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The Chamomile Conspiracy
A Garden Lover Cozy Mystery
Seasons Of The Witch
by Louise Marvin
The Chamomile Conspiracy: A Garden Lover Cozy Mystery (Seasons of the Witch)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Setting – Maine
Witchy Mysteries (September 30, 2022)
Print length : 311 pages
ASIN : B0BCM2VJ17
GoodReads Link Coming Soon
Green witch Pax Thatcher leads a busy life. Between working two jobs, applying to grad school, and helping out at the old herb shop that belongs to her friend and mentor, Miss Millie, Pax doesn’t have much time for practicing spells. She’s lucky she can keep her enormous plant collection alive.
Fortunately, she can talk to her plants, and they talk back.
But when Pax arrives for a visit to her seaside hometown of Honesty Harbor, Maine, and discovers Miss Millie is missing, she drops everything to find her. When she does, it’s just in time to hear Miss Millie’s dying words:
Poison. Find them.
Unable to believe anyone would want to murder the kind old woman, Pax vows to fulfill Miss Millie’s last request. But how can a boring little witch who doesn’t even own a cauldron solve a murder? Ask the only witness—a potted plant—what happened.
But the more she listens to her leafy allies, the more questions she has. And when others begin to view her as the prime suspect, Pax must hurry to weed out the killer before someone else gets whacked.
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Recipe
In The Chamomile Conspiracy, teashop and restaurant owner Daniel says his new chef is from Menorca and as a result there’s a new soup on the menu, Caldereta de Langosta!
It is a lobster stew that takes advantage of Honesty Harbor’s proximity to good lobster grounds and ingredients that bring to mind the Mediterranean. A perfect summer dish, especially if you’re fortunate enough to live on the coast where the lobsters roam!
It’s a bit labor-intensive, and considering it contains both lobsters and saffron it might put a dent in your wallet, but if you want something super savory and so different than your traditional soups like clam chowder, you should give Caldereta de Langosta a try! Especially for a special occasion!
Here’s the rest of what you need:
- Two 2 pound live lobsters (female if possible!)
- 1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil (get the good stuff)
- 1 large Spanish onion, diced a quarter-inch
- 2 plum tomatoes, chopped coarse
- 4 thinly-sliced garlic cloves
- Sea salt and ground black pepper
- 1 Bay leaf
- 2 large sliced green peppers
- 1 liter stock from the lobsters
Topping
- 3 thinly sliced garlic cloves (no vampires are gonna get you after you eat this)
- 1 large bunch of parsley, leaves removed, finely-chopped
- 4 threads of saffron
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 10 toasted almonds
- (Optional) Roe from the lobsters if they have it
For this dish, the lobster should be prepared while alive. However, not everyone can do that, so it is perfectly acceptable to have the lobster prepared at the counter. The heads should be removed from the tail, along with the legs. Throw out the insides but reserve the roe. Pop that in the fridge until you need it. Cut the tails crosswise in four pieces. Cut the head in half. Crack open the legs and reserve the claws. Keep lobster on ice and be ready to cook it immediately.
(If you do this at home, put the lobsters in ice water for an hour. This numbs them and they feel nothing when you prepare them.)
Heat the oil in a casserole dish on high and sauté the tomatoes, onions, garlic, a little parsley, and peppers, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for another 20 minutes, continuing to stir frequently.
Put the sauce through a food mill and add it back into the dish, on very low heat. Don’t let it burn!
Now, the lobsters. Boil the head and legs over high in salted water enough to cover them. Set heat down to medium and simmer for half an hour. Drain and reserve the stock.
Add the tail pieces and claws to the sauce. Mix the sauce and the lobster well, add the stock, bay leaf, and salt, raise heat to medium and bring to a boil. Cover and let cook for 20 minutes.
Crush the lobster roe, parsley, almonds, garlic, and saffron (you can add a little olive oil if you like) and mix until you have a paste. You’ll need a mortar and pestle for this part! Then add the brandy and lemon juice, mix. Add paste to the lobster and sauce, stir lightly, and simmer for five minutes.
Be sure to fish out that bay leaf! (I always forget.)
You should serve this immediately, and it’s best with a baguette to dunk in the sauce, or you can serve over a hunk of toast in a bowl. Be sure to have somewhere for the shells!
Enjoy!
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About Louise Marvin
Louise Marvin’s mother wrote Star Trek fanfiction in the 1980s, so it was only natural that Louise follows in her footsteps. FanFiction played a big part in Louise’s development and coincidence as a writer, inspiring her to try her hand at original fiction. THE CHAMOMILE CONSPIRACY is her first book. Louise lives in New England with an elderly cat and an extensive LEGO Star Wars collection and works at a medical cannabis facility.
Author Links: Website / Twitter / Tumblr / TikTok
Purchase Link – Amazon
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Sounds like a great read. Looking forward to reading the book.