Cause of Death (Det. Annie Avants Book 1) (31 page)

Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson's Recipe for Perdernales River Chili

Ingredients

4 pounds chili meat - coarsely ground round steak or well-trimmed chuck.

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon ground oregano

1 teaspoon comino seeds

6 teaspoons chili powder (or more if needed)

1-1/2 cups whole canned tomatoes

2 - 6 generous dashes liquid hot sauce

2 cups hot water

Salt to taste

Directions

Place the meat, onion and garlic in large, heavy pan or Dutch Oven. Cook until light in color. Add oregano, comino seeds, chili powder, tomatoes, hot pepper sauce, salt, and hot water. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for about 1 hour. Skim off fat during cooking.

Ingredients

4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 5-inch chunks, trimmed of excess fat

1 tablespoon coarse sea salt

2 tablespoons canola or neutral vegetable oil

Water

1 cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons ancho chile powder

2 bay leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

6 cloves of garlic, peeled

Directions

1. Rub the pieces of pork shoulder all over with salt. Place in a ziplock bag and refrigerate for 1- to 3-days. (You can skip this step if you want. Just be sure to salt the pork before searing the meat in the next step.)

2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven. Cook the pieces of pork shoulder in a single layer until very well-browned, turning them as little as possible so they get nice and dark before flipping them around. If your cooking vessel is too small to cook them in a single-layer, cook them in two batches.

3. Once all the pork is browned, remove them from the pot, then pour in about a cup of water, scraping the bottom of the pan to release all the tasty brown bits.

4. Heat the oven to 350F degrees.

5. Add the pork back to the pan and add enough water so the pork pieces are 2/3rd’s submerged in liquid. Add the cinnamon stick and stir in the chile powders, bay leaves, cumin and garlic.

7. Braise in the oven uncovered for 3½ hours, turning the pork a few times during cooking, until much of the liquid is evaporated and the pork is falling apart. Remove the pan from the oven and lift the pork pieces out of the liquid and set them on a platter.

8. Once the pork pieces are cool enough to handle, shred them into bite-sized pieces, discarding any obvious big chunks of fat, as well as the bay leaves and cinnamon stick.

9. Return the pork pieces back to the roasting pan and cook in the oven, turning occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the pork is crispy and caramelized. It will depend on how much liquid the pork gave off, and how crackly you want them.

10. If making these into sliders, toss the pork with your favorite BBQ sauce and top with pickled red onions.

Makes enough pulled pork for 25 taco-sized servings, or 50 sliders

* * *

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

3 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 28-ounce can Whole Tomatoes with juice

1 8-ounce can Tomato Sauce

2 - 4 jalapeno peppers (depending on how spicy you want it)

Directions

1.  Brown the ground beef in a heavy pot

2.  Add the onions and cook over low heat until they are soft

3.  Add the remaining ingredients and simmer slowly until the potatoes are tender.  You may have to add a bit of water from time to time

4.  When it's done, it should be thick like a stew, not thin like a soup

5.  Serve with flour tortillas (see below)

Serves 4

* * *

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup oil

1 teaspoon baking powder

2/3 cup water, warm

Directions

1. Mix first four ingredients.

2. Add water and mix well

3. Knead for two minutes

4. Allow to rest for 20 minutes (this is important)

5. Knead briefly

6. Cut into 8 pieces.

7. Pat each piece into a 4" circle

8. Allow to rest for 20 minutes

9. Roll each circle into an 8" circle

10. Cook for 30 seconds on each side in a pre-heated medium-hot skillet

Serves 8

* * *

Zacatecan Baked Masa Cakes

FOR THE BEAN FILLING:

Ingredients

2 dried New Mexico chiles, stemmed and seeded

3/4 tsp. ground cumin

1 clove garlic

1 tbsp. canola oil

2 cups cooked pinto beans

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

FOR THE GORDITAS:

Ingredients

2 cups masa harina (available at most grocery stores that in the flour section)

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening

Directions

1.  Make the bean filling: Heat chiles in a 10" skillet over high heat and cook, turning, until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes.

2.  Transfer to a blender with cumin, garlic, and 1/2 cup water; puree until smooth.

3.  Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat and add chile mixture, beans, salt, and pepper; mash with a fork and cook, stirring often, until thickened but not dry, about 20 minutes.

4.  Set aside.

5.  Make the gorditas: Heat oven to 400°.

6.  In a large bowl, whisk together masa harina and salt; add shortening and 1 1/4 cups water, and stir until dough forms.

7.  Divide into eight 2" balls (about 2 1/2 oz. each); flatten each into a 1/4?-thick disk, and place 1 heaping tbsp. bean filling in center.

8.  Wrap disk around filling, pinching edges together to seal, then transfer, seam side down, to a parchment paper–lined baking sheet.

9.  Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Serves 8

Ingredients

2 cups crab meat, cooked and freed of membrane

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon Dry Mustard Powder

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

1 egg yolk

1 Tablespoon mayonnaise

2 teaspoons fresh parsley leaves, snipped

Flour

1 egg, slightly beaten

2 Tablespoons water

Finely sifted dry bread crumbs

Butter

Directions

1. Mix first 7 ingredients together

2. Press mixture into 16 firm cakes

3. Chill well

4. Just before serving, dip cakes in flour, then in egg beaten with water, then in bread crumbs

5. Melt small amount of butter in frying pan

6. Sauté cakes quickly over high heat until golden brown, turning once

7.  Drain on paper towels

* * *

You can substitute fresh steamed corn and black beans you have cooked yourself if you prefer.

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) can Black Beans, drained and rinsed

1 can (9 ounce) vacuum packed Corn

1 medium tomato, seeded and diced

1 small sweet red onion, diced

3 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves, snipped

Salt to taste

2 avocados, diced

Directions

1.  Mix all ingredients together except the avocados

2.  Cover and refrigerate for one hour to allow flavors to blend

3.  When ready to serve, top with diced avocado

Serves 12

First and always, a big hug and thank you to my husband, Aziz, who does most of the cooking, all of the shopping, and totally ignores me when I'm in 'writing mode.'  He truly understands. . .

Garry Rodgers, the author of the critically acclaimed "No Witnesses to Nothing" is an expert on anything dealing with death.  You can read his blog at
Dying Words
I couldn't have written the autopsy and crime scenes without his expertise and unselfish advice.

Many thanks go to my first readers:  Clyde Gibson, who checked out so many of my facts and medical terms to make sure I had it all together correctly; my sister, Vanery Dyer, who is my biggest cheer leader and, with her friend, Melisa Bauer, helped me get my cover 'just right'.  My daughter, Nicolette Gibson, who has read my stories since she could first read and is always standing in my corner cheering me on.

Many folks in law enforcement have websites or blogs that offer good advice for the crime writer.  The person I've learned a lot from is Joseph L. Giacalone, a retired NYPD Detective.  Check out his blog at this link: 
Cold Case Squad

DECEPTION • POWER PLAYS • MURDER

Detectives Annie Avants and Tom Weston tackle one of the most perplexing cases since they began working together.

A local, well-respected attorney has gone missing.

There's not much evidence to go on. His car was found an hour's drive out of town with blood on the passenger seat.

No body.

His staff is in a quandary. He had a new trial scheduled to begin the next morning. Everything was set to go.

And then, he just disappeared.

A mysterious package left in the restroom of the County Courthouse leads our detectives to believe that the attorney is dead.

Will our detectives find the answers before a media frenzy erupts in the Kern County/Bakersfield area? Will the FBI be called in to help?

And now. . . another person has gone missing!

THIS EXICITING SEQUEL TO CAUSE OF DEATH IS AVAILABLE NOW AT ALL AMAZON STORES!

The 3rd book in the Det. Annie Avants series will be "Southern Secrets." This title was released in May 1, 2014. 

Here is a synopsis:

Annie's cousin lives in Mena, Arkansas and has come into possession of three journals written by one of his ancestors who was deeply involved with the Knights of the Golden Circle.
The journals spell out explicitly the locations of some of the biggest caches of 'rebel gold' hidden by the KGC to fund a second Civil War. Zack had read the book,
"The Shadow of the Sentinel: One Man's Quests to Find the Hidden Treasure of the Confederacy"
by Bob Brewer and Warren Getler. He was surprised to find that several of his ancestors were featured in the book.

Zachary Isom Avants is a history buff and professor at a local college who is aware that throughout Arkansas exist the ruins of many abandoned cabins and homesteads of his ancestors. He is also an avid genealogist. For years, he has been tracking down these abandoned homesteads, looking for artifacts and information on the lives of his long-dead relatives.

Deep in the Ouachita forests, he comes across a derelict shack that hasn't been touched for almost 100 years. It's covered with vines and falling down and he almost misses seeing it.

He sets up camp next to the shack and begins clearing away the vines. It's a small cabin, but he finds signs that it had been occupied by a couple and 2-3 kids. It's not the typical sentinel outpost shack of the Knights of the Golden Circle, which is probably why no one bothered with it.

When he can safely climb down into the basement, he finds a rotting wooden trunk. Inside is a cast iron dutch oven with a lid that has been sealed with pitch.

Excited, he takes the pot to his makeshift table outside and unseals the lid. Inside, wrapped in many layers of oil cloth, he finds three books - journals - kept by someone high up in the KGC during the Civil War. The only signature is 'Avants'.

Unbeknownst to Zack, the leadership of the modern KGC are aware that these books still exist, but had never been able to find them. When he begins making discrete inquiries in town, the KGC begins to suspect that he has found the long-lost journals and are determined to recover them.

Why? They don't know what caches the journals expose, and they don't want treasure seekers finding the hidden treasures.

Throughout the years, the American government has also been interested in the KGC and the millions of dollars they stole and hid. FBI Special Agent Jason Smith overhears someone talking about the journals and alerts his superiors. They, too, are determined to possess the journals and recover as much of the stolen loot as possible.

Zack finally realizes the significance of his find and mails the journals to his cousin, Annie, in California. He knows he is being followed and that he, and his family, are in danger.