Funeral at Fifty-Mile

Murder, She Wrote - S1:E21

Jessica is in Wyoming! She’s hanging out in an old-fashioned wild-west town where most folk sport bolo ties and cowboy hats.

An over-ambitious, Stetson-wearing sheriff is very much out of his depth when a murder is committed, but luckily J.B. happens to be on hand to advise.

This is the first episode of Murder, She Wrote to feature the actor William Windon, but he’s playing a small-town lawyer, not our beloved Dr Seth Hazlitt. I can only imagine that he was so good in the lawyer role, and the onscreen chemistry with Angela Lansbury was so fabulous that the casting director proposed him for the plum role of Seth later on. 

Kathleen Beller plays the daughter of the murder victim.

After you and your guests are full of slices of her apple pie, I strongly suggest an arm-wrestling tournament! The brassy “rhinestone cowgirl” character called Sally is an absolute expert at this. I just love her spangly outfits

and the massive pitcher of tomato juice that she requires when “working on a heavy hangover.

How I would love to have a maid to bring me my hair of the dog!

Kathleen Beller’s Apple Pie With Cheese Crust

2 cups sifted all-purpose/plain flour

1½ teaspoons salt (divided use)

⅔ cup butter or shortening

1 cup shredded/grated Cheddar cheese

6 cups tart green apples, sliced, pared and cored

¾ cup sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Dash of salt

2 tablespoons flour 

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2 to 3 tablespoons butter or margarine

Small amount of milk

Preheat oven to 450℉.

Combine the two cups of flour and one teaspoon of the salt in a mixing bowl. Cut the butter and cheese into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles cornmeal. Sprinkle six tablespoons of cold water evenly over the surface; stir with a fork until all the dry particles are moistened, and the pastry clings together. Shape into a ball. Cover with aluminium foil and refrigerate overnight; remove from the refrigerator ½ hour before rolling out. Using half of the mixture, roll out to form a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured surface, using a light motion from the centre to the edge. Line a 9-inch pie plate with the lower crust. Place the apples in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, salt, flour and lemon juice. Coat the apple slices well. Place the apple mixture into the crust and dot with butter. Roll out the remaining pastry for the top crust; cut vents to allow steam to escape during baking. Place the pastry top over the filling; seal and flute the edges. Brush the top lightly with milk. Bake for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven to 350℉ and bake for 30 minutes longer, or until the crust is golden brown. Serve hot or at room temperature topped with a scoop of vanilla or banana ice cream. 

Makes one 9-inch pie.

Next time on Murder, She Cooked a recipe from the kitchen of the legendary Cyd Charisse!

Here come all the linky-links!

More movie star recipes can be found over at the Silver Screen Suppers blog - 15 years and counting.

You’ll find me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook by searching for Silver Screen Suppers.

Would you like to test a recipe for the forthcoming Murder, She Cooked book? Leave a comment on this post or drop me a line via this link to my contact page.

All testers will receive a postcard featuring a specially commissioned illustration of an Angela Lansbury recipe, artwork by Miriam Figueras. Not this big though!

If you like Columbo, you might like my Cooking With Columbo cookbook

Got a Joan Crawford fan in your life? My Cooking With Joan Crawford book is only available from Blurb.

Only a few copies of the Vincent Price cookbook left so don’t delay if you’d like one of these.

Check out Tim Benzie’s Solve-Along-A Murder-She-Wrote website here. His shows are an absolute HOOT - Tim did a private show for my hen night. Can you guess which episode we did?

Check out Thom Kofoed’s etsy shop for loads of great goodies plus he’s doing T-shirts now, including one featuring our beloved Angela Lansbury.

Cheerio for now, tune in for another episode next week!