A Pinch of Sea Salt and a Dash of Murder (Outer Banks Baker Mystery Series Book 1) (12 page)

Cranberry Orange Bread

Ingredients:

4 Cups Flour

2 ¼ Cups Water

2 tsp Salt

¼ tsp Dry Active Yeast

Heaping ½ Cup of Craisins

2 Tbsp. Orange Zest

Cornmeal - Sprinkled in the Dutch oven – not mixed in dry the ingredients

Instructions:

Mix flour, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.  In another small bowl mix craisins, orange zest, and water.  Allow them to soak in the water for at least 5 minutes to allow the flavors to spread through the water.  Then pour and mix the wet ingredients into and with the dry ingredients.  Stir until ingredients are well mixed.  Dough may seem extra moist, which is perfectly normal.  Then cover the bowl and allow to sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours.

Preheat the oven to 500ºF with a cast iron Dutch oven or Le Creuset style enameled pot in the oven preheating as well.   Once the oven and Dutch oven has been preheated, pull the Dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid.  Then sprinkle some cornmeal in the bottom of the Dutch oven.  On a lightly floured surface pour out the dough, form into a ball, and place inside of the Dutch oven.  Replace the Dutch oven lid and place the Dutch oven in the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and continue to bake for 8-15 minutes, depending on how brown you want the crust to be.

Note:  If you don’t have 12-18 hours to allow the dough to rest, you may increase the amount of yeast to 1 tsp and only wait 6 hours before baking the dough.  However, the longer you weight, the more sourdough-like the bread will be.

The trick to this bread is allowing it to rest for the 12-18 hours and its high moisture content, which turns to steam while being baked with the lid on the Dutch oven.  Once we remove the Dutch oven lid, then we begin to bake the outside for a nice crispy crust!

Cheryl’s Bacon Potato Cheddar Soup

Ingredients:

6 Potatoes

1 Onion

3 Carrots

3 Celery Stalks

2 Quarts (8 Cups) Chicken or Vegetable Broth

1 Cup Milk

½ Cup Cream

½ tsp Salt (or more to taste)

½ tsp Pepper

½ tsp Cajon Seasoning

3 Tbsp. Flour

1 Cup Sharp Cheddar Grated

6 Bacon slices, sliced into thin strips and cooked, while saving some bacon grease

Minced Parsley – to garnish

Additional Grated cheese – to garnish

Instructions:

Cook and set aside the bacon and bacon grease ahead of time.  Place some of the grease in the bottom of the large soup pot you’ll be using for the soap.  Finely dice the onion, carrots, and celery and place them in the pot.  Over medium heat cook these ingredients for 2-3 minutes.  Then add peeled and diced potatoes and continue cooking for an additional 5 minutes.  At this point you can add the salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning.  Then add the broth and continue cooking for an additional 10 minutes, or until the potatoes start to feel tender.  Then in another small bowl, mix milk and flour.  Once mixed pour milk and flour mixture into the soup and allow it to cook for an additional 5 minutes.  At this point you can choose to remove some of the soup to be blended for a smoother soup.  It’s suggested that you remove 2/3 of the soup to be blended.  Use caution when blending the soup, and ideally do so once the soup has been allowed to cool.  Once the soup is blended add it back to the soup pot and bring back up to heat.  Then add the 1 Cup of Cheddar cheese and mix thoroughly.  Then add the cream.  At this point you can add the bacon pieces or wait and use them to garnish.  You can now serve the soup and garnish with parsley, more cheese, and/or bacon pieces.

Now take it to your dearest friend who may be experiencing a difficulty in his/her life.

This soup is particularly useful when a friend has recently been accused of murder!

Copyright © 2015 by Timber Publishing

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

First Published, 2015

Timber Publishing
Oakley, UT 84055

www.timberpublishing.com