#COOKING WITH CLORIS--GUEST AUTHOR KRIS BOCK AND GREEN CHILE STEW

Kris Bock writes romantic adventures involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Learn more about Kris and her books at her website. 

I write novels of adventure and romance, set in the Southwestern United States, that touch on local culture, including food. For my most recent romantic suspense, The Dead Man’s Treasure, I put together a recipe booklet of foods mentioned in the book, including this wonderful stew. It’s great for groups, because everyone gets to adapt their own bowl to their own taste.

I called this “Camie’s Green Chile Stew” because Camie is a character in the treasure hunting series, and the recipe is from a friend who partially inspired her character. 

Camie’s Green Chile Stew

Ingredients:

2 medium onions

1 Tbsp. garlic

2 Tbsp. oil

1 pound ground beef or cubed stew beef

chopped green chile to taste, about 1/4 to 1/2 cup (you might be able to find canned green chile in the Mexican section of your grocery store)

4 cups chicken broth

salt and pepper to taste

Serve with any or all of the following: 

canned pinto beans or black beans 

cubed, cooked potatoes

hominy 

shredded cheddar or Jack cheese 

shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, cilantro 

extra green chile 

chopped avocados or guacamole 

sour cream

Sauté onions and garlic in oil until golden. Add beef and stir until browned. Add chopped green chile and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer. Salt and pepper to taste.

You can serve the stew immediately, but it’s even better if it blends for a few hours on very low heat.

Put the beans, hominy, cheese, etc. into individual bowls. Let people build their own blend of stew. Add ingredients such as beans, potatoes, and cheese, and heat each bowl in the microwave. Top with cold ingredients such as sour cream and avocado.

For more New Mexico recipes, download the “The Dead Man’s Treasure Bonus Material” booklet from my website or see the “Recipes” tab on my blog, The Southwest Armchair Traveler.

The Dead Man's Treasure

Book 2, Southwest Treasure Hunters series

Rebecca Westin is shocked to learn the grandfather she never knew has left her a bona fide buried treasure – but only if she can decipher a complex series of clues leading to it. The hunt would be challenging enough without interference from her half-siblings, who are determined to find the treasure first and keep it for themselves. Good thing Rebecca has recruited some help.

Sam is determined to show Rebecca that a desert adventure can be sexy and fun. But there’s a treacherous wildcard in the mix, a man willing to do anything to get that treasure – and revenge.

Action and romance combine in this lively Southwestern adventure, complete with riddles the reader is invited to solve to identify historical and cultural sites around New Mexico.

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paperback 

ebooks 

The first book in the Southwest Treasure Hunters series is The Mad Monk's Treasure. 

Each novel stands alone and is complete, with no cliffhangers. This series mixes action and adventure with “closed door” romance. The stories explore the Southwest, especially New Mexico.

BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--GUEST AUTHOR MEG BELLAMY

Along with her husband, her family and her books, language and travel are Meg Bellamy’s passions—along with cooking, baking, knitting and quilting. It’s a good thing Meg loves to travel, since she lives in the gorgeous San Francisco Bay Area, but her daughter’s settled in New Jersey and her son’s in England—talk about Frequent Flying! Between flights this long-time language teacher writes contemporary romance, both of the traditional and the women’s fiction type. Learn more about Meg and her books at her website. 

Chocolate and Honey and my Sweetie, Oh My

Chocolate. Does just reading the name bring a smile to your lips?

For me, “chocolate” conjures up delights, pleasure, romance and, oh yes, a few pesky calories. I consider chocolate an essential food group. Chocolate has been a reliable treat—to eat, to drink, and to gaze at arrayed in a sumptuous candy box.

So imagine my bewilderment when I met the delightful man who is now my second (and last!) husband—and discovered that he’s a chocophobe. Chocophobe. I didn’t even know there were any people of that persuasion. He’s not even the only one in the world, though I think there aren’t many with that proclivity.

When I brought him to meet my parents and told Mom that he hates chocolate, she panicked. “What am I going to feed him?” A prodigious cook and baker, she managed to come up with plenty.

So how did he become a chocophobe? According to his family legends, at age six he had a prescription medicine that had a “chocolate flavor.” Must have been really awful.

I, on the other hand, hate honey—an opinion that earns me raised eyebrows in some circles. In my family of origin, honey was the take-it-or-else remedy for colds, etc. To this day, my brother and I turn green at the prospect of ingesting the stuff.

Is there a pattern here?

Despite the fact that I hold my nose as I put the ingredients together, I do make a honey cake with an ingredient list that includes coffee and cocoa. My daughter asked who in my household is willing to eat that cake. Both DH and I enjoy it—I can only guess it’s because the ingredients combine and then cancel each other out.

My love for chocolate inspired one of my books, Divorce by Chocolate.

Divorce by Chocolate

While she makes sweets, her partner cheats…

Diana Lambert seems to have it all—a loving husband, a successful business and a gorgeous home. Then, on returning from a business trip, she finds her husband and trusted assistant playing house. Even worse, they’ve planned a coup to remove her from Goddess Goodies, the business built from her dreams—and her family’s recipes.

Devastated, Diana is ready to drown herself in hot fudge and sorrow when her inner goddess spurs her not to let her talents go to waste. She rolls up her sleeves, unleashes the goddess within and starts cooking up a recipe for getting even through the best means—success. Her life’s sweet treats aren’t confined to the kitchen, as she discovers with the support and love of her sister, her friends and one very special guy.

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