minced, or ½ tsp of canned chopped or minced (or more
if you prefer).
Peanut Sauce - see recipe below
Peanuts - unsalted dry-roasted - may be chopped
1. Whisk peanut sauce
ingredients together.
2. Cut bite-size chunks from
left-over barbecue chicken.
3. Prepare veggies. (Peel &/or chop. If necessary, zap in microwave until done to
tenderness you prefer.) Note: many
veggies, especially frozen peas and mushrooms, may not need extra cooking.
4. Break noodles into 2 to 4 inch
lengths then cook according to box instructions (rice noodles, egg noodles,
ramen noodles, etc.)
5. Cook garlic in the peanut
sauce for 2 or 3 minutes. Add chicken
and heat for another 2 or 3 minutes. Add
cooked noodles and veggies. Stir and
heat through.
6. Stir peanuts in before
serving, or sprinkle a handful of peanuts on the topafter serving.
Peanut Sauce - 2 servings (all measurements are approximate)
Whisk together:
1 TB creamy peanut butter
1 tsp hazelnut oil (or any oil)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 shakes ground red pepper
6 twists of pepper mill
3 shakes onion powder
3 shakes ground ginger
The building was vacant, the keys were almost a gift. Vacant, sure—except
for the body. Now Jo knows one downside of acting the homeless bag lady. No one
will believe she just happened to find the very dead Francine.
I turned on my phone for
Sylvie’s call, but she must have given up trying. As I relaxed on a bench
overlooking the boats in Ego Alley and thinking about my next meal, the call
came.
“Hi, Sylvie,” I said.
“Not Sylvie.” It was
Mel. “Thought you’d like to know. The police are looking for a woman.
Description, five, five. Weight, one fifty. Medium brown hair. Blue plaid coat.”
“Well then, it’s not me.
At least ten pounds too much.” But of course, it was me, or my identical twin,
and we both knew it. I jerked my head to the right to watch a woman walk by.
“I didn’t say it was.”
Not a police woman. I
looked to the left. A waddling duck took to the sky. Wish I could do the same.
He added, “Heard it on the police scanner, not the radio.”
At least the whole
population wasn’t in on the search. “Where are they looking?”
“It was an alert to all
patrol cars.”
Which meant the cops
were looking for me everywhere. Me and my blue plaid coat. Mel didn’t ask
questions. I didn’t explain.
My two extra days were
up tomorrow. Sunday. Always a good day for travel. Except—there must be a few
of my fingerprints at the scene, and with a witness who saw me, how could I
leave? I had to find the killer.
Find Yesterday’s Body at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006HJLFHU
Find Norma’s Author Facebook page at: fb.me/writerNormaHuss
How wonderful to have you today, Norma, and thank you for sharing your recipe. So what is your favorite kind of cake?
10 comments:
Peanut sauce sounds good! Thanks for the recipe.
Lovely to be here, Vicki. My favorite cake is rich, moist chocolate with a boiled chocolate frosting filled with walnuts. But my family's favorite is chocolate cake with brown butter icing. Guess which one we have more often.
Hi, Norma! I have never had brown butter icing. So you had better send me the recipe. My aunt makes a Texas Sheet Cake with boiled chocolate frosting, but being from Texas, she uses pecans instead of walnuts. It is absolutely delicious. Thanks for being here today.
Sounds like me. I have a pasta recipe that is never the same because I'm always throwing different things in the mix. Wonderful excerpt. I wish you much luck on your book!
Vicki, heat some butter until it browns (don't let It burn, though), then add powdered sugar (10X) and milk and stir until it's the right texture to spread. As the butter cools, the frosting thickens. If you want you can add vanilla (or probably anything else) for a different flavor zing. Sometimes I use maple flavoring.
Melissa, thank you. (Yep, that's the way I cook too.)
Norma, your recipe sounds delicious!
Both the recipe and the book sound delicious!! Can't wait to eat and read! Sharon catwoman-1(at)comcast(dot)net
Thank you, Norma, for the recipe!
Thanks for the recipe, Norma. It sounds delicious and so does Yesterday's Body. Best of luck with sales. :)
You're welcome, Vicki. I'm delighted that I just found out about a delightful new blog to read! Thank you for that, as well as the opportunity to be your guest.
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