The Winning Certificate

In The Winning Certificate, Sylvia Medina, a student at Central High joins a teenage gang after her adopted mother's death and is trapped in a lifestyle of violence and hopelessness. Can the school's Literary Club and an image on the computer of her birth mother provide the hope necessary for Sylvia to survive?

Antonio Medina, after his wife's death from cancer, tries everything to get Sylvia back on track. However, nothing helps until Rick Podowski and Leti Rios, advisors to the high school Literary Club, get Sylvia involved. Sylvia reluctantly shares some of her poems. Then, as Sylvia becomes more committed, she begins to change and becomes in touch with her feelings.

As Sylvia develops her ties to the Literary Club, she gets more intrigued by the picture of her birth mother and tries to find her. She learns that her mother lives in New York and when members of the Literary Club go to Columbia University to attend a conference and receive an award for their magazine, Sylvia goes along. Instead of going to the conference, she visits her mother.

She finds out that her mother married a very rich man, and she has two stepsons. The stepfather is dead, and the two sons along with her lawyer are trying to get her farm and include it as part of a land trust being used as a means to launder money for the mob. Murder, kidnapping, money laundering, and mob activities are included in this novel.

Included in this book are the following recipes and wine pairings.

• Teresa's Hot Italian Sausages and Peppers with Travieso Winery's Amaranta
• Leti's Mexican Ceviche and Rick's Roasted Asparagus And Red Onion Quesadillas with Hallcrest Pinot Noir
• Antonio's Famous Pozole with a Soquel Vineyards Trinity
• Jenny's Irish Apple Maple Pork Chops with Vine Hill Zinfandel
• Rick's Polish Beef Rolls With Dill Pickles and Silver Mountain Winery's Alloy
• Kaz's Fish Bigos with Martin Ranch Grenache
• Elaine's Chicken Cacciatore with a Cooper-Garrod Cabernet Franc

Red Snapper Veracruz Style

With spring break just around the corner, many students will be heading for Mexico. This dish from south of the border sounds great for those of us staying home. 

 This recipe can be found in  Death in The Science Classroom.

Rick Podowski, the star of the Rick Podowski and The Hefty Trio series has made only one trip to Veracruz and he remembers this dish because it captures the flavors of this distinct part of Mexico, The snapper is covered with a tomato sauce and the capers, and jalapeño peppers provide an extra bite. Serve this dish with white rice. Rick modified this recipe from one he found in Bon Appetit.

Serves 6

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes in juice, well drained, juices reserved
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped white onion
3 large garlic cloves, chopped
3 small bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup chopped pitted green olives
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons drained capers
6 4- to 5-ounce red snapper fillets

Place drained tomatoes in medium bowl and crush them to a coarse puree. Drain again, reserving juices.

Heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and stir 30 seconds. Add garlic and stir 30 seconds. Add tomato puree and cook 1 minute. Add bay leaves, parsley, oregano, garlic and 1/4 cup reserved tomato juices. Simmer until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes. Add olives, raisins, capers, and all remaining reserved tomato juices. Simmer until sauce thickens again, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Season sauce to taste with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 425°F. Spread 3 tablespoons sauce in bottom of 15x10x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange fish atop sauce. Sprinkle fish lightly with salt and pepper. Spoon remaining sauce over. Bake uncovered until fish is just opaque in the center, about 18 minutes.

Using long spatula, transfer fish with sauce to plates. Serve with rice, salad, sourdough bread and a glass of Pinot Noir.

Irish Stew

There is no better way to celebrate St Patrick's Day than with a traditional  Irish Lamb Stew and some wine.  Consider a Merlot or a Meritage for this dish. The recipe is from Death In The Science Classroom.

Serves 6

5 pounds lamb shoulder chops

20 baby red-skinned potatoes

6 large carrots, peeled, quartered

3 medium onions, quartered

2 medium leeks (white and pale greens parts only), split lengthwise, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

2 cups water

Trim the fat from lamb and cut the meat into 1 1/2-inch pieces. 

Place fat in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook fat until 3 tablespoons drippings are rendered, about 5 minutes. Using large spoon, remove any solid fat from pot; discard. Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper. Add lamb to pot; sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer lamb to plate. 

Add vegetables, parsley, and thyme to pot; stir to coat with drippings. Return meat. Add 2 cups water and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pot tightly; simmer until lamb is tender and vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally, about 1 1/2 hours.

Place 1 cup vegetables in processor; puree. Add to stew. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill. Simmer before serving.)

eBook Week

The following books are only $1.50 during this Smashwords promotion.

Murder Before the Bell, The Fishy Chips, The Winning Certificate, Death in the Science Classroom, and Death of a Foster Child

Pay only $.99 for Mellow Out--Lessons Learned From Household Cats 

A Winter Supper--Polish Borscht

Borscht is one of Rick's favorite soups. Serve this with some pierogi which can be found in the freezer section of the supermarket and you will have a wonderful meal.

This recipe first appeared in Death of a Foster Child. The borscht was paired with Mica Cellar's Meritage.

Ingredients

2 leeks

2 carrots

2 stalks of celery

8 beets (medium sized)

8 cups of water

1 bay leaf

2 cups rough chopped parsley or one bunch

2 cups rough chopped dill or one bunch

2 teaspoons salt

lemon juice or vinegar to taste

Clean the leeks, carrots and celery and chop into large chunks. Wash the beets and chop off both the ends. Do not peel. Add all of the ingredients, except the lemon juice, to a very large pot, and bring to a boil.

 Simmer for 1 hour. Remove the beets and set aside. Peel the beets when they have cooled down. 

Strain out the veggies, reserving the broth. Either chop the beets into small bite size pieces or julienne them.

 Put the beets and broth back in the pot. Heat until nice and hot. Add lemon juice or vinegar to taste and season with salt and pepper.

Serves 8

Borscht, Pierogies, Sour Cream and Meritage

A Romantic Polish Dinner

“Interesting," Elaine said as Rick poured the vodka over the chicken and struck a match. "Until I met you, I never thought of using 'Polish food' and 'romantic' in the same sentence.”   From  Death In the Science Classroom 

Polish Chicken Flambé 

Serves 4

4 chicken quarters

2 tablespoons salt

2 tablespoons strong Polish vodka or other vodka

4 stale dinner rolls

1/2 cup milk

1/ 4 cup butter or margarine

2 eggs

1/4 cup dry bread crumbs

1 tablespoon finely chopped walnuts

1 tablespoon finely chopped almonds

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/ 4 cup chopped fresh parsley

In a medium bowl, soak rolls in milk add butter or margarine, eggs, 1 tablespoon of salt, dry bread crumbs, walnuts, almonds, nutmeg, and parsley.  Use  a food processor to combine ingredients.  

Grease a baking pan, place the stuffing inside and cover with foil.

Rub chicken with 1tablespoon salt.   Preheat oven to 375F. 

Cover and bake 30 minutes. Remove cover; bake 30 minutes more or until juices run clear. Place chicken quarters, skin -side up, on a platter. Pour vodka over chicken. Using a long match, carefully ignite vodka. Serve immediately.

This dish is perfect with a bottle of Pinot Noir from Big Basin Vineyards.