Coconut Layer Cake Murder Page 19
Hannah’s 4th Note: I like to serve my Lemon Glazed Chicken Breasts over my variation of Holiday Rice. My niece Tracey calls it Mushy Roomy Room Rice. This rice is made in a casserole and baked in the oven for 2 hours. You can bake it in advance and simply reheat it before you’re ready to serve your Lemon Glazed Chicken Breasts.
TRACEY’S MUSHY ROOMY ROOM RICE
Preheat oven to 350°F., rack in the middle position.
Ingredients:
1 cup long-grain brown rice, uncooked
1 cup wild rice, uncooked
⅔ cup brown Basmati rice, uncooked
3 and ⅓ cups chicken stock
3 chicken bouillon cubes
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅓ cup red onions, finely diced
2 cans (13.25 ounces net weight) button mushrooms (or any other kind of mushrooms that you like)
½ cup butter (one stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound)
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you can’t find one of the varieties of uncooked rice, just substitute any other variety that you like. Your goal is to come up with 2 and ⅔ cups of mixed, uncooked rice. If you can find a bag of uncooked mixed rice or uncooked rice medley that you like, you can use that as long as the total weight is 1 pound of uncooked rice.
Michelle’s 1st Note: If you want a shortcut to this recipe, you can use those Uncle Ben pouches of rice that you bake in the microwave. Just make enough pouches for your guests, dump them in a buttered casserole dish, mix in any seasonings you like, and cover the casserole with heavy-duty foil. Then all you have to do is stick the rice in your oven at a low temperature and serve it when your Lemon Glazed Chicken Breasts are ready.
Michelle’s 2nd Note: If you make your rice this way, please don’t tell Hannah.
Pour the uncooked rice in a strainer and rinse it off. Toss it a bit in the strainer to make sure to wash off any dust on the rice.
After you’ve rinsed your rice, pat it dry with paper towels. Leave it in the strainer in the sink.
Prepare a large round glass casserole dish by spraying the inside with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
Take out a saucepan big enough to hold the chicken broth and the rice. (You won’t add the uncooked rice to your saucepan until everything else has been cooked, so leave the rice in the strainer for now.)
Measure out 3 and ⅓ cups of chicken broth and pour it into the saucepan.
Add the chicken bouillon cubes.
Heat the bouillon cubes and broth on HIGH heat on the stovetop until the mixture reaches the boiling point.
Turn the burner down to MEDIUM heat and stir until the bouillon cubes are dissolved.
Add the black pepper to the saucepan. Stir well.
Add the finely chopped red onions to the saucepan. Mix it in.
Open the cans of mushrooms, drain off the liquid, and add them to the saucepan. Stir them in and then turn off the burner and pull the saucepan over to a cold burner.
Add the rinsed rice to the saucepan and stir until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Give everything a final stir.
Transfer the rice mixture in the saucepan to the greased casserole dish.
Remember the butter you didn’t use? Here’s where it comes into play. Unwrap the stick of butter, cut it into 8 pieces, and arrange the pieces on top of the rice mixture.
If the casserole dish has a cover, put it on. If it doesn’t, cover the casserole dish with heavy-duty foil.
Bake your Mushy Roomy Room Rice at 350°F. for 2 hours.
When 2 hours have passed, take off the casserole lid or the foil and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can assemble this rice dish ahead of time and refrigerate it until you are ready to bake it. Then all you have to do is pop it into a preheated oven and bake it.
Yield: Enough Mushy Roomy Room Rice for 6 people.
MANDARIN ORANGE BUNDT DESSERT (BETHIE’S ORANGE PAKE)
Do not preheat oven.
This dessert must “settle” for 30 minutes before baking.
2 twenty-ounce (approximate weight) loaves of sliced bread (I used Oroweat white sandwich bread)
2 fifteen-ounce net weight cans of Mandarin orange segments (I used Dole brand)
2 cups golden raisins (I used Sun-Maid brand)
1 and ½ cups white (granulated) sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup salted butter (2 sticks, 8 ounces, ½ pound)
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7 large eggs
2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
Sprinkling of grated nutmeg (freshly grated is best, of course)
Hannah’s 1st Note: Lisa and I always use sandwich loaves of white bread because it’s easier and faster to cut off the crusts. There are usually 22 slices per loaf, but you won’t use the end pieces.
Prepare your baking pan before you begin by generously buttering and flouring the inside of a Bundt pan and dumping out the excess flour. Alternatively, you can use Pam Baking Spray, which contains flour. If you use the baking spray, spray the inside of the pan, let it sit for 5 minutes, and then spray it a second time.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: Through experience, I’ve learned some tips for buttering and flouring a baking pan. You can make this task easier by buttering it (don’t forget to butter the middle part), dumping in a quarter-cup of flour, and sealing the open top of the pan with plastic wrap. Then you can shake it every which way to Sunday and your flour won’t fall out on the floor. (Just make sure the plastic wrap is on tightly, it certainly won’t hurt to hold it over the sink or kitchen wastebasket as a precaution.)
Divide your loaves of bread into thirds. (I used 7 slices, 7 slices, and 6 slices per loaf.) Stack the slices of bread on a cutting board and cut off the crusts. Then cut the slices into 4 triangles. (Just make an “X” with your knife and that’ll do it.) Repeat until all the slices, except the end pieces, are cut.
Arrange one-third of the crust-less bread triangles in the bottom of your Bundt pan, covering as much of the bottom as you can.
Open the two cans of Mandarin oranges and drain them in a strainer placed over a bowl. (You will use some of the juice for the Orange Soft Sauce you’ll make later.)
Scatter HALF of the Mandarin orange sections in your strainer over the bread triangles in the Bundt pan. (You’ll use the other half of the orange sections later on in the recipe.)
Measure out ONE cup of golden raisins and spread them out on top of the orange sections in the pan.
Sprinkle only ONE-HALF cup of the sugar on top of the raisins in your pan.
Sprinkle the sugar with 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon. (That’s half of the cinnamon.)
Unwrap ONE stick of butter (½ cup) and heat it in the microwave for 45 seconds on HIGH. Pour it over the ingredients in your Bundt pan.
Repeat the whole thing with the second part of the bread, placing the triangles on top of the ingredients in your Bundt pan.
Scatter the remaining Mandarin orange sections on top of the bread triangles.
Sprinkle the remaining golden raisins on top of the Mandarin orange sections.
Scatter a HALF-CUP of the sugar over the raisins and top it with ONE teaspoon of ground cinnamon.
Unwrap and melt the second stick of salted butter for 45 seconds in the microwave and pour that over the second layer in your Bundt pan.
It’s time for the final third of the bread triangles. Place them on top of the ingredients that are already in the Bundt pan.
Press the bread down a little with your impeccably clean hands to make it fit in the pan.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining HALF-CUP of sugar.
Get out a mixing bowl large enough to hold 7 eggs and 2 cups of heavy cream.
Crack the eggs into the bowl and whip them up with a wire whisk (or with an electric mixer). Be careful not to over-beat the eggs. You’re making custard, not sponge cake.
Add the heavy cream to the bowl. Mix it in thoroughly.
Place your Bundt pan on a cookie sheet with sides, o
r another shallow pan that can hold any spills. This will be your drip pan.
Pour the egg and cream mixture SLOWLY over the ingredients in the Bundt pan. You may have to stop pouring several times so that the Bundt pan does not overflow.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: It will take time for the custard mixture to soak into the bread, so don’t hurry with the pouring. If the liquid threatens to spill over the top or run down the fluted tube in the middle of your Bundt pan, just wait a minute or two to let it soak in. When the liquid level goes down, add more custard mixture.
WARNING: You may not be able to add all of the custard mixture to the Bundt pan. That depends on how much the kind of bread you bought will soak up. Don’t overfill and risk spillage.
Hannah’s 4th Note: I was able to use all of my custard mixture. The Oroweat white sandwich bread soaked it all up.
Once you’ve added all the custard mixture that you can, grate a little nutmeg over the top of your Bundt pan and let it sit on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes. This standing time is very important!
When 30 minutes are up, preheat the oven to 350°F., rack in the middle position.
When your oven comes up to temperature, place your Bundt pan AND the pan you’re using for spills in the oven. Bake at 350°F. for 70 (that’s seventy) minutes.
Take your Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert out of the oven and place it on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack.
Let your dessert cool for 25 minutes and then place a cake platter over the top of your Bundt pan.
Using pot holder or oven mitts, flip the Bundt pan and the platter over so that the platter is on the bottom.
Give the Bundt pan and platter a gentle shake and set it on a towel on the counter.
Carefully lift the Bundt pan. The Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert should fall right out of the pan and rest on the platter. If it does not, pick it up again and give it another little shake. Keep repeating until the dessert has loosened from the pan and is resting on the platter.
If you don’t plan to serve your dessert until much later, or even the next day, let it cool completely on the platter.
When your dessert is cool, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it. Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert will keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days.
To serve: Dust your Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert with a sprinkling of powdered sugar and then pour a bit of Hard Sauce (with alcohol) or Soft Sauce (without alcohol) over the top and let it drizzle down the sides. You can decorate the top with more Mandarin orange slices if you wish, but it’s pretty just as it is.
Carry your Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert to the table so your guests can admire it. Then slice pieces, just as you would with a Bundt cake, place them on dessert plates, and pass the Hard Sauce and the Soft Sauce. Make sure your guests have cups of strong coffee or icy-cold glasses of milk to drink.
Hannah’s 5th Note: This dessert is best served slightly warm or at room temperature. I pour my Mandarin Orange Hard Sauce and my Mandarin Orange Soft Sauce into separate gravy boats and tie a ribbon on the handle of the gravy boat with the Soft Sauce. I do this so that my nieces, Bethie and Tracey, know which sauce to use on their slices of dessert.
Recipes for the Mandarin Orange Hard Sauce and the Mandarin Orange Soft Sauce follow.
MANDARIN ORANGE HARD SAUCE
Ingredients:
½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound) salted butter, softened
2 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar (there’s no need to sift unless it’s got lumps)
2 Tablespoons ( cup) Triple Sec or any other orange liqueur
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you don’t feel like going out to get orange liqueur, you can substitute regular brandy, or even rum.
Make sure the butter has softened to room temperature.
Place the butter in a medium-size mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat the butter at LOW speed for 2 minutes.
Turn up the mixer speed to MEDIUM and beat the butter until it is light and fluffy (approximately 2 additional minutes).
Turn down the mixer to LOW speed again and beat as you add one cup of the powdered sugar. Beat until it is combined with the butter.
With the mixer running on LOW, add one Tablespoon of the Triple Sec or orange liqueur and beat until it is combined.
With the mixer still running on LOW speed, add the final cup of powdered sugar. Beat until it is well combined.
Add the final Tablespoon of Triple Sec or orange liqueur and beat the mixture until it is smooth.
Check your Mandarin Orange Hard Sauce for consistency. It should be fairly thick, but still pourable. If it’s too thin, beat in more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a bit more orange liqueur.
Store your Mandarin Orange Hard Sauce in a tightly-covered container in the refrigerator. Take it out thirty minutes or so before serving your Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert.
Yield: Enough hard sauce to serve with your Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you’re in a hurry and you don’t feel like making a hard sauce or a soft sauce, instant vanilla pudding made according to the package directions and thinned with a little additional Triple Sec or orange liqueur will do nicely.
MANDARIN ORANGE SOFT SAUCE
Ingredients for Soft Sauce:
½ cup (1 stick, 4 ounces, ¼ pound) salted butter, softened
2 cups powdered (confectioners) sugar (there’s no need to sift unless it’s got lumps)
2 Tablespoons ( cup) Mandarin orange juice (saved from when you drained your cans of Mandarin oranges)
Hannah’s 1st Note: If you didn’t save the juice when you drained the cans of Mandarin oranges, you can use 2 Tablespoons of regular orange juice as a substitute. If you don’t have any orange juice, use 2 Tablespoons of milk as a substitute.
Make sure the butter has softened to room temperature.
Place the butter in a medium-size mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer.
Beat the butter on LOW speed for 2 minutes.
Turn up the mixer speed to MEDIUM and beat the butter until it is light and fluffy (approximately 2 additional minutes).
Turn down the mixer to LOW speed and beat as you add one cup of the powdered sugar. Beat until it is combined with the butter.
With the mixer running on LOW, add one Tablespoon of Mandarin orange juice (or regular orange juice). Beat until it is well combined.
With the mixer still running on LOW speed, add the final cup of powdered sugar. Beat until it is well combined.
Add the final Tablespoon of Mandarin orange juice (or regular orange juice) and beat the mixture until it is smooth.
Check your Orange Soft Sauce for consistency. It should be fairly thick, but still pourable. If it’s too thin, beat in more powdered sugar. If it’s too thick, add a bit more orange juice.
Store your Orange Soft Sauce in a tightly-covered container in the refrigerator. Take it out thirty minutes or so before serving your Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert.
Yield: Enough soft sauce to serve with your Mandarin Orange Bundt Dessert.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: If you’re in a hurry and you don’t feel like making a hard Sauce or a soft Sauce, some instant vanilla pudding made according to the package directions and thinned with a little additional orange juice and/or Triple Sec will work fine.
Chapter Seventeen
Hannah woke up the next morning to find the winter sun peeking through Norman’s master bedroom window, bathing the two cats sleeping on their respective pillows in a pale glow. She sat up quickly and turned to glance at the clock Norman had on his nightstand. Seven o’clock! She’d overslept and she’d planned to be at The Cookie Jar when Aunt Nancy and Lisa came in at six in the morning.