Tasty Tuesday & A Teaser or Two ~ Author T.A. Chase

Thanks for visiting A Passion for Romance today.

 

We have started a new schedule for Tuesdays called

 

Tasty Tuesday with a Teaser.

 

Every Tuesday we'll welcome an author who will share a foodie type post with a recipe or two and some book promo!

 

Today please help me welcome T.A. Chase :)

 

 

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Thank you for having me today.  I’m T.A. Chase and I write gay romance for MLR Press, among other publishers. I’ve been writing gay-or m/m-romance since 2006 and loving it.

I know this post is supposed to be about food in some way or another. Since I don’t have any story centered around food or foodies, I got thinking about which of my characters had the potential to turn into a foodie and my mind landed on Mordred from my Dragons series at MLR Press.

He and his lover appear in all three Dragon books, but in the first one, Here Be Dragons, he lived in the Realm of Dreams and food probably just appeared without any thought on his part. More than likely, it tasted awesome as well. Since it is the Realm of Dreams, they wouldn’t have yucky food to eat. Lol

By the time we reached Fighting Dragons, Mordred and George are mortal now and living in Dublin, Ireland. Mordred is learning how to cook by watching cooking shows and he’s discovering how much he enjoys it.

So I can totally see Mordred becoming a foodie and an awesome baker because he’s a sensualist. He’d love the taste of the spices and the different complex flavors that can be created with just the right blend of sweet and sour or hot and salty.

I’m not a foodie and I’m also slowly becoming vegan. It’s difficult to keep on track at times because there aren’t a ton of restaurants in my area that cater to vegans. So I make do with what I can if I go out for lunch or dinner.

Of course, like any kind of cooking-vegan or otherwise-it’s much easier to cook at home. I never used to cook, but now I’m finding that I actually enjoy doing it and I love to bake. Though I tend to give the cupcakes and cookies I make away. I really don’t need to eat all of them. lol

Going vegan is a choice I made both for health reasons and moral reasons. I don’t like how we treat the cows, pigs, chickens, and another other animals used to feed us. Plus I’ve found that for me….I feel better.

But I’m not going to preach or anything. Each person makes their own choice on how to live their lives and I’m not about to get into people’s faces about it. Since I don’t want them in mine. Lol

Before I go though, I thought I’d share two of my favorite vegan recipes. I’m not confident enough in my own cooking yet to cook something without one. Lol Maybe someday I’ll create my own recipes in the kitchen.

Both of these recipes can be found at The Post Punk Kitchen. http://www.theppk.com/ A vegan website whose owner, Isa Chandra Moskowitz is an amazing cook. :) The first is a risotto (because I adore risotto and she has several wonderful vegan risotto recipes.) The second is a cookie recipe for dessert and my thought is if they are too spicy, you can cut back on the cayenne pepper. On the other hand, if you like them spicier, you can add more, whichever you prefer. :)

Thank you so much for having me and I hope you enjoyed my post and might consider trying out these recipes below.

If you’d like to check my other books out, stop by my website, www.tachase.com Also, if you’re interested in checking out my Dragon series at MLR Press, here’s the link for my author page at MLR. http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowAuthorBooks.php?list=_ABKLIST092&author=T.A.!Chase

 

Here Be Dragons:

Kael Hammerson works at a research lab in Ireland. He knows that Ireland is a strange place for a herpetologist to work, but he's running from an abusive relationship and Ireland is the fartherest away he could get. It's been a year since he left his ex-partner and his heart is ready to heal. Hugh Price is interested in Kael, but he's not sure if being Kael's boss will hamper any budding relationship between them. One day, a strange sea creature is brought to Hugh's attention and he knows Kael's the only one who might be able to figure the origin of the specimen. Dragons have returned to the mortal world, but Gaia, the earth mother, needs Kael and Hugh's help to keep the creatures from making humans extinct.

 

Buy Link:   Amazon

 

Fighting Dragons:

On St. Patrick's Day, when Irish magic is strongest, a meddling elf gives Bailey Stevenson and David Wellmine a chance to embrace the love simmering between them.

 

 

Sergeant Bailey Stevenson and Captain David Wellmine dance around their attraction to each other. Bailey is more than willing to take their friendship in a more intimate direction, but David can't climb out from under his father's thumb long enough to take the next step. On St. Patrick's Day, when Irish magic is strongest, a meddling elf gives Bailey and David a chance to step beyond their doubts and fears to embrace the love simmering below the surface between them. But when the spell is over, will David break the chains of his father's plans for him and give Bailey his heart? Or will Bailey suffer a harsher wound than the ones left by the war?

 

Buy Link:   Amazon

 

 

 

Chili Pumpkin Cranberry Risotto with Spicy Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

3 lb sugar pumpkin, or any winter squash (butternut, kabocha, acorn, what have you)

2 tablespoons olive oil


1 small yellow onion, diced small


3 cloves garlic, minced


1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger


4 hot red chilies, seeded and thinly sliced


1 1/2 cups arborio rice


1/3 cup dry white wine


5 cups vegetable broth, kept warm on the stove top


1/2 cup dried cranberries


1 cup coconut milk


1/2 teaspoon salt


1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (grate it fresh if you can)


1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon


juice of one lime


 1 teaspoon agave or pure maple syrup

 

For the pumpkin seeds, if using:


2 teaspoons paprika


1/8 teaspoon cayenne


1/8 teaspoon salt

First the pumpkin needs to be roasted. I would suggest doing this well in advance of preparing the risotto for two reasons. One, you’ll need it to cool down so you can peel and chop it. And two, that way it doesn’t seem like you’re cooking for so long and the actual risotto takes only about 35 minutes. If you’re using pumpkin you can also roast the seeds to use as a garnish. Yeah, you can roast the seeds of other squashes, I just don’t think they taste very good.

So. To prepare the pumpkin and seeds: Preheat oven to 350 F. Hack pumpkin in half and remove the seeds and stringy bits with a tablespoon. Reserve the seeds and place them in a colander to clean. Lightly oil a baking sheet and place the pumpkin face down on sheet. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork, but not completely mushy. Once cooled, peel off the skin and chop pumpkin into bite sized pieces.

In the meantime, wash the pumpkin seeds and dry completely with a kitchen towel. Place on a baking sheet and sprinkle lightly with a little olive oil, toss to coat. You can toast them in the oven while the pumpkin bakes, it usually takes about 15 minutes. Toss once or twice. Remove from oven and place in a bowl to cool. Once cooled, sprinkle with the spices to coat.

And now and only now, are you ready to actually start the risotto. Have your broth ready and warming on the stove before you begin.

Preheat a heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. Saute the onion, garlic, ginger and chilies in the oil for about 7 minutes, stirring often so you don’t burn it. Add the risotto and stir to coat with oil. Add wine to deglaze the pot, then add first cup of vegetable broth. Use a wooden spoon to stir until most of the water is absorbed. You don’t have to stir the entire time, just as frequently as you can stand.

Continue adding veggie broth then stirring a few more times, until only a cup of broth is left. When you’re at the last cup, add the pumpkin and cranberries and repeat stirring. When most of the liquid has absorbed, add salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and lime juice. Stir in coconut milk. Cook for about 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust salt. At this point you can also add a teaspoon or so of agave. This doesn’t make it sweet per se, it just enhances the natural sweetness of the squash and cranberries.

Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving, to let the flavors “marry.” Scoop into bowls and garnish with pumpkin seeds.

 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodles

Makes 2 dozen Cookies

A beautiful crackle topped chocolate cookie with a spicy cayenne kick and a sugary cinnamon coating. Sold?

For the topping:


1/3 cup sugar


1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 

For the cookies:


1/2 cup canola oil


1 cup sugar


1/4 cup pure maple syrup


3 tablespoons almond milk (Or your preferred non-dairy milk)


1 teaspoon vanilla extract


1 teaspoon chocolate extract (or more vanilla extract if you have no chocolate)


1 2/3 cups flour


1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda


1/4 teaspoon salt


1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


1/2 teaspoon cayenne

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.

Mix the topping ingredients together on a flat plate. Set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, use a fork to vigorously mix together oil,  sugar, syrup, and milk. Mix in extracts.

Sift in remaining ingredients, stirring as you add them. Once all ingredients are added mix until you’ve got a pliable dough.

Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Pat into the sugar topping to flatten into roughly 2 inch discs. Transfer to baking sheet, sugar side up, at least 2 inches apart (they do spread). This should be easy as the the bottom of the cookies should just stick to your fingers so you can just flip them over onto the baking sheet.  Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, they should be a bit spread and crackly on top. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.

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Thanks so much for stopping in today! 

Stay tuned for next Tuesday when we will have

Author Harlie Williams sharing goodies !!!