Read Online Curried Lobster Murder: Book 14 in The Darling Deli Series by Patti Benning - Free Book Online Page B

fried it with the curry, carrots, bok choy, and dates. The lobster was unexceptional, and the sweet ginger sauce you made just didn’t seem to go well with the rest of the meal.”
    Nadine’s shoulders fell, but she turned gamely to Felicity, who for the most part agreed with Damien.
    “I would have liked to see the lobster tail flavored with curry as well as the rice,” she said. “It would have tied the dish together. What you have now tastes like two separate dishes, and that just isn’t working for me.”
    “I don’t like the ginger sauce either,” Walter said when it was his turn. “It tastes like it should be a salad dressing. Lobster is a flexible ingredient, but you do need to have the knowledge to pair it right.”
    Defeated, the woman returned to her seat. Moira saw a tear glimmer in the corner of her eye, and felt her heart ache for the poor woman. So what if she was a competitor? She was still a human being, and the deli owner didn’t like to see anyone upset.
    Hector went next, and his dish—he had gone with pasta—was received much more positively than Nadine’s had been. For a moment, Moira wondered if she should have done something with pasta or rice too. Had anyone else even made soup? She didn’t remember seeing any other pots steaming on any of the stoves, but she might just have been too focused on her own cooking to pay attention to what everyone else was doing.
    When Hector went back to his seat with a relieved look on his face, the five of them turned their attention to the judges to see who would be called up next. Damien took a sip of water, cleared his throat, then spoke.
    “Moira Darling.”
     

CHAPTER ELEVEN
    Moira took a deep breath and then faced the judges, unsure of what to expect. She didn’t feel as confident about the soup as she had about the breakfast cookies. At least the cookies had been based on a recipe that she knew was good; the soup was a completely new recipe that she had invented on the fly.
    “Delicious,” Damien said, sounding almost surprised after tasting the first spoonful of soup. “The flavors blend together perfectly. Tell me, what made you think to try a soup?”
    “Well, my deli serves hot soup daily, among other things,” she told him. “I try to come up with new recipes as often as possible. Soup is what I’m most comfortable making, I suppose. It’s kind of what I default to when I want to use a bunch of odd ingredients.”
    “Well in this case, it worked,” he said, evidently impressed. “The only complaint I have is the tofu. It’s still a bit chewy.”
    “I don’t even like curry,” Felicity added. “And even I think this is pretty good. You go, girl.”
    Moira beamed at her, then turned her attention to Walter.
    “The tofu is chewy, and the lobster is also somewhat tough,” he told her. “But other than that, it is an impressive dish. I think it’s definitely the most creative out of what we’ve seen today.”
    The deli owner floated back to her seat, hardly noticing the next name being called. They had liked her soup! It seemed that the decision to go with her gut and play by her strengths had been a good one.
    “It’s time to give you your scores,” Damien said once they had finished tasting the last contestant’s dish. “This time, we will start with the lowest score. Nadine, I’m sorry, but your lobster over rice dish just did not match up with the others.”
    Nadine’s breath hitched and she brought her hand to her mouth. Moira could imagine her holding back tears, and felt a small stab of guilt for her own success with the soup. If she had decided to make something else, she very well might have been in the other woman’s place right then.
    Damien then turned to Hector, who had come in second to last. Each time he addressed a new contestant, her heart beat faster until she was the only one left.
    “Moira, I’m happy to announce that you’re the winner of this round. Your soup was phenomenal. Congratulations,