Killing Thyme

by Leslie Budewitz

1½ teaspoons black pepper

  ½ cup olive oil, more or less

  Place the cheese cubes in the bowl of a large food processor and pulse or chop until coarse. Add the scallions or chives, and the oregano, red pepper flakes, Aleppo pepper, garlic, salt, and black pepper. Process until fully mixed. Pour in the olive oil and process until fully blended and smooth. Use less oil for a thicker spread, more oil for a thinner, smoother spread. Taste and adjust the seasonings to your palate.

  Let the spread sit at room temperature until you’re ready to serve it, to allow the flavors to develop. Store leftovers in the fridge, but let the spread return to room temperature before diving in again to get the fullest flavor. Serve with hearty crackers, crostini, or cut vegetables.

  SUMMERTIME CHOPPED SALAD

  Heavy on the oregano, not thyme—but this salad is too tasty to quibble over herbs! Buy the provolone and salami sliced for extra ease of prep. Serve with a crusty loaf of bread and a crisp white wine. (Pepper is partial to A to Z Pinot Gris from Oregon; Waterbrook Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, or Sauvignon Blanc, from Washington; or a French white Bordeaux.)

  FOR THE OREGANO DRESSING:

  4 cloves garlic

  1 to 2 tablespoons dried oregano

  2 teaspoons kosher salt

  Freshly ground black pepper

  2 tablespoons lemon juice

  ¼ cup red wine vinegar

  ¼ cup olive oil

  FOR THE SALAD:

  ¾ pound cherry tomatoes, cut in half

  Sea salt

  1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas or 1¾ cups cooked chickpeas, drained

  1 small red onion, peeled and sliced into paper-thin rings

  ½ pound provolone, sliced ⅛-inch thick and cut into ¼-inch ribbons

  ½ pound hard or Genoa salami, or ¼ pound of each, sliced ⅛-inch thick and cut into ¼-inch ribbons

  4 medium or 8 small pickled pepperoncini, sliced into rings (with seeds and juice)

  1 head romaine, cored and cut in ½-inch ribbons

  1 head radicchio, halved, cored and cut in ¼-inch ribbons

  Fresh oregano stems for garnish (optional)

  2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and sliced (optional)

  Make the dressing: Use either a mortar and pestle or a small bowl and a sturdy wooden spoon. Chop the garlic and place in the mortar or bowl. Add the dried oregano, salt, and teaspoon ground pepper. Use the pestle or the back of your spoon to make a grainy herb paste. Transfer the paste to a large salad bowl, and add the lemon juice and vinegar. Mix with a fork or a small whisk until the salt dissolves, then pour in the oil and whisk until well combined. The dressing should be thick with garlic and oregano.

  Assemble the salad: Cut the tomatoes in half, season with 11⁄2 teaspoons sea salt, and set aside until ready to serve. Add the chickpeas, red onion, provolone, salami, pepperoncini (including seeds and juice) to the large bowl, one at a time, and gently stir to coat.

  To serve: When you’re ready to serve, gently add the tomatoes, romaine, and radicchio to the salad bowl, and toss to combine with the dressing. Garnish with fresh oregano and sliced hard-boiled egg, if you’d like. Serve immediately. (Once mixed, the romaine and radicchio will hold up for a day or so, although the other ingredients will keep for several days. So if you don’t anticipate eating it all within 24 hours, mix half the romaine and radicchio with half of the other ingredients, and mix the rest up in a day or two when you’re ready for more.)

  Makes 6 servings as a main course and 12 servings as a side salad.

  PEPPER’S GINGERSNAPS

  The classic, with a bite of a little something extra. Call it Pepper’s personal touch.

  2¼ cups all-purpose flour

  2 teaspoons baking soda

  1 teaspoon ground ginger

  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  ½ teaspoon ground cloves

  ½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper

  ¼ teaspoon salt

  1 cup packed brown sugar

  ¾ cup vegetable oil, such as corn or canola

  ¼ cup molasses

  1 egg

  ¼ to ½ cup white sugar for topping (optional)

  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper, and salt. In a small mixing bowl, combine brown sugar, oil, molasses, and egg. Beat well. (No need to dirty your mixer and clean the beaters—the oil makes this dough easy to mix by hand.) Add flour mixture and stir until well mixed.

  Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. If you’d like to top the cookies with sugar, pour the white sugar into a small soup or pasta bowl or on a small plate. Roll cookie balls in the sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet or a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicon sheet. Bake about 10 minutes, until bottoms have darkened slightly and tops begin to crack.

  Makes about 4 dozen. These cookies will be soft at first, but crisp up nicely. They freeze well.

  Spice up your life with Pepper and the Flick Chicks

  RASPBERRY LIMONCELLO SPARKLERS

  A marvelous drink for a celebration, or whenever champagne is called for.

  FOR EACH DRINK:

  ½ teaspoon sugar

  ¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest

  A few drops of fresh lemon juice

  4 to 5 raspberries

  2 tablespoons limoncello

  Crushed ice

  ½ cup sparkling wine

  A strip of lemon peel, for garnish

  On a small plate, stir together the sugar and grated lemon zest. Dip a clean finger in the lemon juice and moisten the rim of a champagne flute. Dip the rim in the sugar mixture to coat.

  Place the raspberries in a small bowl with the limoncello. Use a cocktail muddler if you’re lucky enough to have one, or a wooden spoon, to crush the berries and make a limoncello-berry puree. Pour the puree into the sugar-rimmed flute. Add a spoonful of crushed ice, and pour in the sparkling wine. Garnish with the lemon strip and serve immediately.

  Readers, it’s a thrill to hear from you. Drop me a line at Leslie@LeslieBudewitz.com, connect with me on Facebook at LeslieBudewitzAuthor, or join my seasonal mailing list for book news and more. (Sign up on my website, www.LeslieBudewitz.com.) Reader reviews and recommendations are a big boost to authors; if you’ve enjoyed my books, please write a review and tell your friends. A book is but marks on paper until you read the pages and make the story yours. Thank you.

  National bestselling author Leslie Budewitz writes the Spice Shop Mysteries (Guilty as Cinnamon, Assault and Pepper) and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries (Butter Off Dead, Crime Rib). She fell in love with Seattle’s Pike Place Market as a college student, and still misses prowling its streets and alleys, sniffing out tasty treats and sensory delights. Leslie won the 2013 Agatha Award for Best First Novel for Death al Dente, first in the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, and won the 2011 Agatha Award for Best Nonfiction for Books, Crooks & Counselors: How to Write Accurately About Criminal Law and Courtroom Procedure. She loves to cook, eat, hike, travel, garden, and paint—not necessarily in that order. She lives in northwest Montana with her husband, Don Beans, a doctor of natural medicine, and their Burmese cat, Ruff, an avid bird-watcher. Visit Leslie at lesliebudewitz.com.

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