Cosmopolitan Magazine loves “cult-y new travel thriller” The Vicious Circle

Cosmopolitan Magazine loves “cult-y new travel thriller” The Vicious Circle

The Vicious Circle starts out with a quite idyllic notion: A young woman is caught between her life as a moderately successful model and the uber-rich life of her fiancée (and all the judgment and expectations that come with it). She comes into an outrageous amount of money, but soon learns that all is not as it seems, as her late uncle’s estate comes with a world of complications. Here’s where Katherine St John’s thrilling novel, The Vicious Circle, takes a dark twist. Sveta heads south to Mexico to discuss the details and wrap up the will at said uncle’s wellness retreat-turned-commune, Xanadu. With the help of her uncle’s attorney (who also happens to be her former lover), Sveta opts into the negotiation of her life. The Vicious Circle has elements of “Nine Strangers” with a touch of cartels and a significant helping of cultdom. The pace is nonstop and the story is as twisted as it is well-plotted. This is one thriller you’ll fly through at high speed. 

The Vicious Circle

by Katherine St. John

isbn: 9780063224063,template: list 

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Arzuaga La Planta 2021 Front Bottle Shot
RELAX Riesling 2021 Front Bottle Shot
Arzuaga La Planta TempranilloRelax Riesling
If you’re digging into the recipe that follows, the only red wine you should be pouring alongside it is Tempranillo. You’ll want something that’s bold and a touch spicy to hold its own next to the rich dish. We love this La Planta Tempranillo, which also keeps the fruit front and center. We also love the nod to the plants found at Xanadu that the label offers.Our white wine pick this week is refreshing and delicious, sweet-ish in the way Riesling typically is. But here too we’re tickled by the wine name — which may seem like the way to be at Xanadu, until of course you stay a little too long. This one will also pair beautifully with our recipe, if you’re feeling like white wine. 

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Vegetarian Pozole Rojo

From Provecho by Edgar Castrejón

The food served at Xanadu is fantastic. It’s healthy, of course — and it’s certainly not lacking in the flavor department. In fact, there’s one mushroom dish in particular that we would have loved to have gotten onto our plates. While the cuisine ranges in regional inspiration, we looked to the center’s Mexican locale for our recipe this week, a vegan version of Pozole Rojo from X with mushrooms very much at its center. 

Vegan Pozole Rojo

Ingredients

  • 5 guajillo chiles
  • 2  California chiles
  • 3  tbsp avocado oil
  • 1 medium white or yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced
  • 1-1/2 pounds oyster mushrooms or lion’s mane mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 3 dried bay leaves
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 8 cups vegetable broth
  • 5 cups canned hominy, rinsed and drained
  • 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt
  • 1/2 medium green cabbage, thinly shredded
  • 8 to 10 radishes, sliced 4 limes, cut into wedges
  • 2 cups chopped cilantro leaves and tender stems
  • Corn tortilla chips or corn tortillas

Steps 

  1. Pop the stems off all the chiles and rip the chiles open a bit until you can shake out and discard the seeds. Transfer the chiles to a small saucepan and add just enough water to make the chiles float. Bring to a boil over high heat and boil for 8 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, warm the avocado oil. Add the onion, mushrooms, and bay leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is transparent and the mushrooms are a little brown and crispy and just starting to release their liquid, about 8 minutes. Turn the heat to medium-low to prevent the mushroom liquid from cooking off because it will add delicious flavor to the broth. Watch them carefully!
  3. Drain the chiles and place in a high-powered blender with the garlic and 4 cups of the vegetable broth. Blend until mostly smooth, about 30 seconds.
  4. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve directly into the pot; discard the solids. Add the hominy, salt, and remaining 4 cups broth. If your pot isn’t large enough to hold all the broth, reserve the excess and add it after the pozole reduces. Turn the heat to medium-high, cover the pot, and cook, undisturbed, until the hominy is well cooked, about 45 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, add any remaining broth (and up to 2 cups water if the liquid evaporated too quickly). Discard the bay leaves.
  5. Let the pozole cool for 10 minutes, then serve with the cabbage, radishes, lime wedges, cilantro, and chips to add as desired.
Reprinted with permission from Provecho: 100 Vegan Mexican Recipes to Celebrate Culture and Community by Edgar Castrejón, copyright © 2021. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Food photographs copyright © 2021 by Edgar Castrejón

Provecho

by Edgar Castrejón

isbn: 9781984859112,template: list 

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Wow, where to start with this complex, expertly plotted story? With questions about relationships, cult mentality, and appearances, of course. Kick off your conversation and contemplation about the book with a couple of these questions.

Get the questions.

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 Looking to dig into some true stories about cults? It’s fascinating, often chilling stuff. Dip into any one of these memoirs from people who were in the thick of it — before finding their way out. 

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