Cooking With Christie

Cooking With Christie: A Kitchen Crime Scene in the Making

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Inspiration: Recently, whilst at a restaurant supply store, we found a fifteen-pound flat of tomatoes on sale. Since tomatoes are nummy, we picked one out. Then, I needed to process them…..Turning to my cookbook library, I picked up The New Homemade Kitchen and decided to make some basic tomato sauce that I could freeze and add to soups and stews when additional flavor is needed.

Little did I know my kitchen would look like a tomato based crime scene by the end of the project.

It was a super simple recipe, especially since I wasn’t planning on canning the end result. Over a couple of hours, I roasted, milled, and cooked down the sauce. (The pic above was taken during the milling process when things got particularly sticky.) This experiment also served as a test run for this summer when, in the past, I’ve struggled with what to do with loads and loads of fruit when it all ripens at the same time!

Happily, it turned out great!

Christie: I can see Miss Marple or Tuppence doing something similar! Especially since growing your own tomatoes (and other fruits and veggies) in the garden and then canning them for future use was very common after WWII.

Cooking With Christie: They’re not perfect, but they’re tasty!

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Inspiration: I’ve always wanted to try making Checkerboard Cookies, but they’ve always intimidated me as the pattern seemed complicated. However, I’ve another slice-and-bake refrigerator cookie in my arsenal of recipes — so I was at least familiar with that portion of the bake. Shored up by this knowledge, I screwed up the courage on a day when I possessed both the energy and mental space to try making something new.

Despite being intimidated by this cookie (which I am aware sounds silly) I decided to switch up the recipe slightly from the one found here. Knowing food coloring can change the consistency of a dough, I decided against using it. No biggie.

My second deviation from the original recipe was slightly more drastic.

Since real almond extract is off-limits due to stupid, stupid allergies and less than excited at the prospect of using wholly artificial flavoring — I looked around my kitchen for an alternative and came up with this:

A. Sticking with the two teaspoons of vanilla extract, I made the base dough and then divided it in half.

B. Taking the first half of the mixture, I zested two medium-sized lemons into the dough, mixed it in, and then set it aside.

C. Whilst the other half of the dough waited patiently in a bowl, I blitzed an ounce of freeze-dried raspberries in a food processor down into a fine powder. Next, I strained the powder through a fine mesh strainer (to remove the seeds) not once but twice — before mixing it into the other half of the plain dough.

Then, I followed the rest of the baking instructions! And they turned out beautifully! Tasting akin to raspberry lemonade, these cookies are packed full of flavor and would make a wonderful springtime treat.

Christie: I can see Tuppence making these cookies for a school bake sale or for a village fete! They are both tasty and a little fancier than your typical cookie (or at least, in my mind, they are)!

Cooking With Christie: NPR & Bread

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Inspiration: Back in September (2024), NPR ran a story about King Arthur Flour and WSU’s Breadlab teaming up to create wheat that thrives in our changing climate. (Click here for the article.) Unfortunately, none of the shops near me carried this new Climate Blend whole wheat flour. So, I tucked away this bit of knowledge in the back of my brain and moved forward with other bakes.

Fast forward to mid-December.

Whilst wandering about one Saturday, my wondering eyes spotted a distinctive green flour bag I’d seen online, on a shelf in an independent grocery store! Taking a sack or two of this flour home, I set about baking a loaf of sandwich bread according to the recipe I found on King Arthur’s website.

And it turned out okay?

Unfortunately, I didn’t keep a close enough eye on the dough during the first rise and accidentally over-proofed the dough. (My bad, not the recipe’s.) Not willing to give up, I followed through, and it turned out okay. Though next time, I might use more honey or add malted barley syrup for a slightly more rounded taste.

Christie: I can see Miss Marple embracing both a recipe and the flour. As changing the world one bake at a time, I think, aligns with Marple’s efforts to leave the world in a better place by catching murderers, poison pen writers, and thieves.

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2025

Cooking With Christie: Chocolate and Spice!

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Inspiration: A few months back, whilst perusing a new independent kitchen shop, I uncovered a bite-sized cake pan just waiting for me (and my pocketbook) in their clearance section. After I brought it home, it sat next to my mixer for a month while I got distracted by one thing and another. Then, a request for something sweet came from my husband’s coworkers, and I decided to give the kull pan a whirl!

Aware, from previous disasters, that the first recipe baked in a novelty pan should be the one provided by the manufacturer and knowing Nordicware’s test kitchen churns out reliable recipes — I set about whipping up some mini skull cakes.

The only change I made to the ingredients was swapping the called for cayenne for ancho chili powder (because I was out of the former). And, due to ancho being milder than cayenne, I added a full teaspoon rather than the half teaspoon called for in the recipe.

All the spices, flour, and such required by the recipe ready to be sifted!

Then, because not everyone is as excited for any sort of heat (sweet or otherwise), I dipped the skulls in melted 72% dark chocolate to help mitigate the burn.

They were a hit!

Christie: I can easily see these tiny cakes gracing the festive snack table in Christie’s mystery, Hallowe’en Party. They are bite-sized, not particularly messy (after the chocolate cools & hardens), and not particularly sugary! Making them ideal for a kid’s party. 

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2025

Cooking With Christie: Toffee!

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Inspiration: Walking through a local bookshop dedicated to cookbooks, I discovered America’s Test Kitchen’s book Food Gifts. Amongst the many intriguing recipes was one for Chocolate Matzo Toffee.

Whilst I’d never heard of this sweet treat before, it is apparently a well-established dainty! Even better? It’s easily customizable!

Now, if you can’t find this version of Chocolate Matzo Toffee, there are plenty of recipes online to try — but this one is easy to make and delicious.

The only slightly specialized equipment needed is a candy or electronic thermometer.

Feeling relatively comfortable with this recipe, I switched it up slightly despite not having made the sweet before. Rather than creating a sea salt-flecked treat, I blitzed a half-cup of raw pumpkin seeds and mixed them with the chocolate before pouring it over the toffee. Figuring the slightly bitter taste of the pumpkin seeds would help balance the overall sweetness of the toffee and chocolate. (As well as adding an extra layer of texture.) Then, I speckled some holiday-themed sprinkles onto the chocolate to help relieve the overall monochrome-ish-ness of the treat.

It was a huge hit!

Christie: I can easily see Inspector Japp or Capt. Arthur Hasting enjoying a box of these buttery sweets!

My 52 Weeks With Christie: A.Miner©2025

Cooking With Christie: Sweet with Heat

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This Week’s Recipe: Cucumber Kimchi

In an effort to expand my food knowledge, with encouragement from a friend, and with an overabundance of cucumbers harvested from my husband’s garden, I decided to try making some cucumber kimchi using this recipe.

Turns out I’m a fan.

Spicy, funky, sweet, and crunchy, this is a perfect side for a hot summer’s day!

Agatha Christie: I can see Tuppence making this dish and bringing it to a social function where people eventually try it and like it!