Celebrating Sunday: Pentecost

Reflection:
Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common.
[Acts 4, 32]

Recipe:
Today is the birthday of the Church!

Serving an entree that flew is a Pentecost tradition from medieval times. Depending on how many are at your table, a chicken, turkey breast, or Cornish hen would be a nice modern day substitute for the original dove or pigeon. For bonus points, decorate the table with red rose petals to symbolize the tongues of fire.

My favorite way to roast chicken is more work that the usual spirit of the Celebrating Sunday series, but it is very good... a Julia Child meets Nigella Lawson affair. I brine the chicken overnight in salt water with a sliced lemon. Before I cook it, I drain it and pat it dry. I heat some butter and oil in the roasting pan, and brown it on each side- more work, but it yields a beautiful color and crispy skin. With the bird breast side up, I scatter sliced potatoes, quartered onions, and whole, peeled garlic cloves around it and place a lemon quarter in the cavity. I bake it at 350 for 20-25 minutes per pound, or until the bird clocks 165 (if not for anyone pregnant or immuno-compromised) and 180 if serving the former. When the chicken is done, I mix a drained can of artichokes and some fresh tarragon in with the potatoes and onions, and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with fresh bread and a green salad.

If you didn't hear the Pentecost Sequence at Mass this morning, enjoy the one featured below.




About Celebrating Sunday

Celebrating Sunday

Reflection:
"Abbess Catherine did not answer that; instead, "What else did our Lord show us, Sister?" she asked, "in this Paschal time?" I expect, like you, after all the suffering, betrayal, desertion, intolerable disappointment, and being hurt, he would have liked to take refuge with his Father, but he stayed on earth, and what did he do? He didn't try to teach us things- that was left to the Holy Spirit. He did simple, ordinary things: loving things, Sister, like consoling Mary Magdalene, walking and talking with the disciples, breaking bread with them, cooking their breakfast."
[Rumer Godden, In this House of Brede]

Recipe:
Stuffed Peppers

6 bell peppers, top removed and discarded; seeded

6 1" cheese cubes

2 cups rice, cooked
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
8 oz ground beef, browned with onions (or any other precooked meat)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t each dried oregano and parsley
dash worchestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Place a cheese cube in each pepper. Mix filling together and distribute equally among peppers. Put peppers, cut side up, into slow cooker and cook on low 4-5 hours, or until peppers reach desired tenderness. Like anything, this recipe cooks quicker in an oval pot than a round.

About Celebrating Sunday

Belated pictures of Easter Handiwork

The lamb cake made his usual appearance!

The purple, pink, and yellow eggs were hot dyed with natural ingredients (red cabbage, beet juice, and onion skins, respectively). I boiled the cabbage leaves and onion skins with 1/4 cup vinegar for about half an hour before I added the eggs; the beet juice was drained from a can of beets. After cooking the eggs, I drained them and put them in the freezer for 10 minutes so their yolks would not turn green (I didn't want to undo all my hard work with the traditional ice water bath).

The red eggs were cold dyed, a great way to get intense color without a lot of food coloring. I added a little red food coloring to the cooled onion peel liquid and kept the hard-boiled eggs it for 2 days.

Celebrating Sunday: Easter Edition

Reflection:
On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.”
[Jn 20, 1-2]

Recipe:
Not being much of a ham fan, I made this light pork entree for Easter dinner. It can cook while you are at church.

Lucy's Easter Pork
NB: 2 lbs untrimmed pork roast makes 4 servings

For every 2 lbs of pork roast
salt and pepper
1 T butter
1/2 cup diced spring onions
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup Marsala wine
1 bay leaf
1 cup frozen peas
1 T cornstarch dissolved in water
1 t fresh rosemary, thinly sliced

Trim excess fat from pork. Slice the pork thinly into strips 1" wide by 3" wide. Season with salt and pepper. Grease bottom of slow cooker with butter. Toss pork with onions; pour stock and marsala over meat. The pork should be partially but not completely submerged in liquid. Add more stock only if necessary. Insert bay leaf. Cook on low 2-3 hours for every 2 pounds of pork.

Switch to high setting. Add peas. Stir well and cook until peas are heated through. Add cornstarch, stirring well. Fold in rosemary. Cook until reaches desired thickness.