Table of Contents: From Breakfast With Anita Diamant to Dessert With James Patterson - a Generous Helping of Recipes, Writings and Insights From Today's Bestselling Authors (24 page)

3 To make the topping:
Beat egg, stir in milk, and pour over top of pudding. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar and top with a few handfuls of crushed cornflakes. (I don't do the cornflakes.)

4
Bake 45 minutes. Serve warm. (It's also delicious cold the next day for breakfast.)

Jan Cobb

SELECTED WOEKS

The Girl in the Green Raincoat
(2011)

I'd Know You Anywhere
(2010)

Life Sentences
(2009)

Hardly Knew Her
(2008)

Another Thing to Fall
(2008)

What the Dead Know
(2007)

Inspiration
My inspiration comes primarily from my hometown, Baltimore, which fascinates me. It's such an odd mix of dualities. North, south. Rich, poor.

The Mystery Misnomer
I write crime novels, a term I prefer to “mystery” because the latter implies a whodunit and my books don't always fit into that model. I am often inspired by real crimes, but I don't feel that my stories are “ripped from the headlines” or based on these crimes. Instead, I like to explore the themes and issues raised by certain crimes.

Readers Frequently Ask
The question I receive most often, hands down, is why Baltimore cops use the vernacular “a police.” (I am a police, I am a murder police, He's a good police, etc.) I don't know why they speak this way, only that they do. Others are concerned about coarse language, but I'm afraid that police procedurals without coarse language would be inherently false. I try to reply to all signed e-mails I receive, even the unkind ones.

Influences on My Writing
I'm a lifelong reader, and much has influenced me. But I particularly liked Maud Hart Lovelace's “Betsy-Tacy” books. Which, not incidentally, are filled with delicious-sounding food.

Although I write about the quintessential Baltimorean, private detective Tess Monaghan, I sometimes feel I have just as much in common with her WASPy best friend, Whitney Talbot. And while Whitney is often mocked for her poor palate and general lack of interest in food, she prizes a good martini and the proper accompaniments. The martini recipe is my father's, slightly adjusted (I use less vermouth and better gin). The origins of the salmon dish, which my mother gave me in college, are now lost, but the cheese straws are credited to my great aunt Effie. One can buy commercial cheese straws, and I often do, but none compare to Aunt Effie's, who was a character in her own right, as brave and funny as Tess (and a much better cook). I've destroyed two cookie presses so far, working with this thick, heavy dough, but that's the price you have to pay. Come to think of it, a cookie press would make an excellent weapon in a mystery….

Makes about 2½ cups

I first made this recipe when I was twenty-one and the final step called for making an actual ball and rolling it in slivered almonds and parsley. I never made that work and no one has ever complained.

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix until very smooth (a wooden spoon works just fine). Chill thoroughly. Garnish with parsley sprigs, and serve with crackers or crudités.

Makes approximately 3 dozen (3-inch) crackers

Note:
Commercial cheese straws tend to be cylindrical, but our family recipe yields more of a ridged, rectangular cracker, about 1 inch wide and 2–4 inches long. You will need a heavy-duty cookie press to make these crackers.

You can make the dough with a food processor or with your hands — literally. The hand method is for the truly intrepid. Personally, I find it's a decent workout.

1
Preheat oven to 375°F.

2
Place butter, cheese, flour, salt, and cayenne pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Process until a thick, smooth dough forms, about 1 minute. Or, mash butter and cheese together using your hands. Sift flour, salt, and cayenne pepper together and blend, again using your hands, into cheese/butter mixture. Continue to work mixture with your hands for at least 15 minutes, until it becomes a rich, thick dough and has lost all crumbliness.

3
Fit the disk with the flat, ridged opening into the cookie press. Scoop a portion of the dough into the cookie press. Press dough into rectangles, 2–4 inches in length, on an ungreased baking sheet. (In an emergency, you can pinch off pieces of dough and flatten them with the bottom of a juice glass which has been greased and lightly floured. I've done this when my cookie press has broken midway through a batch.)

4
Bake for 20–28 minutes. Timing varies wildly. Look for light browning on the bottom, and no browning (or barely any) on the tops. Remove to wire rack and allow to cool.

Makes 1 drink

Note:
My father started making this drink in the 1960s, long before the explosion of specialty martinis and 12-ounce martini glasses to accommodate them. Choose a smaller cocktail glass for this classic drink.

1
In a shot glass that holds up to two ounces, pour ½ ounce of dry vermouth. Pour this into a martini glass and swirl to coat the inside of the glass. Pour half the vermouth back into the bottle, and half into a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes.

2
Add 2 ounces of gin to the shaker. (Yes, that's an 8 to 1 ratio. Why not just start with an 8 to 1 ratio? I think the swirl of gin adds a little extra and, besides, my father believes that it's important to have an anal retentive martini ritual.) Shake, and strain into the glass. Rub the lemon wedge around the rim of the glass, squeezing gently, then drop it into the drink.