Karen’s Killer Fixin’s
**AUTHOR SPECIAL**
with MAGGIE TIDESWELL!

Welcome to my Friday bonus feature called Karen’s Killer Fixin’s **Author Special**!! Today, in lieu of one of my own recipes, I’m going to introduce you to a new author who will share one of her favorite recipes. Not only will you and I occasionally learn how to make something new and delicious, but we’ll get a chance to check out some wonderful authors. Introducing author, MAGGIE TIDESWELL, and her favorite recipe for BEEF BOURGUIGNON!

~~~

A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE: A Paranormal Romance
The Moragh Saga Book 1
BY MAGGIE TIDESWELL

BLURB

A marriage of convenience, helpful fey friends, hidden agendas, and a haunting—can love blossom?

Set in the beautiful winelands of the Southern Cape in South Africa, strange things start happening from the moment Holly accepts Joshua’s offer of marriage— in response to an advert placed in the newspaper by Holly’s ‘helpful’ friends. They meet for the first time on the steps of the chapel where they are to be married.

Holly has to solve a thirty-year-old mystery before the ghost that is haunting her will be at peace. Over and above everything that is taking place, Holly and Joshua do battle with her ex-husband over their two children, as well as Joshua’s fiancée who is not the least bit happy about his marriage to another woman and gets up to all sorts to show her displeasure.

Risky as the marriage between strangers is—is it possible for Holly and Joshua to fall in love?

A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE: A Paranormal Romance
The Moragh Saga Book 1
BY MAGGIE TIDESWELL

EXCERPT

Holly cringed when the back door slammed loudly in the still of the night. This wasn’t her fault. She had never meant to… Oh, God, what a mess, she thought. She sat on her legs in the middle of the bed, her eyes swimming with unshed tears. She didn’t want Joshua to think badly of her. Turning toward the window, she wondered where he was going in the middle of the night. Dawn was still some hours away. Would he go to the woman he had betrayed?

She brushed the moisture from her eyes. The moon was still high enough to shine into the room. It had a hazy quality, as if it came a long distance through a filter. Mist had risen, amplifying the light so that it seemed brighter than it should have. It was eerie, and at the same time peaceful.

Behind her, the doorknob rattled. Holly snatched the sheet to her chin, watching, waiting for Joshua to come back into the room. She wanted him to come back so that she could explain. When the door slowly, silently, swung inward, Holly pressed her sheet-covered fingers to her lips.

The fire had burned to ashes, and the candles had gutted long ago. The only light in the room came from the window, unreal and eerily bright. A floorboard creaked a moment before the door slammed shut. A picture frame fell from the tallboy and shattered on the floor. The silence that followed was deafening. It was freezing in the room.

Then she heard it again, breaking out in goosebumps, her tongue stuck to her pallet.

Who-o-o, who-o-o.

Holly shivered with fear. The dark had eyes. She had to do something to bring normality back, to occupy her mind and take it off the unexpected turn of events. Her imagination was running amok.

Hopping out of bed, she turned all the lights on while donning her gown. That was much better. Light and clothes did much to bolster a flagging bravado. She sat down at the table and turned the laptop the girls had brought, on. It came naturally to Holly in times of stress. She went to work. She was scared to death.

The monitor flickered as it booted up while Holly glanced apprehensively around the room. The temperature was normal again, the room brightly lit, and the door firmly shut.

She was no closer to solving Moragh’s riddle, and now she was rather far from the resources she needed. The Internet wasn’t the most reliable form of research, but it would have to do for now.

What had happened to Moragh was a well-kept secret, assuming that there was a mystery involved in the first place. It was frustrating. If Moragh wanted her story told, why didn’t she tell Holly what she wanted her to write? And what exactly was her connection with Fairley? There had to be one, for why else would she have followed Holly there?

A distant rumbling of thunder drew Holly’s glance to the window. No sign of a storm brewing, as the moon was still bright beyond the well-lit room, and there was only a light breeze stirring the curtains.

Her aimless glance swept the room, and it was a second before she registered the woman standing against the closed door. She wore a white shift that reached the floor, her hands clasped demurely in front of her, and her long red hair streaming over her shoulders. But it was her face that held Holly’s stare, for she was crying tears of blood.

About Author Maggie Tideswell… 

Maggie lives in Johannesburg, South Africa with hubby Gareth. Over the years she’s worked in everything from nursing to catering, and then she started writing love stories. With three kids, a girl and two boys and eleven cats at that time, life could become quite interesting.

The paranormal, things that happen for which there are no logical explanations and ghosts are of particular interest to Maggie. What events in a person’s life would prevent that person from ‘resting’ after death? The ‘Old Religion’ is another special interest.

And love, of course. Why do people fall in love? What keeps them together for a lifetime when so many relationships fail?

~~~

Links to Maggie’s Website, Books, & Social Media:

I hope you enjoy the recipe Maggie is sharing today on Karen’s Killer Fixin’s. Happy eating!

Karen

P.S. We’re at 304 recipes and counting with this posting. Hope you find some recipes you like. If this is your first visit, please check out past blogs for more Killer Fixin’s. In the right hand column menu, you can even look up past recipes by type. i.e. Desserts, Breads, Beef, Chicken, Soups, Author Specials, etc.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BEEF BOURGUIGNON

Prep:
15 min
Cook:
3 hr 45 min

Ingredients

Marinade:
5 cloves garlic, smashed
3 fresh bay leaves
2 carrots, peeled and halved
2 ribs celery, halved
1 large onion, peeled and quartered
One 750-ml bottle red wine, such as Burgundy
4 pounds beef chuck, cut into 1-inch chunks
Stew:
Extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces slab bacon, cut into lardons
1 pound cremini or white button mushrooms, quartered
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large onion, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 to 4 cups beef stock
3 fresh bay leaves
1 bundle fresh thyme
1 pound red bliss potatoes, quartered
1/2 bunch fresh chives, finely chopped, for garnish
Crusty bread, for serving

Directions

For the marinade: Combine the garlic, bay leaves, carrots, celery, onions and wine in a large bowl or container. Add the beef; cover and let sit in the refrigerator at least 4 hours or overnight. (This is a really important step: it makes a huge flavor difference.)

For the stew: Remove the beef from the marinade. Strain the veggies and bay leaves from the marinade and discard. Reserve 2 cups of the marinade.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat a large, wide pan or Dutch oven with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Sprinkle the beef with salt and toss with the flour; do not flour the beef until you’re ready to brown it. Add the flour-coated beef to the hot pan, but be sure to not crowd the pan; you will need to work in four batches. Brown the meat well on all sides, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the pan to a baking sheet.

After the first two batches, deglaze the pot with 1/2 cup of the reserved marinade, scraping up any browned bits. Drain the liquid into a small bowl. Add more olive oil to the pan to coat and cook the remaining two batches of meat. Add the meat to the baking sheet. Deglaze the pan with 1/2 cup marinade, scraping up any browned bits.

Add the bacon and cook until it gets brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Toss in the mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic and onions, and season with salt. Cook until the mixture starts to soften and becomes very aromatic, about 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1 cup marinade and deglaze the pan, stirring up any browned bits, 1 minute. Add the beef. Stir to combine and cook until the wine has reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes. Add enough of the beef stock to just cover the surface of the beef. Toss in the bay leaves and thyme bundle. Cover the pan, bring the liquid to a boil and put in the oven.

Cook the beef for 2 hours. During the last hour of cooking time, add the potatoes. Cover the pan with the lid and put the stew back in the oven to cook for an additional hour.

Remove the pot from the oven and skim off any excess grease from the surface of the stew. Garnish with the chives and serve with crusty bread to sop up all the sauce.

~~~