Food

When I started writing my crime fiction series, I knew that my lead detective was going to be handy in the kitchen, like Robert B. Parker’s Spenser and Elvis Cole, the great lead character from Robert Crais. 

The descriptions of food in their books always made my mouth water. Mitchell, my lead, is often found in his girlfriend Mya’s kitchen. He’s either lamenting the paltry contents of her refrigerator or stocking it, prior to making them something good. 

When he’s at home he’ll whip up anything from a stir-fry to pasta. Here’s a sample from my book, “Shank”:

He used the blade of the knife to push the garlic to one side, then chopped some green onion and fresh ginger. Once the chicken was sliced thin, he prepped a bowl of fresh squeezed orange juice, honey, and soy sauce. He whisked in a rounded teaspoon of corn starch, and it was ready. 

After five minutes in the wok, the garlic, ginger, chicken, and young asparagus were perfectly cooked and coated in the sauce. 

Mitchell spooned the stir fry over two bowls of jasmine rice, then added some fresh mango and a fistful of freshly torn mint. He poured the remaining sauce from the wok over top of each dish and sprinkled on the green onion. He shook some chili flakes on his own bowl then took them to the couch where Mya was relaxing.

If you like the sound of that, you can find the recipe in Steven Raichlen’s excellent book, The Big Flavor Cookbook. The Tahini Salmon recipe is killer too!