Enrique’s Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup 

In A Chocolate is Announced, Enrique, a chef Felicity knows from local pop-up events, is catering the murder mystery weekend she is holding at her aunt’s flip hotel. There’s a formal dinner the first night, when the guests are just getting to know each other. Enrique starts the meal with a simple Mediterranean-inspired dish.

Note: If you plan to freeze this soup, prepare without the orzo and cream, then add cream and separately cooked orzo to taste to individual servings.

4 Tbsp. butter
8 shallots, sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 c. carrots, sliced thinly
4 stalks celery, sliced thin
2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
12 c. chicken stock
2 lemons zested and juiced, plus the juice of an additional 1 – 2 lemons
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. dried dill
8 oz. dried orzo
2/3 c. heavy cream

Melt the butter in a large pan. Add the shallots, garlic, carrots, celery and cook until the vegetables are soft. Add the chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through. Add the chicken stock, lemon juice and zest salt, pepper and dill. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, cook the orzo according to package directions. Add the orzo to the soup. Add the cream, and heat through but do not allow to boil. Serve hot in individual bowls garnished with more dill.

Enrique’s Goat Cheese Pear Salad

In A Chocolate is Announced, Felicity wants to impress her guests at a murder mystery weekend held at her aunt’s flip hotel. It’s a historic space, and it’s basically become a character in the story over the past several books. Enrique, the chef Felicity hired to help her pastry chef with the catering, does a light salad course featuring pear and hot honey. This is actually a callback to Princess Buttercup, the goat Felicity wound up babysitting in Something Borrowed, Something 90% Dark. I love balanced flavor from the combination of lightly sweet pear with spice from the honey and tang from the goat cheese.

NOTE: This recipe makes four small appetizer salads, but you could put all the ingredients in one bowl to make a more substantial salad for one.

2 c. mixed greens with spinach
1 Bartlett pear, cored, peeled and sliced
hot honey, for drizzling
¼ c. pistachios, chopped
½ c. goat cheese, crumbled

Divide the mixed greens onto four salad plates. Add 2 pear slices to each plate. Drizzle the hot honey over the pears. Sprinkle the pistachios and goat cheese evenly onto all four salads.

Carmen’s Chocolate Dipped Alfajores

In A Chocolate is Announced, the guests at Felicity’s murder mystery weekend wind up confined to the hotel. This makes the catering even more important. Carmen has baked an assortment of desserts that include alfajores. These soft cookies are sandwiched together with dulce de leche. Which means that cookie itself isn’t that sweet. I only partially dipped these in chocolate to keep them from getting too sweet. But of course the quantity of chocolate is up to you.

NOTE: If you don’t want to use the corn starch cookie dough right away, you can refrigerate it for up to 3 days or freeze it for up to a month, then thaw it overnight in the fridge.

2 1/8 c. corn starch
1 ½ c. all-purpose flour
½ tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cardamom
½ tsp. nutmeg
¾ c. granulated sugar
7 oz. unsalted butter, softened
3 large egg yolks, at room temperature
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
12 oz. dulce de leche
16 oz. tempered chocolate for dipping

Making the Cookies:

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, cardamom, and nutmeg Set aside.

In a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla extract just until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture and beat just until combined. If necessary, add a little cold water to help a smooth dough to form.

Shape the dough into a ball, then flatten into a disc. Wrap the disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1-2 hours, until firm enough to roll.

Just before rolling the dough, preheat the oven to 350F.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes to soften slightly for easy rolling. On a lightly floured surface (or between 2 pieces of parchment paper), roll the dough to a ⅛ or ¼-inch thickness. Cut out into rounds using a 2-inch fluted or round cookie cutter, and place the cookies on baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Re-roll the remaining scraps and repeat.
Place the sheets with the cookies on them in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes, or until firm.
Bake the cookies for 9 – 11 minutes, or until golden brown at the edges. Transfer the parchment paper with the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Assembling the Alfajores:

Spread the bottom of half of the cookies with dulce de leche (about a teaspoon – do not overfill). Sandwich together with remaining cookies, pressing slightly so that the caramel is visible at the sides.
Refrigerate the cookies before dipping half of the cookie in tempered chocolate. For a decorative look dip at an angle.

Store cookies at room temperature in an airtight container for up to a week, or refrigerate for 2 – 3 weeks.