Sneaky peek at a chapter for the forthcoming Cooking the Detectives book
I would love to hear what you think.
Greetings Cabot Cove Clubbers! I’ve recently finished the first draft of my next big book. It’s called Cooking the Detectives and it will have a similar format to Murder, She Cooked. There will be episode guides and movie star recipes, but this time, it will be about many different cop shows. I’m hoping that you will find other TV detectives that you love within its pages, and maybe some that you aren’t familiar with - yet…
There follows the draft of a chapter about Murder, She Wrote for members of the Cabot Cove Club (aka my lovely paid subscribers). As I know you are all big fans, I’d love to hear what you think. Also, which do you fancy seeing next?
Here we go with the draft chapter…
Murder, She Wrote
Taster episode - Who Threw the Barbitals in Mrs. Fletcher’s Chowder? S4:E12
Food plays a lovely part in the much-loved Murder, She Wrote, often illustrating the caring nature of our heroine, Jessica Fletcher. She regularly rustles up pies for neighbours and cakes and cookies for folks who drop by to sit at her kitchen table and discuss the latest goings-on in Cabot Cove. J.B. can easily conjure up something appetising from a couple of cans of tuna fish and has a signature Seafood Rice Dish for the Garden Club’s Casserole Dinner. Sometimes, her bosom buddy Dr Seth Hazlitt joins her in the kitchen to cook for them both, and Sheriff Tupper seems to sense when this is going on, turning up and lurking by the stove, begging for a spoonful.
Our taster episode just had to be this one. Jessica throws a dinner party, and Sheriff Tupper suggests the menu, “a real New England dinner with lobsters and clams, and maybe some of your cranberry cake. And don’t forget your Cabot Cove Chowder; that’s my favourite.”
Ultimately, J.B. offers baked clams as an appetiser and lobsters to follow, although the guests don’t quite get to those. After eating Jessica’s chowder, everyone becomes alarmingly incapacitated. Keep your eyes on whatever you are cooking, lest someone sneaks in some Barbitals!
I wish I had a clam chowder recipe from Angela Lansbury’s kitchen, but alas, no. Angela herself was a whizz in the kitchen, just like Jessica. In my Murder, She Cooked book, I have gathered together ten of her recipes, so if you are a Fangela, you could seek that out. As promised in the episode guide for Magnum P.I. on page ***, here’s Angela’s recipe for a date and walnut cake. This is a 100% dependable recipe and something I can imagine Jessica Fletcher baking as a sweet treat for Amos and Seth.
Angela Lansbury’s Signature Dish - Walnut Date Bread
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon baking soda/bicarbonate of soda
1 cup chopped pitted dates
⅔ cup walnut pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1¾ cups unbleached all-purpose/plain flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Strawberry cream cheese, optional*
Preheat the oven to 325℉/165℃/gas mark 3
Generously oil a 9x5-inch loaf pan and dust it with flour.
Place the butter, baking soda, dates and 1 cup of boiling water into a heatproof mixing bowl. Let this cool. Mix in the walnuts, sugar, egg yolk, flour and vanilla extract. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour.
Let cool for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack. Slice and serve with strawberry cream cheese and freshly brewed tea.
* If you can’t buy strawberry cream cheese where you are, rustling some up is simple. Add 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar/icing sugar and 1 cup fresh strawberries to 8 oz cream cheese and whizz up in a food processor.
There you have it my lovelies, do let me know what you think. If you have a go at Angela’s cake, drop me a line. It is SO GOOD and easy too. A video demo of this cake will be coming sometime soon x