Friday, Food, and Recipes from Cathy Bryant, author of Crossroads

A Healthy Serving of ???

by Cathy Bryant

Not only am I a foodie, but I married a foodie. And as a self-confessed foodie, I see it as my responsibility to tantalize my reader's taste buds with lots of food descriptions in the course of the Miller's Creek novels. (In writer's lingo, it's called sensory detail.) ;)
Anyway, I thought you might enjoy some of the recipes that the characters in the latest stand-alone book CROSSROADS enjoy. Bon appetit!

Carter's Crab Dip

(Carter, the brawny soldier-turned-policeman and hero of CROSSROADS, uncovers the heroine's penchant for seafood. He creates this special seafood dip for a picnic lunch the two share.)
INGREDIENTS:

1 8-oz. cream cheese and 1 3-oz. cream cheese, softened

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 T. lemon juice

2 T. mayonnaise

1/2 small finely chopped white onion

garlic powder and salt to taste

1/2 bottle of cocktail sauce on top (can substitute Tabasco sauce if you want the heat)

1 7-oz. can of crab meat

fresh or dried parsley

cocktail crackers

DIRECTIONS:

1. Blend the first six ingredients together well, and spread thin on a serving dish.

2. Spread the cocktail sauce on top as a sort of icing.

3. Garnish with fresh or dried parsley.

4. Chill in the refrigerator, and serve with cocktail crackers.

* * *

Mara's Roast Beef

(Mara, the bitter single mom, cynic, and heroine from CROSSROADS, knows full well that Carter Callahan is a meat-and-potatoes kinda guy. She fixes this meal when he and his daughter Chloe come over for dinner.)
INGREDIENTS:

1 (3-1/2- to 4-pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed

1/2 c. soy sauce

1 can beef broth

1 bay leaf

3 to 4 peppercorns

1 t. dried and crushed rosemary

1 t. dried thyme

1 t. garlic powder

12 French sandwich rolls, split

Provolone cheese

sautéed onion (if desired)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place trimmed roast in a 5-quart slow cooker. Combine soy sauce and next six ingredients; pour over roast. Add water to slow cooker until roast is almost covered.

2. Cook, covered, on LOW for 7 hours or until very tender. Remove roast and reserve the broth for dipping, if desired. Shred roast with a fork.

3. Can be eaten alone or with sandwich rolls. If eaten with rolls, place the roast on the open-faced rolls, add sautéed onions (if desired), and Provolone cheese. Place in your oven on high broil, until bread is toasty and cheese is bubbly.

Yield: 12 servings (or one hungry policeman).

* * *

Hope you enjoy these delightful delicacies from Mara and Carter, the hero and heroine of CROSSROADS (a Miller's Creek novel and Christian romance by Cathy Bryant). To find out more about the book, please visit: http://www.CatBryant.com/Crossroads.

For more mouth-watering recipes from the back-roads Texas town of Miller's Creek--where folks are friendly, the iced tea is sweet, and Mama Beth's front porch beckons--snag this free PDF download of the Miller's Creek Cookbook: http://www.catbryant.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Millers-Creek-Cookbook-1.pdf