Roast Mortem

Recipes & Tips from The Village Blend

Visit Cleo Coyle’s virtual Village Blend at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com for coffee tips, coffee talk, and the following bonus recipes:

* Crunchy-Sweet Italian Bow Tie Cookies

* St. Joseph’s Day Zeppoles

* Brutti Ma Buoni (“Ugly but Good”) Italian Cookies

* “Malfatti” (ravioli filling without the dough)

* Dutch Baby Pancake (Bismark)

* Honey-Glazed Peach Crostata with Ginger-Infused Whipped Cream

* Mini Italian-Style Coffeehouse Cakes (with Coffeehouse-Inspired Glazes)

* Pistachio Muffins

* “Stuck on You” Linzer Hearts

* Three-Alarm Buffalo Wings with Extinguisher Gorgonzola Dip

* Puerto Rican-Style Pernil (Pork Shoulder)

And more...

COFFEE roasting is the culinary art of applying heat to green coffee beans in order to develop their flavor before grinding and brewing. The entire process is highly complex, but this brief guide should give you a helpful overview — as well as something to consider the next time you sit down to enjoy a cup of joe.

Factors of flavor: According to food chemists, roasted coffee has one of the most complicated flavor profiles of all foods and beverages with over eight hundred substances contributing. Many factors influence the taste of the coffee you drink. Coffee beans grown in different microclimates of the world, for example, will display vastly different characteristics with flavors that may range from deep notes of chocolate to bright overtones of lemon.

Botany also plays a role. Coffee comes from a plant (genus Coffea) with ninety different species. Only two of those species (Coffea arabica and Coffea robusta) are primarily grown as cash crops, but different varietals (or cultivars) within those species are cultivated all over the world. Kona, Geisha, Blue Mountain, and Bourbon are just four examples of the many Arabica varietals.

Finally, the journey coffee takes from the seed to your cup will also influence its flavor. Let’s begin our coffee trek with...

The coffee cherry: Your cup of joe begins its life as a seed or pit within the fruit or “cherry” on a coffee plant. (The coffee plant is often called a tree but is really a shrub.) The cherries on the coffee plant will ripen from green to yellow to red. They are then picked, either by hand or machine.

The coffee bean: Each coffee cherry contains two green coffee beans, which grow with their flat sides facing each other. The exception is the coffee cherry that contains a “peaberry,” which is a single, rounded seed. (The peaberry is rarer and for a variety or reasons considered to be of better quality than regular coffee beans.) Once coffee is picked, it must be “processed” as soon as possible to prevent spoilage.

Processing: Most coffee drinkers never consider this un-glamorous step in the seed-to-cup journey, but how coffee is processed can greatly affect its final flavor. Before the hard green coffee beans can be roasted (which will turn them brown), they must be extracted from the skin and pulp (or flesh) of the fruit surrounding them. This is usually done by a dry, wet, or semidry processing method.

Dry, natural, or unwashed processing: This method of processing coffee is the oldest and is still used in many countries where water resources are limited. After the cherries are picked, they are spread out to dry in the sun for several weeks. The outer layer of dried skin and pulp is then stripped away, usually by machine. This method is used in Ethiopia, Brazil, Haiti, Paraguay, India, and Ecuador. Because these beans are dried while still in contact with the coffee fruit, they tend to have more exotic flavor profiles than wet processed coffee. They often display more fruity or floral characteristics, for example, and are heavier in body.

Wet or washed processing: Special equipment and large quantities of water are needed to execute this processing method, which gradually strips away the layers of soft fruit that surround the hard coffee beans. The beans are then dried in the sun or machine dried in large tumblers. This processing method, used in major Latin American coffee-growing countries (except Brazil), produces more consistent, cleaner, and brighter flavored coffees than the dry method.

Semidry or pulped processing: This method is a kind of combo of both. Water is used to remove the skin of the fruit but not the pulp (or flesh), which is left on and allowed to dry on the bean. After it is dried, the pulp is removed by machine. This method, which is used in Brazil and (a variation of it) in Indonesia, produces coffee that has the fruity and floral notes of dry processing with the clarity of wet processing.

Home roasting: After green coffee is fully processed, it is ready for roasting. Until the early twentieth century, coffee was primarily roasted in the home, over fires or on stoves, using pans or a hand-turned drum appliance. In the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth centuries, stores and cafés also used small “shop roasters” (also called micro-roasters) to roast fresh coffee for their customers.

As the twentieth century progressed, however, coffee roasting became a major commercial endeavor. Preground, packaged coffee roasted in factories overwhelmed the market. Home roasting disappeared along with most small shop roasters until late in the twentieth century when coffee drinkers rediscovered the superior quality of freshly roasted coffee. Now the United States and other industrialized countries are enjoying a Renaissance of “small batch” or “boutique” roasting.

These days, a variety of small appliances are available that allow you to roast your own green coffee at home. To learn more, visit the Sweet Maria Web site, which sells home roasting equipment, green beans, and includes information for the home roasting enthusiast: www.sweetmarias.com. Kenneth Davids’s excellent book Home Coffee Roasting is another great resource.

Given all of the factors that can influence a coffee’s flavor, roasting has the greatest impact. As Clare well knew from her Village Blend roasting room, “The right kiss of heat would bring out the absolute best flavors in these green beans — and the wrong would destroy them forever.”

The roasting itself goes relatively quickly, 11 to 18 minutes. Here is a short list of very basic steps that should give you a general overview of a typical small-batch roasting process.

Stage 1 — Raw Green Coffee: The green, grassy-smelling beans are released from the roaster’s hopper into its large drum. The drum continually turns the beans to keep them from scorching. As the beans dry and cook, they start to turn yellow to yellow-orange in color and give off aromas like toasted bread, popcorn, or buttery vegetables.

Stage 2 — Light, Cinnamon, New England-Style: As they continue to roast, sugars start to caramelize and the beans begin to smell more like roasting coffee. At around 400°F, the small, hard green bean doubles in size, becomes a light brown color, and gives off a popping or cracking sound, which is why this stage is called “the first crack” stage. What the master roaster is seeing now is the change in the chemical composition of the bean. (The process is called pyrolysis and it includes a release of carbon dioxide.) The acidity or “bright” notes in this coffee will be powerful, and its unique characteristics (based on the origin and processing of the beans) will be pronounced, but the body will be pretty thin. The surface of the light brown bean will be dry because the flavor oils are still inside.

Stage 3 — Light-Medium, American Style: The temperature rises to about 415°F and the color of the bean changes from light brown to medium brown. The acidity or “bright” notes are still there but not as strong. The characteristics of the varietals will still be pronounced but the body will be fuller. For residents of the East Coast of America, this is the traditional roasting style.

Stage 4 — Medium, City: The temperature rises from 415° to 435°F and the color of the bean is a slightly darker medium brown. The subtle flavor notes in the varietals are not as strong but still quite clear, the acidity or “brightness” is still present, and the body is even fuller. This is the traditional style for the American West.

Stage 5 — Dark-Medium, Full City, Viennese Style: Now we are moving toward “the second crack” stage (this stage sounds less like corn popping and more like paper crinkling). This second pyrolysis usually happens between 435° and 445° F, the roast color is dark medium brown, and the beans begin to take on a slick sheen as the roasting “sweats out” the oils. The smell in the air is sweeter, the body of this coffee is heavier, the acidity or “brightness” more subdued. Coffees with more pronounced characteristics (such as Kenyan) will retain their strong flavor notes, but those with subtler notes will be lost to the increasing caramelized “dark roast” flavor of the process. Coffee drinkers in the Pacific Northwest, including northern California, traditionally enjoy this style of roast.

Stage 6 — Dark, Darker, Darkest: Continuing to roast from this point will yield increasingly darker styles of roasted coffee. (See the basic styles and temperatures below.) Sugars continue to caramelize and more oils will be forced to the surface. The roasting smells turn from sweeter to more pungent and finally smoky. Pushed to the limit, beans will turn very dark and shiny, taking on intense flavors before they become completely black, charred, and worthless.

* Espresso, European Style: (445° to 455°F) This style of roast displays a moderately dark-roast flavor.

* French, Italian: (455° to 465°F) This style has more of a bittersweet dark-roast taste. While too pungent for some coffee drinkers, these roasts will stand up to mixing with milk and other flavorings to create coffee drinks.

* Dark French, Spanish: (465° to 475°F) The more bitter side of the “bittersweet” flavor is displayed here. A smoky taste may also be present. As the beans continue to roast, charred notes will begin to appear, and regardless of their origin all beans will begin to taste about the same.

Stage 7 — Cooling: The master roaster will monitor this process by temperature gauges but also by sound (crack or pop), smell, and sight (bean color). When the desired roast style is achieved, the process is stopped by the release of the beans from the heated drum. The still-crackling beans fall into a cooling tray where fans and stirring paddles quickly bring down their temperature. When completely cooled, they are ready for grinding, brewing, and (finally!) drinking.

With a contented stomach, your heart is forgiving; with an empty stomach, you forgive nothing.

— Italian proverb

Eat with joy!

— Cleo Coyle

See photos of this recipe at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com

Osso Buco (or ossobuco) is an elegant and beloved Italian dish of veal shank braised in wine and herbs. The shank is cut across the bone to a thickness of roughly 3 inches, browned, and then braised. Braising is a very slow cooking process, but preparing the dish itself is relatively simple, and the results pay off with rich, borderline orgasmic flavor. This is the recipe Madame shared with Diggy-Dog Dare in the Elmhurst ER. It was taught to her by Antonio Allegro, her first husband and Matt’s late father.

Makes 3-4 servings

3-4 veal shank crosscuts, about 3 inches thick (see your butcher)

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

4 celery stalks (hearts), sliced

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup dry white wine (such as Pinot Grigio)

1-2 cups chicken or veal stock (see note)

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

Gremolata (a simple garnish; recipe follows)

Step 1 — Brown the shanks: Preheat oven to 350° F. Season shanks with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until the oil is rippling but not smoking. Place the veal in the hot oil and sear the shanks on both sides, turning once (about 4-5 minutes per side). Remove veal from oil and set aside.

Step 2 — Prepare the aromatics: Drain most of the fat and oil from the Dutch oven, leaving just enough to cover the bottom. Add the onion and cook for 6 minutes, until brown. Add the carrot, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add the celery and garlic, stirring frequently, until they release their flavor and become aromatic, about 2 minutes. (Do not dump everything in at once, the order is important for the best flavor results.)

Step 3 — Deglaze and prep the broth: Add the wine to the pan, stirring to incorporate all the ingredients. Simmer for 4-5 minutes, until the wine is reduced by half. Return the veal shanks to the pan, along with all the juice it may have released while sitting. Add enough chicken or veal stock (about 1 to 2 cups) to cover the shanks about two thirds of the way.

Step 4 — Simmer and braise the meat: Over a low heat, bring the pot to a gentle simmer, then cover and transfer to hot oven. Braise for 2 hours, turning occasionally. Then add rosemary and thyme, and braise for one more hour, removing the lid during the last 15-20 minutes to cook off excess liquid.

Step 5 — Make gravy and garnish: Remove veal shanks. Keep warm and moist before serving by placing in a covered serving dish. Meanwhile, place the Dutch oven on the stovetop again and simmer the cooking liquid over high heat for 5-8 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Now you’re ready to serve! Plate your veal shanks, pour a bit of the hot gravy over each shank, and garnish with Gremolata. Eat immediately — you’ve waited long enough!

GREMOLATA:

Combine 2 tablespoons of finely chopped fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsley, 1 minced garlic clove, and 1 teaspoon lemon zest (grated lemon peel).

Madame’s Note on Veal Stock: If purchasing your veal shanks from a butcher, ask for the top of the shank, which is mostly bone (this is usually discarded) and use it to make your own veal stock. Making stock is a snap. Simply simmer these extra bones in 4 cups of water. Throw in any of your favorite aromatics (1 tablespoon of fresh thyme, rosemary, and parsley, for example), add a bay leaf, a chopped onion, a celery stalk or two, salt and pepper. Simmer for an hour, strain out the liquid, and there is your stock!

This outrageous blend of earthy beef with “spirited” brightness makes for a superb gastronomic experience. To help firefighters, Clare happily recommends purchasing a bottle of Jim Beam bourbon with the Terry Farrell Firefighters Fund label. To see what this inspiring label looks like, visit the following Web site, where you can also learn more about the fund, named after one of the fallen heroes of 9/11: www.jimbeam.com/partnerships/terry-farrell-fund

Makes 2 servings

⅓ cup aged bourbon (Jim Beam in the Terry Farrell bottle!)

¼ cup cold strong coffee or espresso

4 tablespoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 T-bone, rib-eye, or shell steaks (2-3 pounds total)

Whisk together the bourbon, coffee, oil, Worcestershire sauce, and pepper and pour into a shallow dish or pan that is large enough to hold 2 steaks flat (single layer, no overlapping). Cover the dish, pan, or container with plastic wrap, and marinate the meat for 1 hour in the refrigerator, then flip and marinate for a second hour. Sauté the steaks in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, about 5 minutes per side for medium rare, or 7-8 minutes per side for medium well. You can also broil or grill them. Eat with joy!

There are two keys to good crab cakes: (1) keep the binders to a minimum so you can taste the meat, and (2) form the cakes a few hours before cooking so they can be chilled in the fridge, which will help them stay together during the cooking process. As for the meat, fresh lump crab meat from blue crabs will give you an authentic Maryland-style cake. But if you can’t get fresh, a good quality canned will certainly work, too. Clare likes to brush the chilled cakes with a beaten egg just before final breading and frying. This is certainly more of an Italian-style method of frying seafood than a traditional Maryland-style, but Clare believes this step adds a delicate layer of flavor while helping to keep the cakes together during cooking. For an accompaniment to this dish, try Clare’s Thai-Style Seafood Sauce (page 330) and her Sweet and Tangy Thai-Style Coleslaw (page 331).

Makes 8 crab cakes

5 eggs

1 cup unseasoned bread crumbs (not panko)

½ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)

½ cup scallions, chopped (white and green parts)

1 teaspoon dry, ground, or powdered mustard (all are the same!)

½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

½ teaspoon sea salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground white or black pepper

1 pound Maryland blue crabmeat (or canned backfin or jumbo lump)

1 cup peanut or canola oil

½ cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs for coating)

Step 1 — Mix the crabmeat: Lightly beat 4 of the eggs in a mixing bowl, add the unseasoned bread crumbs, lemon juice, scallions, dry mustard, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly. Separate and flake the crabmeat. If the meat is fresh, make sure you pick through it carefully and remove any shell fragments. Add the crabmeat to your egg mixture and blend thoroughly.

Step 2 — Shape into cakes: Shape the crab mixture into 8 equal-sized balls, pat into cakes. Refrigerate uncooked crab cakes between two loose sheets of waxed paper for about 2 hours or up to 8. (The longer they chill, the easier they will be to handle.)

Step 3 — Finish with egg wash and breading: Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Lightly beat the remaining egg in a small bowl. Remove the crabcakes from the fridge and lightly brush each one with the egg wash. Gently roll each cake lightly in the panko bread crumbs. Do this quickly so they do not lose their chill, and do it carefully so they do not fall apart.

Step 4 — Fry the cakes: Gently set each crabcake into the hot oil and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Turn with care, only once or twice during cooking. Serve with Clare’s Thai-Style Seafood Sauce on the side (recipe follows) or your favorite condiments or relishes.

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Clare’s Thai Dipping Sauce (recipe on page 331)

In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise and Clare’s Thai Dipping Sauce. Chill and serve with seafood. This is an especially good sauce to serve with boiled shrimp (in place of cocktail sauce). It’s also delicious with Clare’s Crab Cakes (see previous recipe).

Makes about 1 cup

½ medium to large head green cabbage, shredded (about 10 cups)

1 large carrot, peeled into strips (about ½ cup)

½ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons Clare’s Thai Dipping Sauce, or to taste (recipe follows)

Salt, to taste (optional)

Place shredded cabbage and carrot peels in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the mayonnaise and dipping sauce. Fold the mayonnaise mixture into the bowl of shredded cabbage and blend well. Season with salt to taste. Chill and serve.

This is the traditional recipe used as a dipping sauce for Thai spring rolls, but this tangy, sweet, and hot sauce is also great on salads, barbecued meats, or vegetable tempura.

Makes about 1 cup

1 cup confectioners’ sugar

½ cup water

½ cup white vinegar

3 tablespoons finely chopped garlic (about 9 or 10 cloves)

2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (or one mashed anchovy fillet or ¼ teaspoon anchovy paste)

2 teaspoons sambal oelek — Indonesian hot chile sauce (or add more to increase heat)

2 tablespoons lime juice

2 tablespoons finely grated or shredded carrots

Step 1 — Combine the sugar, water, and vinegar in a small saucepan. Bring to boil and continue boiling for 5 minutes.

Step 2 — Reduce the heat to simmer and stir in the garlic, fish sauce, and sambal oelek. Simmer for 2-3 more minutes, remove from heat, and cool.

Step 3 — When room temperature, stir in the lime juice and carrots. Store by refrigerating in a plastic container.

An emerging foodie trend these days in New York City is the enjoyment of Korean fried chicken (Yangnyeom Dak), which landed on the U.S. East Coast circa 2007 and began to spread. In Korea, this dish is prepared from whole chickens cut up into bite-sized bits, which are then fried for crispy consumption in karaoke bars and pubs with beer or soju. Here in America, Korean fried chicken is prepared with wings or drumsticks, seldom the whole chicken.

Clare has created a very simple version of Korean fried chicken for the American kitchen, using a technique she honed making Buffalo chicken wings. (You can find Clare’s recipe for Buffalo wings at www.coffeehousemysteries.com.) The creation of the glaze came out of Clare’s long experience of making homemade syrups for her coffeehouse drinks. (See the Recipes & Tips section of my eighth Coffeehouse Mystery, Holiday Grind, for an array of homemade coffeehouse syrup recipes.)

If you’re feeling adventurous (gastronomically speaking) and would like to seek out the authentic Korean ingredients for which Clare has created substitutions, then follow the instructions at the end of the recipe. But remember, the secret to Korean fried chicken is its crunchy crispness, created by the double-frying process. For delicious complements to this dish, try Sweet and Tangy Thai-Style Coleslaw, page 331, or a pile of sweet potato fries.

Makes 24 pieces

10-12 chicken wings, cut into thirds, discarding tips

½ cup all-purpose flour

⅔ cup cornstarch

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 cups water

1⅓ cups dark brown sugar, packed

½ cup ketchup

½ cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

Oil, for frying (peanut, canola, or vegetable)

Step 1 — Prepare the chicken: Cut the wings into three pieces at the joints and discard the tips (or save and use for making chicken stock). Combine the flour, cornstarch, and salt and pepper in a bowl. Dredge chicken pieces through the mix, coating thoroughly.

Step 2 — Make the glaze: Place the water and sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add ketchup and whisk until the ingredients are blended. Simmer for 15-20 minutes. Mixture should thicken. Finally, add soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic and simmer for another 3-5 minutes.

Step 3 — Double fry the chicken: In a large skillet, heat the oil until rippling (or until a droplet of water bounces along the surface. In an electric skillet, the oil should be about 350° F). Gently add the wing pieces and cook for 7-9 minutes, turning once. Remove chicken from oil and let cool on a rack for 10 minutes. (Make sure the chicken dries in a single layer — using the rack lets the air circulate around each wing.) Fry a second time for an additional 7-9 minutes, until golden brown and very crisp.

Step 4 — Coat the chicken: Drain the refried chicken on a rack over paper towels for a few minutes. Place the prepared glaze in a clean skillet and warm over a low heat. When the glaze begins to bubble, roll the chicken pieces in the mixture until the chicken wings are thoroughly coated.

Note: Right after cooking, the chicken will be delightfully sticky. If you prefer a drier glaze, simply place the wings in a single layer on a foil-covered sheet pan and warm in a preheated 350° F oven for 8-10 minutes.

Authentic Korean Flavor: This recipe is a good copycat of the soy-garlic wings served at the UFC Korean fried chicken stores in New York City. If you’re after an even more authentic Korean flavor, substitute 1 tablespoon myulchi aecjeot (Korean anchovy sauce) for the tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce. And use Korean brand dark soy sauce.

This is the recipe that Clare noticed James Noonan cooking in his firehouse kitchen. (She suggested he add a bit of cayenne to kick up the flavor, which you certainly can, too, if you like.)

While Georgia’s trademark Vidalia onions are the classic onion to use in this recipe, any sweet onion will work just fine. A sweet onion contains less sulfur and more sugar and water than other onions so it’s milder and gentler on the palate. Sweet onions are grown in many places other than the state of Georgia, including Texas (Texas Sweets), California (Imperial), Washington/ Oregon (Walla Walla, by way of seeds from Italy), and Chile/ South America (OsoSweet). One last note from James’s recipe file: Caramelized Bacon Bits (page 336) make an outrageously good added topping for this dish, as well as for his Triple-Threat Firehouse Penne Mac ’n’ Cheese (page 337).

Makes 6 servings (fills a 2-quart casserole dish)

6 tablespoons butter

5 large sweet onions, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons Wondra flour (see note)

1 tablespoon ground, dry, or powdered mustard (all three are the same!)

1 cup whole milk

1 cup mild cheddar cheese, grated, plus extra for topping

⅔ cup bread crumbs, plus extra for topping

1 cup Caramelized Bacon Bits (page 336), optional

Step 1 — Sauté the onions: Preheat oven to 375° F. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large shallow pan. Toss in the onions and sauté. When they appear soft and translucent (but not brown), remove the onions from the heat. (This will take roughly 8-10 minutes.)

Step 2 — Make an easy cheese sauce: In a small saucepan, melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Stir in the Wondra flour and mustard. Slowly stir in the milk, then add the cheese. (Note: Do not add these two ingredients together — first the milk, then the cheese!). Simmer for 1-2 minutes. When the sauce thickens, it’s ready to use. Remove from heat.

Step 3 — Assemble and bake: In a 2- or 3-quart casserole or baking dish, layer the onions, cheese sauce, and bread crumbs. (The bread crumbs will help absorb excess moisture released from the onions during baking.) After the final layer of cheese sauce, sprinkle some extra cheese and bread crumbs on top. Bake 30-45 minutes. If using Caramelized Bacon Bits, sprinkle over the top of the casserole before serving.

Clare’s Onion Storage Tip: Sweet onions will keep for 4-6 weeks. Because sweet onions will absorb water, don’t store them next to potatoes. Store whole, uncut sweet onions in the refrigerator. Place them in a single layer on paper towels in your vegetable bin. For longer storage, wrap them in foil before placing in fridge. To store a cut onion, wrap tightly in plastic and place in fridge.

Clare’s Note on Wondra Flour: If you’ve never used Wondra flour, look for its blue cardboard canister in the same grocery store aisle that shelves all-purpose flour. It’s a handy little helper for thickening gravies and making quick sauces. You can make an easy white sauce with it, too. The recipe is right on the side of its cardboard container.

These bits of carmelized bacon make a delicious salty-sweet topping for cheesy casseroles. (No kidding. They’re a perfect complement for mac ’n’ cheese.) Just spread them across the top of the warm casserole before serving or present them on the side to your guests for do-it-yourself sprinkling.

Makes about 1 cup

1 pound bacon (regular cut, not thick), cut into small bite-size pieces

½ cup dark brown sugar, packed

Step 1 — Slice and sauté: On medium-high heat, sauté the bacon bits in a large skillet, stirring often, until half cooked (still soft and flexible with fat just beginning to change color) . Drain the rendered fat from pan.

Step 2 — Caramelize: Reduce the heat to medium. Add the brown sugar to the pan and stir until dissolved. Continue cooking and stirring until the bacon crisps up. Remove from heat. Drain and cool in a single layer on a sheet pan or another clean, flat surface. (Do not dry bacon bits on paper towels or they will stick! Use paper towels only to dab away the excess grease.) The longer you allow the bacon to cool and dry, the crisper it will become.

This is the best recipe for macaroni and cheese I’ve ever tasted. It’s a “triple threat” of cheeses that work together in delectable harmony to serenade your palate. And forget the typical elbow macaroni, which simply does not hold a candle to the penne macaroni. When cooked to an al dente texture, the larger penne pasta allows this chewy, cheesy casserole to linger on your taste buds that much longer. This one’s an absolute joy to eat.

Makes 8 servings (fills a 3-quart casserole dish)

1 pound dry penne macaroni

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese

1 cup grated queso blanco or mild cheddar, grated

5⅓ tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

¼ cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

2 cups whole milk

Caramelized Bacon Bits (page 336), optional

Step 1 — Cook the penne pasta: First, preheat the oven to 375° F. Coat a 3-quart, ovenproof casserole dish (or Dutch oven) with cooking spray. Cook the penne according to directions on the pasta package; do not overcook. You want the penne al dente (still chewy, not soft). Drain the penne well, removing all water, and pour into the casserole dish.

Step 2 — Make the cheese sauce: Mix the three cheeses together in a large bowl and set aside. Melt the butter over low heat, in a large saucepan. When butter is completely melted, remove the pan from heat. (Note: To prevent the cheese sauce from breaking on you, make absolutely sure you remove the pan from heat before adding these next ingredients!) Stir in the salt, pepper, flour, and the Worcestershire sauce until smooth. Gradually add in the milk. Now return the pan to the stove. Stir constantly over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened. Add in half of the cheese a little at a time, stirring with each addition.

Step 3 — Assemble and bake: After the cheese sauce is warm and well blended, pour it over the macaroni. (Note: Do not mix in the cheese sauce! Just pour it over the top. The sauce will slowly ooze down during cooking. If you mix it in at this stage, too much of the cheese sauce will end up on the bottom of the dish instead of throughout.) Cover with the remaining half of the cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes. If using Caramelized Bacon Bits, sprinkle them across the top of the casserole just before serving.

Beer is often added to onion ring batter for flavor, lightness, and crispness. But if you’re not a fan of beer (like James Noonan) and still want your rings light and crisp, there are two things you can do: (1) use cake flour because it has a lower gluten content, which makes for a crispier fry batter, and (2) substitute cold carbonated water for beer. You’ll get all the lightness of the bubbles without the taste of hops.

Makes 4 servings

2 large Vidalia onions (or another sweet onion), cut into ¼-inch-thick rings

1¼ cups cake flour (¼ cup for dusting; 1 for the batter — be sure it’s cake flour!)

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon garlic salt

Vegetable, peanut, or canola oil (enough for deep frying)

6-8 ounces cold seltzer, club soda, or carbonated water (be sure it’s cold!)

Step 1 — Prepare onions: Toss the raw onion rings in ¼ cup of the cake flour and set aside.

Step 2 — Mix dry batter ingredients: Note: For best results, do not make the batter in advance. Finish the batter just before you are ready to fry the onion rings. In a large bowl, mix 1 cup of the cake flour, cayenne pepper, baking powder, and garlic salt. Heat the oil to 350° F. Only when the oil is hot and ready for frying should you move to the next step and finish the batter.

Step 3 — Finish the batter and fry: Add enough cold carbonated water to the dry ingredients to make a loose batter. Coat your onion rings and cook at once. Fry until golden brown, 2-3 minutes. Serve hot!

Tender and sweet, these muffins taste like an old-fashioned cake doughnut, the kind you’d order at a diner counter with a hot, fresh cuppa joe.

Makes 12 muffins

For the batter:

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten with fork

1 cup whole milk

2½ cups all-purpose flour

2½ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the cinnamon topping:

½ cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Step 1 — Prepare the batter: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add in the eggs and milk and continue mixing. Stop the mixer. Sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg, and mix only enough to combine ingredients. Do not overmix at this stage or you will produce gluten in the batter and toughen the muffins.

Step 2 — Bake: Line cups in muffin pan with paper holders. Fill each up to the top (you can even mound it a little higher). Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until the muffins are lightly brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins quickly from pan and cool on a wire rack. (Muffins that remain in a hot pan may end up steaming, and the bottoms may become tough.)

Step 3 — Prepare the topping: Mix together the sugar and cinnamon to create the cinnamon topping. Brush the tops of the warm muffins with the melted butter and dust with the cinnamon topping.

Clare brought this “jelly doughnut” version of her famous muffins to the Five-Borough Bake Sale. Detective Franco is still waiting for her to make him a plain old American jelly doughnut. He’ll have to wait a little longer.

Makes 12 muffins

1 recipe Doughnut Muffin batter (page 340)

¼ cup raspberry jelly or jam

2 tablespoons butter, melted

½ cup confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Step 1 — Line cups in a muffin pan with paper holders. Fill each cup halfway with the Doughnut Muffin batter. Poke a hole into the thick batter and spoon in 1 teaspoon of raspberry jelly. Top with remaining batter (filling cup about two-thirds full).

Step 2 — Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until the muffins are lightly brown. Remove muffins quickly from pan and cool on a wire rack. (Muffins that remain in a hot pan may end up steaming, and the bottoms may become tough.)

Step 3 — Brush the tops of the muffins with the melted butter and dust with the sugar.

When Clare needs a quick chocolate fix, this is her go-to recipe. She whipped up a pan of these babies after she realized Mike Quinn had played her the previous night by keeping his secrets. On the subject of pastry chef secrets: one way to deepen the rich flavor of chocolate in any recipe is to add coffee. And the trick to keeping these brownies magnificent is (1) allow melted chocolate to cool before adding to the batter, (2) do not over bake. With this recipe, undercooking is better than overcooking. And (3) allow pan of brownies to cool completely before cutting. These moist and tender brownies will drench your taste buds with chocolate flavor, but they need time to cool and harden before they can be cut into bar cookies. (While still warm, these brownies do make an amazing dessert and can be served on a plate with ice cream or whipped cream. Otherwise, give them at least 1 hour out of the oven before cutting.)

Makes one 9-inch square pan of brownies (about 16 bars)

Cooking spray

1 cup good quality semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (or chips)

16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter

¾ cup light brown sugar

¾ cup granulated white sugar

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals (or 1½ teaspoons instant espresso powder) dissolved into 1 tablespoon hot tap water

3 large eggs

1¼ cups all-purpose flour (measure after sifting)

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Step 1 — Melt chocolate and butter: Preheat your oven to 350° F and prepare a 9-inch square pan by spraying bottom and sides with cooking spray (or buttering and lightly dusting with cocoa powder). Melt the chocolate and 4 tablespoons of the butter in a microwave safe bowl. (See note at end of recipe on melting chocolate.) Allow to cool as you make the batter.

Step 2 — Create batter: Using an electric mixer, cream the two sugars with your remaining 12 tablespoons of butter until light and fluffy. Blend in vanilla extract, coffee, eggs, and cooled melted chocolate from Step 1. After wet ingredients are blended, add in flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. (Blend well but do not overmix or you will produce gluten in the flour and toughen the batter.)

Step 3 — Bake and cool: Spread the batter into your prepared 9-inch square pan. Bake at 350° F for 30 minutes. Do not over bake these beauties. When are they done? As the batter cooks, you will see the top form a crust and begin to show traditional cracking. Gently shake the pan. If the center appears to jiggle a bit, the brownies are still underdone. Continue cooking five minutes at a time until baked batter feels solid when pan is gently shaken. You can also insert a toothpick into the very center of pan. If batter appears on toothpick, continue cooking and checking. Cool pan on a rack to allow air to properly circulate beneath the hot pan bottom. Do not cut brownies before they are completely cool or they may break apart on you. You can always enjoy still-warm brownie squares on a plate with ice cream or whipped cream. Otherwise, simply wait until cool to the touch (about 1 hour), then cut into bars and eat with joy!

Clare’s Note on Melting Chocolate: (1) Make sure bowl and stirring utensils are completely dry. Even a few drops of water can make chocolate seize up. (2) Chocolate burns easily so never heat chocolate until you see it turn completely liquid. Heat in microwave only 15 to 20 seconds to soften. Then remove and stir. Reheat if necessary for 10 seconds at a time and stir again until completely melted. (3) If you do not have a microwave, use a double boiler or create one by placing a dry, heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Place chocolate in the bowl or top of double boiler and stir until melted.

What makes this a “poor girl’s” crème brûlée? The lack of a pricey kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar. Clare suggests you do what French housewives have done for years: use the oven broiler. The caramelized crust that forms on top of the dessert will not have the hard shell-like texture that comes from using a professional kitchen torch (or even an industrial model à la the firefighter’s bake sale), but the taste of the crunchy, warm sugar atop the creamy silk of the egg custard will be sinfully satisfying. This recipe calls for 6 egg yolks, but do not discard the whites: you can use them to make Nonna’s Brutti Ma Buoni (“Ugly but Good”) Italian Cookies. (See the recipe at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com.)

Makes 4 to 8 servings (depending on ramekin size)

6 large egg yolks

⅔ cup confectioners’ sugar

1⅓ cups whole milk

1⅓ cups light cream

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For topping: ⅓ cup turbinado sugar or “sugar in the raw” (Do not substitute granulated white sugar. If you can’t find raw sugar, use light brown sugar.)

Step 1 — Make the custard: Preheat oven to 300° F. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks with the sugar until smooth. Mix in the milk, cream, and vanilla. Pour the mixture evenly into four individual 7-8-ounce size ramekins (or eight 4-ounce size ramekins). Set ramekins in a shallow roasting or baking pan and create a water bath by pouring water into the pan until it reaches halfway up the outside of the ramekins.

Step 2 — Bake the custard: Bake until set, about 1 hour. Cooking time may be longer or shorter based on your oven and the size of your ramekins. So when is it done? You are looking for the top to set. The custard may still jiggle slightly, but the top should no longer be liquid. It should feel firm (spongy but set) when lightly touched, and when a toothpick or skewer is inserted down into the custard at the edge of the cup, it should come out clean. Otherwise, keep baking and checking.

Step 3 — Chill it, baby: Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Cover each ramekin tightly with plastic wrap and chill completely in fridge for 4 hours or overnight. (Note: Covering with plastic will keep a skin from forming, but be sure to allow the custard to cool completely before covering.)

Step 4 — Caramelize the top: Okay, here’s the “poor girl” part. If you do not have a kitchen torch to caramelize the sugar, then take Clare’s advice. Before serving, sprinkle turbinado sugar over the top, set ramekins in a shallow pan filled with ice (to keep custard cool), and place under your oven broiler for a few minutes to caramelize. Check often. Do not let sugar burn. Serve immediately. (Note: If substituting light brown sugar, re-chill in fridge to harden top.)

See photos of this recipe at www.CoffeehouseMystery.com

Mix, pour, bake, eat. Given the flour and eggs on the ingredient list, this supremely easy batter filling gives you a unique cross between a dense coffee cake and a fruit pie. Blueberries are truly the star of this confection, and their fresh, sweet, slightly tart flavor bursts brightly in your mouth with every delicious bite (and it’s just as good, if not better, right out of the refrigerator the next day).

Makes one 8- or 9-inch pie

2 pints fresh blueberries

1¼ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

teaspoon salt

⅔ cup half-and-half

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 Clare’s Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust (recipe follows) or prebaked 8- or 9-inch graham cracker or shortbread crust

Step 1 — Toss blueberries with flour: Rinse and dry your blueberries. Toss with 2 tablespoons of the flour. (You are coating the berries with flour to soak up excess liquid during baking.)

Step 2 — Make batter: Preheat oven to 375° F. Using a simple hand whisk, gently blend the flour, sugar, salt, half-and-half, eggs, and cinnamon. Do not overmix or you’ll toughen the batter. Carefully fold in the flour-tossed blueberries. (You are not crushing the berries, just gently folding.)

Step 3-Bake: Pour the batter into your pie shell. If using an 8-inch crust, there may be a bit too much batter, that’s okay, just hold it back. (See my crust tips below.) Bake about 1 hour. When is it done? The trick here is not to undercook the pie. You want the batter to firm up completely. The pie is done when a knife or skewer inserted down into the pie at the center comes up with little to no loose batter sticking to it. (You will always see some blueberry juice smeared on the knife or skewer when you insert it.) After 1 hour, check your pie. If not done, keep returning to the oven for 5-minute intervals until the pie is fully baked. (Depending on your oven, it may take 5-15 extra minutes beyond the initial hour.) Remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting. Enjoy plain or with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream.

Pie Crust Tip #1 — Store-Bought: When I have no time to make a homemade crust, I simply purchase a prebaked graham cracker pie shell from my local grocery. I know that sounds odd. Premade crusts are primarily used for unbaked cream or pudding pies, but they work very well in this recipe! As the blueberry batter bakes, it caramelizes the graham cracker crumbs in the prebaked shell, giving a wonderfully sweet, satisfyingly al dente texture to your final pie crust, a nice contrast with the soft, slightly tart filling. An important point to remember if you do this: before pouring the batter into your store-bought pie shell, set the shell, aluminum pan and all, into a standard, empty metal pie pan. This added sturdiness will make the pie much easier to handle as you transfer it to the oven and finally cut and serve the pie. Final note: the store-bought crusts come with the aluminum pan’s edges folded down. Before baking the pie, be sure to unfold these edges, opening them up completely. This will make cutting the pie and removing the slices much easier!

Pie Crust Tip #2 — Homemade: Press-in graham cracker (or cookie) crusts are very easy to make. If you have time for this extra step, see Clare’s Cinnamon Graham Cracker Crust below.

CLARE’S CINNAMON GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST

Makes one 8- or 9-inch press-in pie crust

Nine 2½ × 5-inch square cinnamon-flavored graham crackers

½ cup butter, melted

Pulverize the graham crackers into crumbs using a food processor, blender, rolling pin, or another fun smashing device. This should give you about 1¼ cups of crumbs. Mix the crumbs with the melted butter. Press into an 8- or 9-inch pie pan.

For Clare’s Blueberries ’N’ Cream Coffee Cake Pie: Chill for 20 minutes before filling and baking. There’s no need to pre-bake for my blueberry pie recipe — just chill and fill.

For no-bake pie recipes: If you’d like to use this crust recipe for a cream, pudding, or other no-bake pie recipe, then you will need to bake this crust before filling. Preheat oven to 350° F and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven. Do not over bake or it may turn out too hard!

Final Note: If you prefer regular graham crackers to the cinnamon-flavored variety, be sure to add 2 tablespoons of sugar to this recipe.

“Hey, Mom, I just added butter and eggs to a cake mix and made a kind of biscotti dough out of it. What do you think?” Joy came up with this one when she was twelve. Clare used it for one of her In the Kitchen with Clare columns — and began to get a clue that her daughter might have a future in the world of food.

Makes 24 to 28 cookies

For Chocolate-Hazelnut Biscotti:

1 package chocolate cake mix

3 large eggs, 1 separated

8 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

⅔ cup hazlenuts, toasted and chopped (see note)

White or semisweet chocolate chips (for dipping), optional

For Vanilla-Almond Biscotti:

1 package yellow cake mix

3 large eggs, 1 separated

8 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup slivered almonds, toasted (see note)

White or semisweet chocolate chips (for dipping), optional

Step 1 — Form the dough: Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Using an electric mixer, blend the cake mix, 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk, butter, flour, and nuts. When a dough forms, turn off the mixer. Using your hands, form a dough ball in the bowl. Turn the ball onto the lined baking sheet.Work the dough until smooth and shape into two cylinders of about 1½ inches in diameter and 10-inches long. There should be a few inches of space on the baking sheet between the two logs. (They will expand during baking.) Now generously brush the top, sides, and ends of each log with the egg white (no need to brush the bottom and no need to use all of the egg white). This brushing will help keep the baked log together when you slice it later.

Step 2 — Bake and slice the logs: Bake for about 25-30 minutes. The dough logs are finished when they are cracking on the surface, fairly firm to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes up clean. Remove the hot pan from the oven. The logs are very fragile at this point so do not move them or they will break apart. Simply cool them on the pan for 2 to 3 hours. The pan should be placed on a rack to allow air to circulate beneath the pan bottom. Note: If you try to cut the logs while they are still the least bit warm, you will see the cookies crumbling as you cut. This is heartbreaking! Let the logs cool completely before cutting. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut the log into slices on the diagonal. Slices should be about ¾- to 1-inch thick.

Step 3 — Biscotti means baked again: Lay the biscotti slices flat on a sheet pan and bake for 8-10 minutes on one side. Then turn them over carefully. Don’t burn your fingers and don’t allow cookies to break apart! Bake on the flip side for 6-8 minutes. (You are literally toasting the cookies to give them more flavor and make them harder.) Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before handling or storing.

Step 4 — Optional chocolate dip: If desired, melt a cup or two of white or semisweet chocolate chips. Dip the top edges of the cooled biscotti slices into the warm chocolate and set on wax paper. (Or dip half the cookie into the chocolate — your call.) Serve after chocolate has hardened. (For tips on melting chocolate, see Clare’s Magnificent Melt-in-Your-Mouth Mocha Brownies recipe on page 342.)

How to Toast Nuts: Spread nuts in a single later on a cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350° F for 8-10 minutes. Stir once or twice during toasting to prevent scorching.