Flaky and Fabulous

From Nine Naughty Novelist Kinsey Holley

I haven't cooked them yet but I know they'll be yum. Plus they're easy. I'm trying as much as possible to cut refined wheat from our diets. Doing breads, crusts, etc. in whole wheat or barley flour. So far, so tasty.


EMERIL'S CRAWFISH PIE:

What you need:

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped, seeded, and peeled tomatoes, or 1/2 cup chopped canned tomatoes
1 pound crawfish tails
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup water

What to do:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, bell peppers, celery, salt, cayenne, and black pepper. Saute for about 8 minutes, or until golden and wilted. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the crawfish tails and parsley. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 4 minutes. Dissolve the flour in the water and add to the pan. Stir for about 2 minutes, or until the mixture thickens. Remove from the heat. Let cool for at least 30 minutes. Place the crust in the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan and crimp the edges. Pour the crawfish mixture into the pie crust. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the edges of the pie crust are golden. Cool for several minutes. Cut into wedges to serve.

Barley Flour pie crust

This is very easy - and the pie crust doesn't need to be flaky since it's not a pastry pie:

Yields one 9-inch pie or 9½- or 10-inch tart crust.The success of flaky pastry depends upon the expert management of gluten.  Pat-in-the-pan dough’s are made in such a way that virtually no gluten develops.  The fat is softened and thoroughly blended into the flour, not cut in as for flaky pastry dough.  As a result, the flour ends up moisture-proofed by the fat and cannot absorb the liquid needed to produce gluten.  All pat-in-the-pan crusts maintain a shortbread-like texture, rather than a flaky one. Pat-in-the-pan crusts are usually baked before they are filled.  It is important to glaze the pre-baked crust with egg yolk before adding the filling.

8 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened and cut into 8 pieces

2 to 3 Tbsp heavy cream

1 large egg yolk

The Crust:

Position a rack in the center of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 400°F. Whisk the barley flour and ½ tsp salt together in a bowl, or process for 10 seconds in a food processor.  Add the butter.  Mash with the back of a fork or process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Drizzle the heavy cream over the top.  Stir or process until the crumbs look damp and hold together when pinched. Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch pie pan or 9 ½- or 10-inch two-piece tart pan.  Pat evenly over the bottom and sides with your fingertips.  If making a pie, form a crust edge and crimp or flute.  Prick the bottom and sides with a fork.  Bake until the crust is golden brown, 18 to 22 minutes, pricking the bottom once of twice if it bubbles.  If you are filling the crust with an uncooked mixture that requires further baking, such as pumpkin pie filling, whisk together the egg yolk and pinch of salt, then brush the inside with the mix.  Return your crust to the oven until the egg glaze sets, about 1 to 2 minutes.

Ready to Run

Sara Hedges had planned to escape the backwater, bigoted town of Luxor, Texas on the wings of a college degree—not on the back of a Harley, riding for her life.

Just a couple months shy of loading up her Miata, however, betrayal bares its ugly fangs. Her scumbag uncle has sold her to a pack of werewolves willing to pay any price for her special bloodline and it looks like there’s no way out. She never expected the new-in-town, sex-on-a-stick loner to come riding to her rescue. Or to discover he’s a werewolf, too. A good one...with one too many secrets.

Bryan Keeton waited two months deep undercover for the chance to get his hands on one of the gangster Eurowolves wreaking havoc across the South. After calling in the FBI to blow the lid off Luxor, he’d planned to leave town before he did something he might regret—like get involved with the suspect’s niece.

But Sara makes him stupid. And now they’re on the run from the Feds, who aren’t interested in her innocence, and from the wolves who want her for their own personal squeaky toy…

Buy Ready To Run at Amazon

Visit Kinsey Online

Guest Author Maia Strong

MOLASSES GINGER SCONES

What you need:

1.5 cups AP flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 sugar
3 oz (about 1/3 cup) crystallized ginger, chopped
4 Tbls unsalted butter, cold
2 Tbls molasses
1/2 cup milk

What to do:

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add chopped ginger and mix again to coat the pieces. Use a cheese grater to grate in unsalted butter. Drizzle in molasses 1 Tbls at a time, mixing gently with a fork until well distributed. Slowly add milk and blend by hand until everything just holds together.

Turn out mixture onto lightly floured cutting board. Knead gently just enough to bring the dough into a ball (3 or 4 turns on the board).

For breakfast-sized scones, slice the dough ball into 6 or 8 wedges.
For nibbling-sized scones, divide ball into two and then slice each small ball into 6 or 8 wedges.

Arrange on a baking sheet with space between them. They will spread and expand a bit.

Optional: Brush tops of scones with a little more milk and sprinkle with raw sugar.

Bake at 375F for about 20 minutes, turning pan 1/4 turn half way through for even baking.

Tip: To get the molasses out of the measuring spoon, first spray the spoon with a little non-stick cooking spray, then measure the molasses.

Maia is a caffeine addict who loves to bake. Both of these have an effect on her writing. You'll rarely find a book or story of hers that doesn't have someone cooking, baking, or eating yummy things. When not at her computer, you can find her climbing walls, swinging from a trapeze, bellydancing, acting, and yes, baking. Look for her novel, Client Privileges, now available on Amazon.com.

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