It may seem a little unusual for a mystery-series writer to turn out a cookbook, but to fans of Philip R. Craig’s Martha’s Vineyard Mysteries, it makes perfect sense.

If you’ve read any of the seventeen books, you know the principal character, J.W. Jackson, loves to cook. The series follows the laid-back J.W. as he fishes from the shore at Wasque, digs for clams in Sengekontacket, and picks fresh vegetables from his garden before he heads into the kitchen to make stuffed bluefish, clams casino, or paella a la Valenciana. J.W. typically serves these dishes on his second-floor balcony on warm Vineyard evenings, along with a cold beer or a martini, while he mulls over a particular crime or mysterious death. The recipes have captured the imaginations of readers just as much as the mysteries themselves have. Over the years, hundreds have urged Phil to write a cookbook.

“They don’t ask him about the plot,” says his wife, Shirley Prada Craig, of fans from around the country who write, call, and e-mail nearly every day. “It’s ‘Please, please tell me how you cook this.’ Some people say they buy the books for the recipes.”

Craig’s earliest novels described J.W.’s cooking adventures, but didn’t print any actual recipes. Later, the publisher asked the author to begin carrying recipes in the book. Now, with so many recipes, and requests for more, Phil and Shirley decided to publish Delish! A Martha’s Vineyard Cookbook, The J.W. Jackson Recipes. It will be published by Vineyard Stories in October.

The cookbook contains all of J.W.’s favorite recipes – more than 200 in all, says Shirley – and will be very much a reflection of life on the Vineyard, with fish and shellfish appetizers and entrées, along with chicken, meat, pasta, soups, and salads. “J.W. makes very few desserts, but he makes a peach pie. That’s his favorite,” she says.

“Everything that’s ever been in the books has been done by us,” says Shirley. Both she and her husband love to cook. They’ve been archiving recipes for forty-seven years and had thousands stored in boxes and recycled oak library files in the basement of their Edgartown home, which overlooks Sengekontacket Pond. “We have more recipes than J.W. does. He would be horrified if he had to find a recipe in our house.”

Until recently, that is. To produce the cookbook manuscript, the recipes had to be transferred to the computer and edited, a job Phil says was much harder and more tedious than writing one of his mysteries, which takes approximately seven months. The couple worked on the book together and both their names appear on the jacket. Though it’s their first official collaboration, Phil says that with each mystery, his first major revisions come after his wife reads the novel and makes her comments. She’s also taken responsibility for putting the recipes in the books.

In many respects, Shirley and Phil closely mirror the book’s main characters, J.W. and his wife Zee Madieras Jackson. “From the beginning of the Jackson-Madieras romance, food was an important element of their lives,” says Phil. In the cookbook, the introduction to each recipe is written by Zee, J.W., Shirley, or Phil. Both couples surf-cast for bluefish, bonito, and bass; eat out of the garden; and preserve the rest. Shirley grew up on Martha’s Vineyard and was taught to fish by her father. She remembers being one of the few women in the early days of the Martha’s Vineyard Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby and now serves on the Derby committee. Phil grew up in Durango, Colorado, and retired in 1999 from teaching college to live and write full-time on the Vineyard, and spend more time in his garden, as J.W. does.

Luckily for cooks and fans who purchase the cookbook, Phil and J.W. also share a belief in quick recipes with few ingredients. “Be wary of any recipe over four inches long,” J.W. says, and Phil concurs. “I think simplicity is the answer. My palate isn’t developed enough to require really sophisticated ingredients.”

Artichoke nibblers

“These nibblers are becoming popular, and justifiably so. They’re a sort of crustless quiche. Your guests will want your recipe.”  – J.W.

Serves 8 to 10 as an appetizer
    
• 2 6-ounce jars marinated artichoke hearts
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup fine, dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon each: black pepper, dried oregano, and hot-pepper sauce
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 pound cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 small jar of diced pimiento, drained

Drain liquid from one jar of artichoke hearts and discard. Drain about half the liquid from the other jar into a frying pan. Sauté onion and garlic in the liquid.

Chop artichokes into quarters, or smaller. Combine eggs, crumbs, and seasonings. Stir in cheese, pimiento, artichokes, and onion mixture. Pour into a buttered 7- by 11-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with parsley. Bake at 325 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly set. Cool before cutting into 1-inch squares. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Stuffed quahaugs
 
“J.W. prepares stuffers in several books. A variation of the recipe may be found at the back of Vineyard Blues. I think this one is even better.” – Phil

Serves 6 to 8

• 24 large quahaugs
• 1/4 pound kielbasa or linguica, ground
• 1/4 cup onion, minced
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup green pepper, chopped
• 2 cups fresh bread crumbs, or half bread crumbs and half Ritz cracker crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• Bacon (24 small squares)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• Black pepper
• Dash hot-pepper sauce (optional)
• Fresh parsley

Sauté onion, celery, and green pepper in a little butter, until soft. Steam quahaugs just until they open. Reserve liquid; coarsely chop quahaug meat in food processor or meat grinder. Mix all ingredients together, moistening with some of the reserved li-quid, if necessary. Spray cleaned half shells with cooking spray. Mound filling loosely in each shell, drizzle with melted butter, and top with a square of uncooked bacon. Bake on cookie sheet in 400-degree oven until bacon is crisp and stuffing is heated through. Garnish with sprigs of parsley.

Sangria

“This is the classic Spanish thirst-quencher that goes well with or without a summer meal. There is no agreed-upon recipe for the drink, but this one is as good as any J.W. and Zee have tried. They got the recipe out of the Spanish cookbook that J.W. found at a yard sale.” – Phil

Serves 8

• 1 quart dry, red wine (Merlot is good)
• 1/2 cup brandy
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (or to taste)
• 1 large orange, sliced
• 3 to 4 lemon slices
• 16 ounce lemon soda (Limonata, distributed by San Pellegrino, is good.)

Mix, adding soda before serving with ice.

Lobster casserole
 
“This dish is delish indeed!” – J.W.

Serves 8
 
• 6 tablespoons butter
• 6 tablespoons flour
• 3 pounds cooked, fresh lobster meat, cut in chunks
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 cups light cream or milk (add more if needed)
• Marsala wine to taste
• 2 1/2 cups fresh bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter
 
Make a roux of butter and flour; stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add lobster meat and Parmesan cheese and stir over low heat. Heat cream or milk and add. Stir constantly. Let sauce cook, but not boil. Add more milk if necessary. Add Marsala wine to taste. Set mixture aside.

Spread bread crumbs on cookie sheet and dot with dabs of butter. Put in 325-degree oven until butter melts, then stir with fork to coat all the crumbs. Spoon lobster mixture into casserole dish and cover with buttered bread crumbs. Place casserole in 325-degree oven for 20 minutes or until sauce is hot and bubbly.

If making dish ahead, cool completed casserole before covering with plastic wrap and placing in refrigerator. Remove plastic wrap and reheat at 325 degrees until hot.