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 !!!
