Beyond Innocence Bourbon-Sage Chicken Pot Pies

OMG A BEYOND BOOK WITH FOOD IN IT.

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system right up front. I'll explain in a bit.

The Beyond series is a long-running Kit Rocha series and these aren't standalone books so forgive me if you haven't read any of them. You'll just have to go back to the beginning and read at least all the main novels, but that shouldn't be a hardship as I think these books are terrific and the first one is usually free at most ebook retailers. The series premise is a dystopian near future where a central capital city called Eden rules over the outlying Sectors, leaving scraps and desperation to the remainder of the area's population. We join the O'Kane gang, which distills and runs whiskey to Eden and the other Sectors, and their leader, Dallas O'Kane, in exploits both political and, frankly, sexual. These books are smoking hot, kinky, extra dirty and full of angst so, well, you've been warned.

I've had some criticisms of this series in the past. Not major ones, but all the myriad characters having similar kinks had started to feel a little repetitive and unlikely five full-length books and almost as many novellas in. But with the most recent one, Beyond Innocence, two O'Kane outsiders get caught up in the larger political landscape Dallas has been forced by circumstance to take an interest in, bringing Jared, a high class male prostitute, and Lili, the widow of the brutal, late leader of another Sector into each other's orbits. Both are needing a change and healing and trying to figure out their place in the O'Kane hierarchy. It's a romance with a lighter touch than previous books and the kink is strictly limited to a surprisingly romantic fivesome, making Beyond Innocence one of the series stand-outs for me thus far.

While Jared has about as much sexual experience as any human being ever, he has been playing the part of the debonair faux-suitor to Eden's female elite for so long that he doesn't know who he is any more. When his best fried Ace is injured during a fight, he decides the time for sitting on the sidelines has past and starts using his connections to help Dallas. Lili has been a trophy wife her entire life, spending her time drugged on her late husband's product. While she has physically escaped Sector Five, the freedom and pleasure to be found in Sector Four is completely outside her experience, to the point where she can't believe it's not just all an elaborate charade. The way these two find themselves and find each other via food and music and other very normal human pursuits is a departure, but a welcome one.

It's totally possible to read these books as dirty, kinky, violent dystopian romance, focusing in on the O'Kane orgies and brutality. But that's not all they are. Beyond Innocence does a great job of thematically leading us into Book 7, which will be the last one of the series [EDITED TO NOTE: okay, so not the last one, just the last one that's currently up as "coming soon"]. The thing I have appreciated most about this series is the thorough exploration of femininity and masculinity, gently poking at the assumptions we make about the nature and scope of what we consider powerful. For example, Jared is perfectly capable of violence, but that's not where his true power lies--he specializes in information. And Lili has no capacity for violence at all, yet winds up solving a problem that the others can't, using her "trophy wife" knowledge and contacts to save the day. And throughout the book, her value to the O'Kane gang is that of someone who can actually cook, a traditionally under-appreciated "feminine" trait and task.

The role of women in these books has significantly evolved since the first one. And Rocha seems to be leading us full-circle since one of the heroes in the seventh book is a doctor--a healer rather than a killer. I'm sure I'll have more thoughts about this at the series conclusion, but for now, for fans of the series, Beyond Innocence is a fabulous addition.

So Bree Bridges, one half of the "Kit Rocha" duo and I have joked a bit back and forth about the fact that their characters never eat. There are like two instances of actual food being consumed prior to Beyond Innocence and one of them is a burnt grilled cheese sandwich. So when I found out that Lili likes to cook, I was like this:

In the book, Jared gives Lili a piano, prompting her to make him cookies, then invite him to dinner. So one of the first meals she makes in the book is chicken pot pies, which sounded terrific to me. And for some reason, I woke up at four in the morning shortly after reading the book and the first thing that popped into my head on waking was these bourbon-sage chicken pot pies. Probably because of the while whiskey-running thing the O'Kanes have going on.

These basically worked out great the first time. I kept tasting the filling though and thinking, "Well, maybe just a little more bourbon." Because what couldn't use just a little more bourbon? I mean, right?

I've written the recipe below as if you'll be starting with raw chicken. But if you have leftover cooked chicken on hand or want to grab a rotisserie bird to speed up the process, you can totally do that. You could also use refrigerated or frozen pie crusts, but I also have a recipe here (with more bourbon in it, natch) to make them from scratch. So it's your choice really. But if you go the pre-prepared route, you'll need two crusts and you're still going to have to roll the out and cut them to fit your pot pie pans.

Though in case there is any doubt in your mind, these are totally freaking fantastic as written and well worth the (sorry, somewhat considerable) effort. So, so worth it.

Bourbon-Sage Chicken Pot Pies
Makes: Four 5" pot pies
Time: 3 hours
Difficulty: Intermediate

Crust
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
12 tablespoons cold unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup bourbon, cold
1/4 cup ice cold water

Filling
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons bourbon
salt & pepper to taste (I used 2 teaspoons salt & 1/2 teaspoon pepper, but I use unsalted homemade chicken stock so you may need more salt)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 parsnip, peeled and chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 small russet potato, peeled and chopped
3 sprigs sage, minced fine

1. For the crust, process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until crumbs start to collect into clumps, about 15 seconds (there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

2. Sprinkle bourbon and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together.

3. Divide dough into two balls, one slightly bigger than the other and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.


4. For filling, poach the chicken breasts. Put the chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and cover almost to the top with water. Heat to a boil, then partially cover and turn down the heat until simmering. Cook for 12 minutes or until chicken juices run clear when pricked with a fork. Darin and and set chicken aside until cool enough to handle.


5. In the same pan (no need to clean), melt 3 tablespoons unsalted butter over medium heat. Add 1/3 cup flour a bit at a time, whisking constantly. Allow to cook, still whisking, for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat. Whisk in chicken stock, making sure no lumps form. Whisk in milk. Return to heat and allow to cook until bubbles start to form and slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and whisk in bourbon. Chop up chicken and return to pan with sauce.



5. In a medium frying pan, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add carrots, parsnip, potato and onion. Cook over medium heat for approximately 5 minutes, until onion is softened. Add sage and cook an additional 30 seconds. Add vegetables to chicken mixture.

6. Preheat the over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.


7. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and, starting with the slightly larger ball, roll out on a floured surface, about 20" by 20". Turn one of your pot pie pans face down on the dough. Cutting about 3/4" of an inch away from the edge of your pot pie pans (I just eyeballed this). Repeat three more times and set aside with wax paper in between each circle.


8. On a refloured surface, roll out the remaining dough and cut exactly around the edge of a pot pie pan, about 16" by 16". Repeat three more times.

9. Press larger dough circles into pans, letting excess overhang the edge. Fill each pan with 10-12 ounces of the filling (this will somewhat depend on how large your chicken breasts and vegetables were and how much your sauce reduced while cooking--just try to make it pretty even). Top with smaller dough circles and crimp the edges together, rolling the excess in toward the center of the pan to create a good seal. Prick the top of each pie with a fork to let steam escape and place on a cookie sheet.

10. Bake pot pies for 40-45 minutes until crusts are golden brown. (FYI, I took these out of their pans for photos, but I don't recommend that. They kinda...collapsed. Just leave them in the pan for serving.)

Roses Have Thorns Lasagna 2015 TBR Challenge

It's TBR Challenge time again! This month's theme was "Kickin' it Old School", which is most definitely not a problem for me as the vast majority of my TBR pile is acquired via used bookstores and thrift stores and it would be a rare book that isn't more than ten years old. So I literally picked a random category off the stack and got to it.

What I ended up with was Roses Have Thorns by Karen Leabo, a Silhouette Romance from 1989. I couldn't even find it on Amazon. I bought it in a thrift shop in the Shenandoah Valley. I've mentioned during TBR Challenge posts before that I really like old category romances. They're little 50,000 word snapshot of the progress of women's rights, romance novel history and changing social mores. I find them fascinating. But I've veered wildly between relatively recent Harlequin Blaze books and 1970s Harlequin Presents in the past. This may even have been my first Silhouette and I seem to have found another waypoint in the development of the modern romance novel with the 1989 publication date.

When I read 1970s category romances, I know what to expect. It will be third-person limited perspective in the mind of the heroine. The hero will usually be mysterious, rich and opaque. There will be an interfering old relative who will eventually die and leave the heroine all their (sometimes questionable, sometimes considerable) wealth. There will be limited kissing, but no other sexual contact. This is all good. This is what I expect. But clearly sometime between 1979 and now, the contemporary category romance acquired, well, LOVIN'.

In Roses Have Thorns, Rosalie DiMarco is a pastry chef in a fancy French restaurant when food critic Max Callaghan comes to do a review. When she appears at his table to make crepes suzette, she remembers, but he does not, that she once dropped a plate of lasagna in his lap while working as a server in her uncle's restaurant. She was forced to quit her job and her close-knit Italian family still bears a grudge against the man who "almost ruined" her uncle's business. Her and her family's resentment make up pretty much the entire conflict of the book. And it's a perfectly well-constructed, plausible plot. You might not think so if you're not Italian, but trust me, there isn't a thing that happens in this book that I couldn't see happening on the Italian side of my own family. All in all, though, it's not terribly angsty or remarkable. It's just a plot.

The interesting elements of Roses Have Thorns come from its moment in romance history. First, the book is hopelessly dated through no fault of its own. With references to answering machines, yellow pages, rented beepers and something called a VDT that Max uses in his job (a computer thing? a printer thing? I really don't know.), the out-dated technology actually makes this book seem more dated than some of the 1970s categories I've read, just because those are largely technology-avoidant. Second, the perspective is updated here. We get inside the heads of both hero and heroine, sometimes within a couple paragraphs of each other (hello, head-hopping), but it does end up reading in a more modern way than earlier books, which are always confined to just heroine-perspective.

But the biggest difference, and what surprised me most, was that there wasn't any sex in the book at all. There was some kissing, for sure. And more than in earlier category romances. But one touch of the hero's hand to the heroine's nipple sends them both scurrying for the hills. Even post-engagement, where I might have expected a brief, but sweet fade-to-black scene? Nothing. There are no allusions to sex being had at all except in the hero's attitude, which is that he must be emotionally involved with a woman before engaging in that level of physical intimacy. I don't get the impression that either of them are necessarily virgins, but neither does the book explicitly state one way or the other. The thing is, the whole question of sex feels like a Sword of Damocles hanging over the entire novel for this modern reader. I found myself thinking, "Now? Wait, no. Oh, now then? No. After the engagement party? No. Hm."

This is entirely down to my own expectations and no fault of the author's, I'm sure. I'm almost certainly bumping up against some sharp transition in the way romances were conceived and written, possibly just within Silhouette's line, but also possibly an actual transition time? I don't know. I'm glad I read this for TBR Challenge though, where some real category romance experts may be able to help me out with an answer.

Roses Have Thorns was a perfectly accept sweet romance with a well-plotted story and two characters with interestingly-complex family relationships. I don't know that I'd necessarily say run right out and get it, but if you're interested in a survey marker in the map of modern romance, it's a fine book with nothing problematic or objectionable in it.

But please put my out of my misery! Just what was going on with the sex at Silhouette in 1989?

Practically from the first page of Roses Have Thorns, I knew I'd be making lasagna for this review. I mean, the flashback to Rose accidentally dumping an entire plate of lasagna in Max's lap the first time they met? That's just priceless.

Plus, a couple months ago, I shared my family recipe for homemade tomato sauce and this is agreat way to use a bunch of it. You don't have to use homemade here of course though. A large jar of store-bought will work just fine and that's honestly what I do normally.

And speaking of my family, this recipe is pretty funny because even though I'm a quarter Italian, this isn't a family recipe. Somehow I acquired this recipe from my college roommate, who is Canadian and a second-generation immigrant from Southern China. Her mother is the best cook ever, but she only cooks Chinese food. So I texted my roommate to find out where she got this recipe and it turns out that it came from her Baltimore Jew college ex-boyfriend who grew up in Baltimore's Little Italy. How the world turns.

I've put my own spin on it over the years though. The homemade sauce isn't anything we ever did in school, nor is the fresh mozzarella. And at the time, neither one of us cared for ricotta cheese so we usually used cottage cheese. That seems strange now as we both developed a taste for really good cheese of all types while living in DC during college via a little French bistro we liked to visit. And we frequently made a veggie version that substituted drained frozen spinach and sliced zucchini for the ground beef. I still do that sometimes at the height of summer. And if you want to do the cottage cheese substitution for more protein and less fat, you can use the same amount, just drain it well first.

And try really, really hard not to dump it in anyone's lap.

Lasagna
Makes: 12 servings
Difficulty: Easy
Time: 1 hour

12 lasagna noodles
cooking spray
generous pinch salt
1 pound ground beef
32 ounces tomato sauce (either homemade or store-bought from a jar)
1 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
additional tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Bring a large pot of water and the salt to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the lasagna noodles and cook according to package directions. If there is a range of times (i.e. 9-11 minutes), use the shorter time. When cooked, drain noodles in a colander and leave until cool enough to handle.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and spray a 9x13 inch pan with cooking spray.

3. Over medium-heat heat, brown the ground beef (until no pink remains), about 6 minutes, draining off any fat that accumulates. Turn off heat. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine.

4. In the prepared pan, put down a super thin layer of tomato sauce, just a 1/4 cup or so. Add the first layer of 4 noodles, overlapping the edges slightly. Cover with half the ricotta, then a third of the sauce, then a third of the mozzarella. Add the next layer of noodles, remaining ricotta, another third of the sauce and third of the mozzarella. Add the final layer of noodles, the remaining sauce, the remaining mozzarella and the grated Parmesan.

5. Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until cheese is all melted and the sides are bubbling. Allow to rest of 10 minutes before slicing and serving, topping with additional tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Blogiversary Week Review: Taken Honey-Pepper Salmon

Don't forget to enter the Cooking Up Romance Blogiversary Week Giveaway for a $50 Amazon Giftcard!

Pretty much any romance involving a kinky bookseller is always going to get my vote. And if it's by Charlotte Stein? Double vote! Can we vote twice? Whatever, I just did.

Taken, a recent offering by Stein, features Rosie Callahan, a young woman still in college, and Johann William Weir, a rare book dealer. In a prank-gone-wrong, Rosie is captured by the bookstore owner and chained up in his basement, a setup that sounds completely sinister and is actually totally comedic.

There's a lovely counterpoint in this book between the devilish elements of dark romance and the vulnerability, insecurity and humor both hero and heroine display over the course of the book. Both of these characters are more capable and better wrapped than they think they are, especially when it comes to each other. It takes this absurd situation to allow them both to unlock desires they either didn't know they had or weren't comfortable indulging. Plus there's an age gap here, which is my favorite thing in romance.

But the best part of Taken is just how slyly it references those 80s and 90s historicals that feature the kidnapping of the heroine by the hero. In those books, the heroine is often an innocent, but feisty young virgin and the hero an experienced, powerful Highlander or pirate or whatever. I loved the heck out of those books in high school and often find myself, to some degree, chasing that high when I dip into older historicals. But what worked for me at 17 isn't the same as what works for me at 36. Now the consent issues in those books bother me, keeping me from being as fully immersed in the story and the romance as I'd wish.

Taken captures all of that dark, powerful older man magic, but gives him to a heroine who is equally experienced and comfortable with her sexuality, if not everything about her looks. And while she is in theory chained up against her will, it's crystal clear from very early on in the story that she is way on board with every element of their quirky, unspoken and un-analyzed role-playing. It's the hero who is ambivalent about the things he wants, needing the heroine's push to indulge his darkest fantasies. It's the first time I've experienced a modern writer evoking the same feel of those barbarian encounters, never mind in a contemporary, without turning the heroine into a push-over or the hero into an ass. And doing it in a way that didn't conflict at all with my desire for the heroine's enthusiastic consent.

So the bottom line is that I adored Taken. It's a story with a new plot and an old feel, told in the inimitable style of one of contemporary romance's most interesting writers. It's even way more romantic than it had any right to be, what with the bubble baths and wine the and hacksaws and handcuffs. A thoroughly engaging, surprising and, of course, sexy read.

This recipe has absolutely nothing to do with the book. The couple do actually eat, um, something, I think? But when I discovered that hero was loosely based on the character Monroe from the television show Grimm (an homage more than a literal representation since Monroe is, like, a vegan werewolf and Johann...isn't), I absolutely had to share my very favorite ever salmon recipe, one I've been making for years.

One of the very memorable early scenes involving the Grimm character has him insisting on getting the recipe for "honey-pepper cedar plank vegan salmon" from the main character's girlfriend as a terribly ineffective diversionary tactic. It's a very awkward scene and reminded me a lot of how Johann acts in Taken. And seriously, if you haven't seen the show, he makes the whole thing.

Monroe, like Johann is such a delicious combination of competence, knowledge, experience and utter fumbling awkwardness that's it's impossible for me to completely separate the two. Knowing the inspiration for the character and Grimm being my one of my favorite television shows made this book all the more fun for me.

As for the recipe, it's crazy easy. Just a simple pan-fried salmon and a honey-cayenne pepper sauce that goes well with pretty much any kind of fish, veggies and (my favorite) as a dipping sauce for sweet potato fries. So if you have any left over or just want to make salmon for two, you might consider making the full sauce amount. I keep in it in the fridge in a squeeze bottle and put it on everything.

Oh, and this is a pretty intensely spicy sauce so if you're a person who likes things a little less hot, cut the cayenne pepper in half. You've been warned!

Honey-Pepper Salmon
adapted from InterCourses: An Aphrodisiac Cookbook
Makes: 4 servings
Difficulty: Easy

4 6-ounce salmon filets
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (for a less spicy sauce, use 1 teaspoon)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 cup lemon juice

1. Salt and pepper the salmon filets. In a medium-sized skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat until shimmering and fragrant. Starting naked side up if your salmon filets have skin, cook salmon for about 5-6 minutes each side for 1-inch thick filets. If yours are thicker or thinner, they may require more or less time.

2. In a small saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add honey, mustard, cayenne pepper and coriander, whisking to combine. Remove from heat and whisk in and lemon juice. When salmon is done, drizzle a tablespoon or two over each filet and serve.

Disclosure: Charlotte Stein and I follow each other on Twitter, though I bought Taken for myself.

The Big Heat Coca-Cola Slow Cooker Pork BBQ Sandwiches

I was looking for a comfort read the other day and for some inexplicable reason, this old category romance came to mind. I read it over and over for a few months, but I got over it and eventually got rid of it with the rest of my books from what I now refer to as The Great Blaze Binge of 2008. I didn't even remember the title or the author, just that it featured a bounty hunter in a black t-shirt and a hot kiss where the hero backs the heroine into a closet door. Luckily that was sufficiently specific that I was able to turn up The Big Heat by Jennifer LaBreque.

Heroine Sunny Templeton is running for Memphis city council when the guy she's running against pulls a photo of her in a bikini off an internet dating site and uses it to brand her a party girl. She loses the election and her reputation is damaged, but it's not until he waves to her sarcastically from his brand new Cadillac that he really gets under his skin. And she rams him with her car. Sunny is smart, sexy and the owner of her own web design business. If she has any flaws, they're endearing. Normally this would drive me up a wall, but she's just so darn likeable.

Hero Cade Stone works in the family business, which just happens to be bail bonds. When his younger brother backs a skeezy poltician in the Memphis city council race to get them some publicity, and said skeezy politician undertakes some dirty tactics to win the race, Cade feels guilty. So when Sunny's sister stops in to post bail to get Sunny out of jail, but can't stay to finish the deed, Cade agrees to go across the street and pick her up. But his protective instincts are riled and circumstances conspire to send Sunny home with him to his house.

There are some hilariously goofy things about this book that could never happen anywhere but Harlequinland. It's all coincidence, temper tantrums, unlikely family dynamics and alphamale shenanigans. But it's hard to care. Because what these characters lack in depth, they make up for in charm. And if the conflict is a little too readily resolved and the courtship a little speedy (first kiss to marriage proposal in 2.5 weeks), it has enough redeeming moments that none of that bothered me.

Cade is exactly the kind of alpha hero I can get behind. He's loyal, caring and protective of both his family and his heroine. He restores muscle cars, drives a yellow Corvette, dresses all in black, catches baddies and buys crotchless lingerie (for her). He's strong and a little bossy, but not overbearing. Just enough to make for some hot alphasex scenes, complete with caveman carry, but not so much that he runs roughshod over Sunny. Sunny is smart, funny and resourceful. She may go home with Cade when her lawn is overrun with reporters, but she has her own car towed, calls her lawyer, changes her phone number and gets her work done all on her own. There's also a spiritual overtone to the entire book--with animal totems and hints at clairvoyance--not precisely paranormal, but a little mystical. I rather enjoyed it.

I enjoyed it enough that I'm inspired to go back to some more of the Blaze books I remember loving--Lori Wilde was a particular favorite as I recall and I bought the first of these Big, Bad Bounty Hunters by Rhonda Nelson as well. I'll see if any of the rest of them hold up. Maybe not every book has to be so deep and serious all the time, yeah?

Speaking of everything not having to be so deep and serious, I was tempted to scrap this recipe when it didn't completely knock my socks off. The thing is though, my friends liked it just fine and everyone had at least seconds, if not thirds. Five people (mostly guys, but still) ate three and a half pounds of pork. Sometimes the great is the enemy of the good. That said, I made it again, doubling the spices until it met my standards.

With the BBQ sauce I made for my review of Alexis Hall's Liberty and Other Stories (stashed in the freezer for a couple months) and a simple sandwich-style coleslaw, the full effect is appealing. This isn't contest-winning pork barbeque, but made in a crockpot, served with a five-minute vinegar-based coleslaw and letting the sauce be the star? It worked.

If you're wondering what the connection is, The Big Heat is set in Memphis, home of serious tomato-based BBQ sauce, and the hero and heroine stop for BBQ takeout when he rescues her from jail. By the way, how much do I love that the heroine gets thrown in jail? So much. Why can't more romance heroines be temporarily incarcerated? It's certainly a new angle on the damsel in distress.

Finally, this isn't really a coleslaw designed to be eaten on its own. It's a condiment, not a side dish. Which is good because I don't even like coleslaw. At least not creamy, American-style coleslaw. I'd be open to suggestions though. Who has a favorite coleslaw recipe?

Coca-Cola Slow Cooker Pork BBQ and Five-Minute Sandwich Slaw
Makes: About 12 sandwiches
Difficulty: Easy

2.5-3.5 pound bone-in pork half shoulder
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 12-ounce cans  Coca-Cola
12 soft white or wheat hamburger buns
1/2 cup tomato-based BBQ sauce

8 ounces pre-shredded, bagged coleslaw mix
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar

1. In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, smoked paprika, dry mustard, cumin crushed red pepper, turmeric, garlic salt and black pepper. Coat pork shoulder with spice mixture, patting to adhere.

2. Heat oil over medium heat until hot, but not smoking. Sear pork on each side, 1-2 minutes. Reove pork to crock pot and drain off the fat, leaving any browned bits. Deglaze the pan with the Coca-Cola and pour the mixture into the crock pot with the pork. Set slow cooker to low and cook for 8-10 hours.

3. At some point before the pork is done, combine coleslaw mix, celery see, red wine vinegar, salt and sugar in a medium bowl and mix to combine, refrigerating until ready to use.

4. When the pork is done, shred it using tongs or two forks and remove to a bowl. Serve each sandwich with a heaping helping of pork, a spoonful of coleslaw and a tablespoon of your favorite BBQ sauce.


Disclosure: Unusually, for recent reviews, I don't know Jennifer LaBreque from Adam and I bought this book myself.

Living in Secret Lamb Tagine

Living in Secret is the third book of Jackie Ashenden's Living In series. Typical of Ashenden, the emotional intensity is off-the-charts. But what I love about her books is that it isn't ever just angst for angst's sake. She's not afraid to give her characters serious problems and genuine personality flaws. Her heroines aren't just a little clumsy. Her heroes aren't still mourning the girl who broke up with them in college (or, maybe they are but that's generally the least of their problems). Her characters navigate difficulties like addiction and abuse.

In Living in Secret, Connor and Victoria are still married, barely. They've been separated for over a year, the result of distance created by not ever being completely honest with one another. They're each keeping a big secret that has allowed them the emotional distance they need to cope with life, but unfortunately also took a toll on their marriage.

This distance has also manifested in their sex life, which has been active, but hardly passionate. They need a dramatic break-through and one is provided via a friend of the previous book's hero: a threesome resets Connor and Victoria's expectations and opens the door to a week's worth of uninhibited sexual exploration. The physical intimacy the characters experience also breaks down their emotional barriers and eventually brings them back together.

I wrote a few weeks ago about the cleansing power of confession in romance and in life as it relates to this book so I don't need to go into all that again in detail here, but this is a powerfully redemptive story and will be a satisfying read for any fan of the marriage-in-trouble trope. And I'm not giving anything away when I say that any lover of erotic romance will also find lots of things to love about Living in Secret. It's crazy hot. I've been a fan of Ashenden for  while, but she has really come into her own with this series. Every book has been everything I love about how romance can be. I can only hope Connor and Victoria's threesome partner in this book eventually gets one of his own. Though he seems curiously well-adjusted for an Ashenden hero. Maybe we'll get to see something new from her? Or maybe he has secrets of his own... I hope we get to find out.

I've had a long-running less-than-serious gripe about Jackie Ashenden's books. She doesn't feed her characters. Like, ever. Oh, she'll let them order food. Or go in search of food. Or pull food out of the fridge. But before they have a chance to eat it, they always fight. Or have sex. Or have sex and then fight. It's a thing.

So when Connor and Victoria actually sit down at a table and eat lamb tagine, I knew it would be an important moment. And whoo boy. It was a doozie. I'm not giving spoilers because it's a relatively new book, but, yeah. It's crucial. And it happens over food. I was pretty excited.

I love making up recipes, tweaking food until it's just perfect. But sometimes it's nice to just cook.

I'd never made anything like this lamb tagine before so I pulled up a recipe online and just made that using a leg of lamb I had my butcher carve off the bone and cut into chunks for me. Having a real butcher nearby is great. Not only was he willing to do a little bit of the prep work, he also used a bone saw to cut the bone in half. I then boiled it and made lamb stock for my freezer.

I think if I made this recipe again, I'd tweak it a little, mainly because the long cooking time mellows out the flavors more than seemed appropriate. I'd jack up the cayenne for sure. And maybe try it out in the crockpot instead of marinating it overnight. If I do, I'll add a note here in the future.

But, like I said, sometimes it's nice to just cook.

Lamb tagine from All Recipes.

Guest Post, Disclosure and Carmelized Onion & Brie Pizza

Alexis Hall, Dabney Grinnan and I are at All About Romance today with a glowing review of Against the Dark by Carolyn Crane. I can't believe it took me so long to read one of her books, particularly after last year's RITA win. I already started the second one, but got sidetracked by other commitments. I can't wait to get back to it! There was also carmelized onion and brie pizza in this book that I just HAD to try out so I'm giving readers a bonus recipe today too so just scroll down for that. And head over to All About Romance for the review.

As long as I'm here though, I wanted to say a few things about trust and relationships and make sure that I'm being as transparent as I can be. It shouldn't be any kind of secret by now that Alexis and I are friends who chat pretty often since we review together once a month, but I have plenty of relationships like that with other authors too. All those relationships are disclosed in the body of review posts as I don't avoid my friends' books. I've talked about this before so I hope that's not news. In many cases, I became friendly with authors after reviewing a book of theirs for the first time so the first post about an author might not have that sort of disclosure.

It's a peculiarity of reviewing the way I do (a creative interpretation of another creative's work) that these relationships typically develop unbidden and I've not seen a reason to resist them. But it means that my blog has never been and will never be a "reader's haven" in the same way other review blogs are. If you're looking for that, Wendy the Super Librarian, Miss Bates Reads Romance, Immersed in Books and Feminist Fairytale Reviews are a few of my personal favorites.

In addition to maintaining friendly relationships with a pretty wide range of authors, editors and other reviewers via Twitter and email, I also do a fair bit of beta reading, which I also disclose when I review those authors. Sometimes my involvement is slight (proofing a food-related scene), sometimes it's more extensive (reviewing a manuscript at several points pre-publication). I will always say I beta-read the book in these cases, or if I have beta-read for the author in the past. I really genuinely love helping my friends with their books--it's one of the unexpected joys of having come to romance reviewing--so I don't ever want to give that up.

Finally, as far as my own ambitions are concerned, I have no plans to write romance fiction. That said, and I'm guessing this won't be a surprise to many given how many times I've been asked if I'd ever write a romance-related cookbook one day, I would like to write a cookbook. Someday. And I have no idea yet what shape that might take. If I ever do, it will be under the name Elisabeth Lane, which is a pen name and the only name under which I have ever written and ever will write anything remotely related to the romance genre. I've never been careful about privacy under my given name and when I started reviewing, I thought it best not to be quite so obviously easy to find, hence the pen name. If I ever change my mind and start publishing anything romance-related under my given name or any other pen name, I will disclose it.

Sorry for the serious turn, but I thought it was important to make sure all that was out in the open in the wake of the events of the last few weeks. So let's get to cooking without further delay!

This recipe definitely falls under the heading of "not pretty, but sooo delicious". I mean, just look at those lumps of brie! My husband assures me that artisan pizzas pretty much all look like this now and I know he's right--globs of real mozzarella, ricotta, etc.--but I can't help but wish it were just a little less beige. It's alright though. The flavor more than makes up for the humble visual.

Have we talked about pizza dough? I'm not sure we have. But when carmelized onion & brie pizza popped up in Carolyn Crane's Against the Dark, I just knew I had to try it out. I make homemade pizza about once a week. I mix up a huge batch of dough once every month or two and freeze each lump individually wrapped in plastic wrap and put all together in a freezer bag. It works pretty well and I always have pizza dough for a quick weeknight meal.

This recipe is a bit more time-intensive than my normal weeknight pizzas just because I'm aware of no way to speed up the process of carmelizing onions. It takes 30-40 minutes no matter what you do. That lovely caramel-sweet flavor just takes a while to develop. I use Julia Child's method of carmelizing onions, which I'll describe below. If you don't have a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I'm not really sure what to say you besides, "Get one."

I served this pizza with a pile of argula in a super simple dressing of oil & champagne vinegar with honey and a tiny bit of salt of salt and pepper. Oh, basically this recipe from my review of the Ruthie Knox book Truly. The brie makes this pizza quite filling so the light salad was plenty adequate as a side.

I don't suppose I need to make a case for the pizza, but I will. The slow-cooked onions and creamy brie with an underlying hint of Herbes de Provence was completely delectable, as I suspected it would be. Piling the arugula on top of a pizza slice was a pretty darn good move too. You should probably only make this for someone you really like a lot.

Carmelized Onion & Brie Pizza
Makes: 2-3 servings
Time: 1 hour
Difficult: Intermediate

12-14 ounces fresh-made, frozen or store-bought pizza dough
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Herbes de Provence
4 medium onions, sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
a few grinds of black pepper
1/2 pound medium-intense brie, rind removed and cut into chunks

1. Make pizza dough or use store-bought. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Stretch out pizza dough and put it on pizza pan sprayed with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Baste crust with 1 teaspoon olive oil and scatter Herbs de Provence over the crust. Pre-bake for 9 minutes, then remove and allow to cool while you make the onions.

2. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and 3 tablespoons unsalted butter to a large skillet with a lid. Heat over medium heat until butter is melted, then add sliced onions and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Remove the cover and set aside. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon sugar (to promote browning) and black pepper. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring frequently, until onions are thoroughly carmelized.

3. When the onions are done, spread them evenly over the pre-baked crust. Add chunks of brie on top and return to the oven for 7-8 minutes. When the crust is nearly brown, put the pizza under the broiler for a minute or 2 until the brie is lightly browned on top. Allow to rest until cheese stops bubbling, then slice and serve.

Tempest Smoked Mac & Cheese 2015 TBR Challenge

This month's TBR Challenge theme was "series catch-up" and while I'm stretching the spirit a little bit by both starting and finishing during the challenge month, the Playing the Fool series by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock has been on my TBR pile since late last year. So I feel like it still qualifies even though the third book, Tempest, was just released earlier this month. Actually, "starting and finishing during the challenge month" is understating it. It was more like 18 hours from start to finish for all three books. So...these were pretty good.

Ryan 'Mac' McGuinness is an FBI agent called in to work a murder case involving a suspected mobster. But when his witness, Henry Page, slips out before he can answer any questions about what he saw, both Mac's pride and his case demand that he track Henry down and keep him around until the trial. But charismatic, slippery Henry is a con man and it takes him approximately .7 seconds to wrap anyone around his little finger, including Mac. Henry is a loveable goofball, the sidekick to Mac's stern and responsible FBI agent. But it's impossible to reduce these two to archetypes. Henry is frankly brilliant and Mac's not as straight-laced as he might at first seem.

This series, the first two books especially, have a playful detective buddy show tone with plenty of capers, hijinks and laugh-out-loud lines, but don't let that fool you. Under the surface humor, these fun stories have an undercurrent that's just a little bit dark at first, but that breaks loose during the third book. There's one scene in particular that packed quite an emotional wallop. Tempest is where the chickens come home to roost, with Mac running back to his parents' farm when he's unjustly targeted by a crooked internal affairs agent.

I wouldn't call the romance a slow burn exactly since the story seems to take place over the course of a few weeks at most and they get physical pretty early on (with kissing and what we would have called heavy petting in high school). But their emotional intimacy is hampered by the fact that Mac is really not supposed to get involved with a witness and Henry has, uh, trust issues. In fact, Henry isn't even his real name. Henry's true motivations are revealed in the second book and it isn't until the third that the two of them reach any kind of working accord.

Oh, and I should mention that Shakespeare fans will find lots to love here. The titles are all references to Shakespeare plays of course, but that's not where the references stop. And that's all I'll say because I don't want to ruin these for anyone. Anyway, the whole series is seriously clever and delightful and I'd recommend them to anyone. Truly, if you're not currently much of an m/m reader, these would be great starter books. Consider this my whole-hearted endorsement.

Heads up, AJ. This is your placemat pic ;-)

I don't want to give anything away, but the connection between these books and mac & cheese isn't precisely obvious until you read them. In fact, throughout the first book, I really thought I'd be making doughnuts. Suffice to say, Henry is a hoot and you'll just have to read the books to get in on the inside joke.

I've been making this smoked mac & cheese for a while now. It's a huge favorite with my D&D group. But when it's just my husband and I, the original version makes, well, just a lot of mac & cheese. And while neither of us are under doctor's orders to lay off the fat, this recipe is hardly healthy. So I've taken to scaling it down a bit.

Homemade mac & cheese is a little more difficult than the kind from a box, but trust me, this is so worth it. You make bechamel sauce first, which just flour cooked in butter with warmed milk and cream whisked in and cooked until it thickens. The you add the cheese and noodles and bake in the oven until the top gets nice and crispy.

The original recipe called for the smoked gouda and sprinkling the top with bacon, but I've been adding smoked paprika lately too just for a little extra kick. There are very few savory dishes that could not be improved with addition of smoked paprika, am I right?

Of course I am.

Smoked Mac & Cheese
adapted from Shugary Sweets
Difficulty: Intermediate
Time: 50 minutes (hands-on time: 25 minutes)
Makes: 8 servings as a side, 4 servings as a main dish

12 ounces elbow macaroni
5 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup flour
1 1/3 cup milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon pepper
heaping 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
12 ounces smoked gouda, grated
6 ounces sharp cheddar, grated
1 1/2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Prepare macaroni according to package directions. If there is a range of cooking times (say, 9-12 minutes), cook the shorter time. Drain and set aside.

3. In a small saucepan, heat milk and cream until warm over low heat. In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add flour, whisking constantly. Cook one additional minute. Turn down heat to medium low. Continuing to whisk, slowly add the warm milk & cream mixture, whisking out lumps as they appear. Add the salt, pepper, dry mustard, smoked paprika and worcestershire sauce. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

4. A third at a time, use a wooden spoon to gently stir in grated cheeses. Allow to melt for about 1-2 minutes in between each addition. When all the cheese has been added and sauce is mostly smooth, add macaroni and stir to combine. When combined, smooth the top with the spoon.

5. Combine remaining 2 1/2 tablespoons melted butter with panko breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the macaroni & cheese and top with crumbled bacon. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until breadcrumbs are nicely browned.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of The Two Gentlemen of Altona from the publisher for review purposes. The other two books in the series were purchased by me.