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WATCH THIS SPACE!
LOTS OF IDEAS AND RECIPES COMING TODAY FOR OUR LADY'S BIRTHDAY
LOTS OF IDEAS AND RECIPES COMING TODAY FOR OUR LADY'S BIRTHDAY
A CULINARY EXPLANATION TO WHET THE APPETITE
What Is a Full Course Meal?
A full course meal is an expansion and variation of a 3 course meal. Typically, full course dinners have four or more meal courses with the most extravagant dinners comprising of up to 12 courses. Full course meals normally begin with precursors to a main dish, such as an amuse-bouche or soup, followed by the main course(s), and they are finished off with sweets, coffee, and tea.
Full course meals frequently take place at someone’s home, at a venue, or at a restaurant. They are customarily enjoyed in the afternoon or evening for a special occasion.
Most Western-world multicourse meals follow a standard sequence, influenced by traditional French haute cuisine. Each course is supposed to be designed with a particular size and genre that befits its place in the sequence. There are variations depending on location and custom. The following is a common sequence for multicourse meals:
The meal begins with an entrée, a small serving that usually does not include red meat. In Italian custom, antipasto is served, usually finger food that does not contain pasta or any starch.
This may be followed by a variety of dishes, including a possible fish course or other light fare. The number and size of these intermittent courses is entirely dependent on local custom.
Following these is the main course. This is the most important course and is usually the largest.
Next comes the salad course, although salad may often refer to a cooked vegetable, rather than the greens most people associate with the word. Note that in America since around 1960, the salad course (usually a small, simple green salad lightly dressed) is served at some point before the main course. Sometimes, the salad also accompanies the cheese course.
The meal may carry on with a cheese selection, accompanied by an appropriate selection of wine. In many countries cheeses will be served before the meal, and in the United States often between the main course and dessert, just like in most European countries. In the UK, more typically the cheese course will follow dessert. Nuts are also a popular after-meal selection (thus the common saying "from soup to nuts", meaning from beginning to end).
The meal will often culminate with a dessert, either hot or cold, sometimes followed with a final serving of hot or cold fruit and accompanied by a suitable dessert wine.
Meals like this are generally very formal as well as very expensive. In formal dining, a full-course dinner can consist of 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 16 courses, and, in its extreme form, has been known to have 21 courses. In these more formalized dining events, the courses are carefully planned to complement each other gastronomically. The courses are smaller and spread out over a long evening, up to three, four or five hours. They follow conventions of menu planning that have been established over many years. Most courses (excluding some light courses such as sorbets) in the most formal full-course dinners are usually paired with a different wine, beer, liqueur, or other spirit.
In one modern version of service à la russe, courses are brought to the table in sequence. Only empty plates are set in front of each guest and guests make selections from a variety of dishes and fill their own plate. In another, common in restaurants, a filled plate is placed in front of a guest, pre-portioned away from the table. Often the meat is pre-portioned, but diners serve themselves with vegetables and side-dishes. In an American formal dining course, typically each course is served sequentially. Guests are served plates already filled with food in individual portions. Often, guests have an opportunity to choose between vegetarian or meat entrées. There is no opportunity to request something different or to ask for more than a single serving.
In service à la française, food is served “family-style”, with all courses on the table at the same time. Guests serve themselves so that all dishes are not served at their optimum temperatures. Alternatively, buffet style is a variation of the French service where all food is available at the correct temperature in a serving space other than the dining table. Guests commute to the buffet to be served or sometimes serve themselves and then carry their plates back to the table.
EXAMPLE OF A 12-COURSE MEAL
(Our Lady’s Menu will be different to the items listed in this example. Our Lady’s Menu will be based upon religious symbolism, reflecting Our Lady's principal virtues or events in her life―as well as the customary Middle-Eastern foods eaten in her day)
A 12-Course Meal Menu will be prepared for Our Lady’s Nativity―the number 12 reflecting the 12 stars that traditionally surround her (look at your Miraculous Medal) and which is based on Holy Scripture: “And a great sign appeared in Heaven―a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Apocalypse 12:1).
Obviously this is an optional thing, whereby you can choose as many or as few courses as you wish.
► COURSE ONE - Hors d'oeuvres.
Since this course is typically served during a cocktail hour or as guests are arriving, hors d’oeuvres are usually finger-foods that can be held in the hand.
● Goat cheese crostini with fig-olive tapenade
● Zucchini fritters
● Shallot and pancetta tortilla crisps
► COURSE TWO - Amuse-bouche.
This can be translated from French to mean “amuse the mouth” or more generally, to please guests’ palates with a small flavorful taste. Frequently, this might serve to stimulate the appetite or simply hint at flavors to come in the next meal course(s). In restaurants, this is normally a complementary item specifically chosen by the chef.
● Sweet potato chips with goat cheese and caviar
● Caprese bites with basil vinaigrette
● Pea soup served in a shot glass or espresso cup
► COURSE THREE - Soup.
As with all of your courses, a classic idea is to relate your soup course to the season. It's always smart to avoid soups that are too hearty so guests don’t fill up for the rest of the meal.
● Cold melon and basil soup
● Pumpkin sage bisque
● Tuscan white bean and roasted garlic soup
► COURSE FOUR – Appetizer.
In many parts of Europe, this course is referred to as the "entree" because it introduces the main courses in the meal. It is usually served on serving trays or small appetizer plates and features small cuts of meat, seasonal vegetables, starches, and sauces.
● Charred broccoli with shishito peppers and pickled onions
● Mushrooms stuffed with Pecorino Romano, garlic, and bread crumbs
● Candied carrots with honey, cumin, and paprika
► COURSE FIVE - Salad.
This course is usually an assortment of raw vegetables with a flavorful dressing. In some parts of Europe, salad is served after the main course, but it is also common to serve salad before.
● Garden salad with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and tart vinaigrette
● Chopped Thai salad with peanut dressing
● Greek salad with olives, lettuce, red onions, and feta cheese
► COURSE SIX – Fish.
This dish is a flavorful light protein before the main courses.
● Grilled salmon with a soy sauce marinade
● Lemon garlic tilapia
● Crispy trout with a parsley-caper vinaigrette
► COURSE SEVEN – First main course.
The first main dish is often a white meat, such as chicken, duck, or turkey.
● Spicy Thai basil chicken
● Roasted duck with an orange-bourbon glaze
● Smoked turkey with a honey glaze
► COURSE EIGHT – Palate Cleanser.
This is like a reset for your taste buds. Its purpose is to remove residual tastes from the mouth before the next course.
● Sorbet (lemon, melon, or mint)
● Prosecco
● Water with lemon
► COURSE NINE - Second main course.
Typically, the second main course is a red meat, such as premium beef, lamb, or venison.
● Stuffed lamb breast with lemon, ricotta, and oregano
● Grilled flatiron steak with rosemary potatoes
● Herb-crusted venison medallions
► COURSE TEN - Cheese course.
Create a platter of different cheeses along with items to accompany them.
● Include a variety of cheese textures and flavors, such as aged, soft, firm, and blue cheeses
● Choose a selection of breads and crackers
● Provide companion items, such as jams, chutneys, spicy mustards, caramelized onions, candied nuts and pistachios
► COURSE ELEVEN - Dessert.
Usually accompanied by a glass of dessert wine or coffee and tea, this is a sweet and decadent course.
● Rich flourless chocolate cake with a glass of sweet port wine
● Lemon creme brulee with dry white wine
● Fruit tarts and berries with champagne
► COURSE TWELVE – Mignardise
At the end of the meal, you can serve a mignardise, which is a tiny, bite-sized dessert or pastry served with tea, coffee, port, brandy, or scotch.
● Miniature butter madeleine biscuits
● Small pieces of chocolate
● Bite-sized macarons
As stated above, the Marian Menu for Our Lady's Birthday will be vastly different to the examples shown above for the 12 Course Meal.
What Is a Full Course Meal?
A full course meal is an expansion and variation of a 3 course meal. Typically, full course dinners have four or more meal courses with the most extravagant dinners comprising of up to 12 courses. Full course meals normally begin with precursors to a main dish, such as an amuse-bouche or soup, followed by the main course(s), and they are finished off with sweets, coffee, and tea.
Full course meals frequently take place at someone’s home, at a venue, or at a restaurant. They are customarily enjoyed in the afternoon or evening for a special occasion.
Most Western-world multicourse meals follow a standard sequence, influenced by traditional French haute cuisine. Each course is supposed to be designed with a particular size and genre that befits its place in the sequence. There are variations depending on location and custom. The following is a common sequence for multicourse meals:
The meal begins with an entrée, a small serving that usually does not include red meat. In Italian custom, antipasto is served, usually finger food that does not contain pasta or any starch.
This may be followed by a variety of dishes, including a possible fish course or other light fare. The number and size of these intermittent courses is entirely dependent on local custom.
Following these is the main course. This is the most important course and is usually the largest.
Next comes the salad course, although salad may often refer to a cooked vegetable, rather than the greens most people associate with the word. Note that in America since around 1960, the salad course (usually a small, simple green salad lightly dressed) is served at some point before the main course. Sometimes, the salad also accompanies the cheese course.
The meal may carry on with a cheese selection, accompanied by an appropriate selection of wine. In many countries cheeses will be served before the meal, and in the United States often between the main course and dessert, just like in most European countries. In the UK, more typically the cheese course will follow dessert. Nuts are also a popular after-meal selection (thus the common saying "from soup to nuts", meaning from beginning to end).
The meal will often culminate with a dessert, either hot or cold, sometimes followed with a final serving of hot or cold fruit and accompanied by a suitable dessert wine.
Meals like this are generally very formal as well as very expensive. In formal dining, a full-course dinner can consist of 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 16 courses, and, in its extreme form, has been known to have 21 courses. In these more formalized dining events, the courses are carefully planned to complement each other gastronomically. The courses are smaller and spread out over a long evening, up to three, four or five hours. They follow conventions of menu planning that have been established over many years. Most courses (excluding some light courses such as sorbets) in the most formal full-course dinners are usually paired with a different wine, beer, liqueur, or other spirit.
In one modern version of service à la russe, courses are brought to the table in sequence. Only empty plates are set in front of each guest and guests make selections from a variety of dishes and fill their own plate. In another, common in restaurants, a filled plate is placed in front of a guest, pre-portioned away from the table. Often the meat is pre-portioned, but diners serve themselves with vegetables and side-dishes. In an American formal dining course, typically each course is served sequentially. Guests are served plates already filled with food in individual portions. Often, guests have an opportunity to choose between vegetarian or meat entrées. There is no opportunity to request something different or to ask for more than a single serving.
In service à la française, food is served “family-style”, with all courses on the table at the same time. Guests serve themselves so that all dishes are not served at their optimum temperatures. Alternatively, buffet style is a variation of the French service where all food is available at the correct temperature in a serving space other than the dining table. Guests commute to the buffet to be served or sometimes serve themselves and then carry their plates back to the table.
EXAMPLE OF A 12-COURSE MEAL
(Our Lady’s Menu will be different to the items listed in this example. Our Lady’s Menu will be based upon religious symbolism, reflecting Our Lady's principal virtues or events in her life―as well as the customary Middle-Eastern foods eaten in her day)
A 12-Course Meal Menu will be prepared for Our Lady’s Nativity―the number 12 reflecting the 12 stars that traditionally surround her (look at your Miraculous Medal) and which is based on Holy Scripture: “And a great sign appeared in Heaven―a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Apocalypse 12:1).
Obviously this is an optional thing, whereby you can choose as many or as few courses as you wish.
► COURSE ONE - Hors d'oeuvres.
Since this course is typically served during a cocktail hour or as guests are arriving, hors d’oeuvres are usually finger-foods that can be held in the hand.
● Goat cheese crostini with fig-olive tapenade
● Zucchini fritters
● Shallot and pancetta tortilla crisps
► COURSE TWO - Amuse-bouche.
This can be translated from French to mean “amuse the mouth” or more generally, to please guests’ palates with a small flavorful taste. Frequently, this might serve to stimulate the appetite or simply hint at flavors to come in the next meal course(s). In restaurants, this is normally a complementary item specifically chosen by the chef.
● Sweet potato chips with goat cheese and caviar
● Caprese bites with basil vinaigrette
● Pea soup served in a shot glass or espresso cup
► COURSE THREE - Soup.
As with all of your courses, a classic idea is to relate your soup course to the season. It's always smart to avoid soups that are too hearty so guests don’t fill up for the rest of the meal.
● Cold melon and basil soup
● Pumpkin sage bisque
● Tuscan white bean and roasted garlic soup
► COURSE FOUR – Appetizer.
In many parts of Europe, this course is referred to as the "entree" because it introduces the main courses in the meal. It is usually served on serving trays or small appetizer plates and features small cuts of meat, seasonal vegetables, starches, and sauces.
● Charred broccoli with shishito peppers and pickled onions
● Mushrooms stuffed with Pecorino Romano, garlic, and bread crumbs
● Candied carrots with honey, cumin, and paprika
► COURSE FIVE - Salad.
This course is usually an assortment of raw vegetables with a flavorful dressing. In some parts of Europe, salad is served after the main course, but it is also common to serve salad before.
● Garden salad with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and tart vinaigrette
● Chopped Thai salad with peanut dressing
● Greek salad with olives, lettuce, red onions, and feta cheese
► COURSE SIX – Fish.
This dish is a flavorful light protein before the main courses.
● Grilled salmon with a soy sauce marinade
● Lemon garlic tilapia
● Crispy trout with a parsley-caper vinaigrette
► COURSE SEVEN – First main course.
The first main dish is often a white meat, such as chicken, duck, or turkey.
● Spicy Thai basil chicken
● Roasted duck with an orange-bourbon glaze
● Smoked turkey with a honey glaze
► COURSE EIGHT – Palate Cleanser.
This is like a reset for your taste buds. Its purpose is to remove residual tastes from the mouth before the next course.
● Sorbet (lemon, melon, or mint)
● Prosecco
● Water with lemon
► COURSE NINE - Second main course.
Typically, the second main course is a red meat, such as premium beef, lamb, or venison.
● Stuffed lamb breast with lemon, ricotta, and oregano
● Grilled flatiron steak with rosemary potatoes
● Herb-crusted venison medallions
► COURSE TEN - Cheese course.
Create a platter of different cheeses along with items to accompany them.
● Include a variety of cheese textures and flavors, such as aged, soft, firm, and blue cheeses
● Choose a selection of breads and crackers
● Provide companion items, such as jams, chutneys, spicy mustards, caramelized onions, candied nuts and pistachios
► COURSE ELEVEN - Dessert.
Usually accompanied by a glass of dessert wine or coffee and tea, this is a sweet and decadent course.
● Rich flourless chocolate cake with a glass of sweet port wine
● Lemon creme brulee with dry white wine
● Fruit tarts and berries with champagne
► COURSE TWELVE – Mignardise
At the end of the meal, you can serve a mignardise, which is a tiny, bite-sized dessert or pastry served with tea, coffee, port, brandy, or scotch.
● Miniature butter madeleine biscuits
● Small pieces of chocolate
● Bite-sized macarons
As stated above, the Marian Menu for Our Lady's Birthday will be vastly different to the examples shown above for the 12 Course Meal.
A MARIAN MENU
FOR OUR LADY'S BIRTHDAY
Tuesday, September 8th
This menu is continually being developed and posted. Please check frequently for the latest added courses.
FOR OUR LADY'S BIRTHDAY
Tuesday, September 8th
This menu is continually being developed and posted. Please check frequently for the latest added courses.
This meal is not your usual half-hour or even one-hour meal. It is typical European and American style of old and is meant to last several hours with generous breaks between some courses or shorter breaks between others. You could also look upon it as satisfying and serving as both your lunch and dinner obligations, while taking the time―in between your usual lunch and dinner times―to eat and enjoy each other’s company.
Alternatively, you could take the menu as a BREAKFAST―LUNCH―DINNER arrangement with little snacks in between.
► COURSE ONE ― MELON, GRAPE & NUT ROSARY BEADS
“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).
Our Lord refers to Himself as the grape vine: “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). If Our Lord is symbolized by a vine, the Our Lady, His Mother, can likewise be symbolized by the grape vine―and so we apply to her the words of Holy Scripture: “Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the water: her fruit and her branches have grown out of many waters” (Ezechiel 19:10). “And she flourished as a grape soon ripe” (Ecclesiasticus 51:19).
“I went down into the garden of nuts [not idiots], to see the fruits of the valleys, and to look if the vineyard had flourished” Canticles 6:10).
INGREDIENTS
● 1 Watermelon, or Honeydew Melon (all of the melon will NOT be used in this course)
● 1 bag of Grapes (all of the grapes will NOT be used in this course)
● At least 6 Hazelnuts (they are round nuts―and therefore look like a Rosary bead) for the 5 Our Father beads and the 1 Glory Be to the Father bead.
● 1 large Strawberry for the Rosary medallion
DIRECTIONS
● Use a melon-baller to cut-out 33 melon balls (for the Hail Marys) from the melon (or 20 balls of melon if you want to use more grapes than melon)
● Take 20 grapes for the remaining Hail Marys (or 33 grapes if you prefer to use more grapes than melon).
● On a large serving plate―or anything large enough to contain your melon-grape-nut Rosary, arrange all of the balls into a Rosary bead shape of your choice―circular, or heart shaped, or irregular shape, etc.
● If you are using a majority of Melon balls, then each decade would be as follows―10 Melon balls―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon balls―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon Balls―Strawberry medallion―1 Hazlenut―3 Melon balls―1 Hazlenut―Crucifix (either a real crucifix or a cross made from flat pieces of cucumber or celery stalks).
● If you are using a majority of Grapes, then each decade would be as follows―10 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon Balls ―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes ―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon Balls ―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes―Strawberry medallion―1 Hazlenut―3 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―Crucifix (either a real crucifix or a cross made from flat pieces of cucumber or celery stalks).
The entire Rosary is to be consumed as finger-food by the family and/or guests. If there will be large number of people, you may need to make more than one Rosary.
► COURSE TWO ― HEART-SHAPED CUCUMBER SLICES WITH VINAIGRETTE
“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).
In the book, The Life Of Mary As Seen By The Mystics, we read: “Mary was very fond of vinegar.”
As regards the use of honey, the Church has the following verse as part of the reading in one of the Masses of Our Lady: “For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb” Ecclesiasticus 24:27).
Salt preserves food from corruption― “In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13) and Our Lady was, of course, free from all corruption of Original Sin. ― “In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13). “You are the salt of the Earth. But if the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men” (Matthew 5:13). “Let your speech be always in grace seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6).
Furthermore, in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the office of Matins, in the 3rd Lesson or Reading, we have reference of cinnamon being linked with the Blessed Virgin Mary: "I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, and as a cypress tree on Mount Zion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Cadiz, and like a rose plant in Jericho. As a fair olive tree [cf. Olive Oil] in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. I gave forth a sweet fragrance like cinnamon and aromatic balm. I yielded a sweetness of fragrance like choicest myrrh" [myrrh is fragrant but also bitter, which reminds us that we need some bitterness or suffering in our lives if we are to achieve the frangrance of sancity] (Ecclesiasticus 24:17-20).
INGREDIENTS
● 1 large Cucumber (wide enough for your heart-shaped cookie-cutter, otherwise you will have to cut the heart shape by hand).
● Vinaigrette of your choice OR make your own vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of vinegar of your choice (go 2 tablespoons if you prefer a really vinegary flavor)
1 tablespoon honey
1 minced large Garlic clove (or 2 smaller cloves)
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkling of herbs of your choice (e.g. Herbes de Provence, or Italian Seasoning, or Basil, Thyme, Oregano, etc.)
Dash of Cayenne Pepper (only if you like it spicy)
Dash of Cinnamon Powder
Dash of ground Myrrh
DIRECTIONS
● Slice the Cucumber into medium thickness slices, e.g. one-quarter inch thick.
● With your smallest heart-shaped cookie-cutter, or a size that better fits your cucumber slices, press-out the heart-shaped pieces of cucumber. Make as many as needed for the number of family-members and/or guests―making around 3 to 5 slices per person.
● Serve on a small plate or saucer and drizzle the vinaigrette lightly over all the slices.
► COURSE THREE ― LEEK, ONION AND GARLIC SOUP
“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).
INGREDIENTS
● 3 tablespoons olive oil
● 6 onions, thinly sliced into half-moons (Our Lady has the moon under her feet)
● 2 leeks, thinly sliced or, if you prefer, finely chopped
● 5 cloves garlic, minced
● 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar (which is sweeter)
● 2 tablespoons of wine (of your choice―sweeter the better for this recipe)
● 3 (14 oz) cans beef broth (or 6 cups homemade broth)
● salt and pepper (or any other favorite herbs and spices), to taste
ALL THIS MAKES 1½ QUARTS ― You will only be giving SMALL servings, so the 1½ quarts should be enough for 6 servings
DIRECTIONS
● Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and leeks, and toss to coat evenly in oil.
● Reduce heat to low and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown and caramelized, about 10-12 minutes
● Stir in the garlic, and season well with salt and pepper.
● Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and stir until it reduces completely. Add the broth (and any other favorite herbs and spices), and bring the soup to a simmer.
● Add the wine
● Simmer until the soup has good flavor, about 20-25 minutes.
● The soup can be made the day before and gently reheated when needed.
► COURSE FOUR ― STUFFED SWEET PEPPERS
The stuffed-pepper is symbolic of St. Anne with Mary in her womb. Keeping with name MARY, the stuffing will be made of four items―the name of each ingredient will begin with one of the four letters in the name MARY. Thus we have M―for meat; A―for apple; R―for rice; and Y―yogurt; plus bits and bats of various seasonings. Before you say “Yuck!”―realize that most of those ingredients are the chief ingredients for a meat loaf too!
This stuffed sweet pepper can be made earlier (or the day before), refrigerated and then taken out before the 12-course meal starts and allowed to come a little closer to room temperature rather than being served straight out of the fridge, but you can serve it straight from the fridge if you wish.
As for quantities―you should look for the smallest sweet peppers you can find, any color or mix of colors will do. With it being a 12-course meal, you want to avoid large portions. In the worst case scenario, you could always serve the dish with the stuffed-pepper in one whole piece, and then, if necessary, cut the pepper in half and share it between two persons.
INGREDIENTS
● 1 lb ground beef
● 1 cup of already cooked rice (brown, or white, or wild)―1 cup of uncooked rice would give far too much rice.
● ¾ cup of Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt if you prefer). Make sure it is FULL-FAT yogurt, if it is not, then it will curdle when heated!
● 2 fairly finely chopped sweet apples―without the skins and seeds.
● 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
● 2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar (or Apple Cider Vinegar)
● 1 teaspoons salt
● ¼ teaspoon pepper
● 1 teaspoon onion powder or granules
● 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
● 1 teaspoon paprika powder (or ½ tsp of cayenne if you like it spicy)
● 1 teaspoon basil (or whatever herb you prefer instead)
● 1 teaspoon oregano (or whatever herb you prefer instead)
DIRECTIONS
● Cook the rice beforehand according to its specified instructions (times vary for the different kinds of rice).
● Roast the sweet peppers in the oven before you begin cooking the meat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush a baking sheet lightly with olive oil. Lay peppers on their sides, stems pointing sideways. Put baking sheet in oven and allow peppers to roast for 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet. Using tongs, give the peppers a half turn, then place back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Check to make sure peppers have fully roasted. The skin should be charred and soft, but not too soft for they will break during stuffing. The peppers should look slightly collapsed. If they don't look ready, let them roast for a few more minutes. When they're done, remove baking sheet from oven and set aside―if needed, you can return the peppers to the oven for a mere warming-up once they have been stuffed.
● Browning the Ground Beef. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, separating and reducing the meat to small separate.
● Stir in the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika or cayenne, cinnamon, basil and oregano as you brown and stir the ground beef.
● As the meat begins to brown, add the finely chopped apples and stir well to combine with the meat.
● Just before removing the browned and cooked ground beef, reduce the heat to low, and add the vinegar to deglaze the pan, scraping all the bits off the bottom of the pan and mixing it well with the vinegar. Stir well to mix the beef with the vinegar so it is all absorbed by the meat. This should only take a minute or so.
● Then, with the heat still on low, add the already cooked rice and the yoghurt and simmer very gently while stirring for a few minutes (no more than three minutes or so)―because everything is already cooked and you are merely combining flavors.
● High heat is the root cause of curdled yogurt in cooked sauces. Lowering the heat to a bare simmer will cook the yogurt more gently, and lessen the risk of curdling. Make sure that you let the yogurt come to room temperature before adding it to your meat ― otherwise you will risk curdling it.
● Then fill your roasted peppers with the seasoned ground beef, apple and yogurt mixture and serve―or return to oven for a very short time, at 400 degrees, to simply warm the skins of the peppers if you feel this is needed.
► COURSE FIVE ― SALAD
Green leafy salads and vegetables move through the body faster than denser food. Water-packed leafy greens and vegetables help your body to lubricate your digestive path, and they act as an enzymatic spark. Green is the chief color of nature―the grass is green and we walk upon it―thus giving us a symbol of humility, as being under our feet. Humility is the foundation of the spiritual life―there can be no sanctity without humility. Hence, of all the virtues Our Lord could have mentioned as being examples of His own virtue, He chose to say: “Learn of Me, because I am humble of heart!” (Matthew 11:29). It is said that the fact that God gave Our Lady such a plenitude of grace was primarily down to her humility―and it is a virtue that terrorizes the proud devils.
Vegetables that were commonly eaten included leeks, garlic and onions, black radishes, net or muskmelons (sometimes misidentified as the cucumber) and watermelons. Gourds and melons were eaten raw, or flavored with vinegar. Black radishes were also eaten raw when in season during the fall and winter. Field greens and root plants were generally not cultivated and were gathered seasonally when they grew in the wild. Leafy plants included dandelion greens and the young leaves of the orach plant. Wild herbs were collected and were eaten uncooked or cooked. These are known to have included garden rocket and mallow and both leaf chicory and endive. Wild lettuce, known as chazeret, was a leafy herb with prickly, red tinged leaves that became bitter as they matured. Sweeter head-lettuce was only developed and introduced by the Romans. Bitter herbs eaten at the Passover sacrifice with the unleavened bread, matza, including chicory or endive, horehound , reichardia or eryngo and wormwood.
Olives were one of ancient Israel’s most important natural resources. The olive is one of the biblical Seven Species and one of the three elements of the “Mediterranean triad” in Israelite cuisine. Olive oil was used for not only as food and for cooking, but also for lighting, sacrificial offerings, ointment, and anointment for priestly or royal office.
INGREDIENTS
● The green salad or your choice or a mixture of greens (lettuce, dandelion leaves, chicory leaves, endives, etc)―which will serve as a bed for the vegetables
● 1 medium onion
● 1 large tomato
● Around 3 or 4 Olives per person―stay with one kind or buy a mixed variety of olives, e.g. green, black, stuffed, etc.
● Several thin slices of cucumber which are then halved
● Some crumbled cheese of your choice
For the vinaigrette:
● 2 tablespoons white wine
● 2 tablespoons lemon juice
● 1 teaspoon honey
● 1 teaspoon mustard
● ½ teaspoon salt
● ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
● ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
● Mix the wine, lemon juice, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired. Alternatively, you can blend by hand.
DIRECTIONS
● Arrange your selected and preferred salad greens on each plate to serve as a bed for the vegetables
● Slice the onion (to create onion rings, not crescents) relatively thinly and scatter on top of the salad greens
● Slice the tomato to give small chunks of tomato and scatter over the salad greens
● Scatter the thinly sliced cucumber half-circles over the salad greens.
● Sprinkle the crumbled cheese over the items
● Place the 3 or 4 olives per person on top of the other items on the plate
● Make the vinaigrette and drizzle over the vegetables and salad greens.
► COURSE SIX ― FISH
Fish is seen to play a major role in Holy Scripture. Four chief Apostles were fishermen―Peter, Andrew, James and John. Our Lord performed several miracles involving fish―the feeding of the five thousand; the feeding of the four thousand; and two miracles involving St. Peter fishing for fish, where Our Lord arranged for miraculous catches. The Israelites ate a variety of fresh and saltwater fish. Remains of freshwater fish from the Yarkon and Jordan rivers and the Sea of Galilee have been found in excavations. Saltwater fish discovered in excavations include sea bream, grouper, meager and gray mullet. Fishermen supplied fish to inland communities, as remains of fish, including bones and scales, have been discovered at many inland sites. To preserve them for transport, the fish were first smoked or dried and salted. Merchants also imported fish, sometimes from as far as from Egypt, where pickled roe was an export article. Merchants shipped fish to Jerusalem and there was evidently a significant trade in fish; one of the gates of Jerusalem was called the Fish Gate, named for a fish market nearby (Habacuc 1:10, 2 Esdras 3:3, 2 Esdras 12:39, 2 Esdras 13:16, 2 Paralipomenon 33:14). In the Galilee, small-scale fishing was a fundamental component of the agrarian economy.
INGREDIENTS
● Choose whichever fish you prefer or can afford
● Olive Oil
● 1 tablespoon of honey
● Balsamic vinegar
● Lemon juice
● Lemon peel for lemon zest (= grated peel)
● 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley or cilantro or both
● salt
● pepper
● Minced garlic cloves
DIRECTIONS
For the vinaigrette:
● 1 tablespoon olive oil
● 1 tablespoons lemon juice
● 1 tablespoon honey
● 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
● ½ teaspoon salt
● ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
● 1 teaspoon minced garlic
● Mix the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and honey together first, to dissolve the honey more easily. Then add the salt, pepper and minced garlic and mix some more. Use an electric blender (hand-held mini version works well inside a cup) if desired. Alternatively, you can blend by hand.
You can choose which way to cook your fish―steaming, poaching, broiling, grilling, baking or frying. If you are in doubt as to which fish best for which method, just tell the fish seller how you are planning to cook the fish and ask them which fish they recommend.
● Steaming offers two benefits for cooking fish: It doesn't dry out the flesh, and it doesn't require any added fat. All you need is a piece of equipment that holds the fish while allowing it to steam. One option is a steamer basket, which rests above a pot of boiling water, or a Chinese bamboo steamer. This method of cooking doesn't lend itself to salting; the salt will drip off as it steams. Additionally, other than microwaving -- which is simply another form of steaming -- this method of cooking retains the most nutrients. A 1-inch-thick fish fillet could take anywhere from six to 15 minutes to steam, depending on which variety you choose.
● Poaching, which refers to cooking the fish in a simmering liquid, is most effective with firm fish fillets such as Pacific halibut, yellowfin tuna and lake trout. The healthier the liquid you choose for poaching, the healthier the end result will be. Options include fish stock and water seasoned with onion, garlic and herbs. To cook, bring the liquid to a simmer, but don't let it boil. Simmer the fish until the center is opaque and then remove it from the pan with a slotted spatula.
● Broiling. Because its natural oils prevent drying, salmon is a top choice for broiling, a cooking method that exposes the fish to direct heat in the oven. This dry cooking method requires no oils. Other oil-rich fish options include tuna, sea bass and mackerel. Leaner cuts of fish should be marinated before broiling. A half-inch piece of fish will take approximately six minutes to cook for rare, and nine to 12 minutes for medium or well-done.
● Grilling is another direct-heat cooking method, but the heat comes from the bottom rather than -- as in broiling -- from the top. The same candidates for broiling work well in grilling. To cook fish directly on the grill, lightly brush the fillet with extra-virgin olive oil so it doesn't stick. To infuse the fish with a smoky flavor, grill it on a wooden plank -- cedar, maple or hickory -- for approximately 20 minutes.
● Baking. Perhaps the simplest method for cooking fish is baking. Season the fish with herbs and spices or slices of lemon or lime and arrange the fillets on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake the fish for seven to 10 minutes per inch of thickness.
● Frying. For quick stovetop cooking, go for a white fish fillet. Any lean white fish can be cooked with this stovetop technique―tilapia, cod, bass, grouper, haddock, catfish, and snapper. This is one instance where you could turn to a non-stick skillet―especially if you are not used to frying fish. It will make this already-easy cooking process even easier, and you won’t be as worried about the fish sticking to the pan and tearing. However, the advantage of a cast-iron skillet or stainless steel skillet is that the fish tends to get a little more golden and crispy. First of all pat the fish dry. Then season the natural top-side (the curvy side, not the flat side) of the filet with salt and pepper. Pour in olive oil into the skillet so that you have a film of oil covering the whole surface―if using cast iron or stainless steel skillets, add a bit more, for the fish can have a tendency to soak up and stick. Heat the olive in the skillet and, when hot, place the fish into the skillet with seasoned side down. Cook for two to three minutes without moving it. While it is cooking, season the upward facing side of the fish with salt and pepper. Flip the fish over and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes.
● Finally, whichever method you chose, drizzle the vinaigrette (which you gently heat for a minute if you wish) over the fish. If you wish to add something more―you could serve the fish on a few salad, lettuce, etc. leaves, or on a very thin bed of cooked rice (from the earlier course above―Course Four: Stuffed Pepper)
► COURSE SEVEN ― FIRST MAIN COURSE: SOLOMON'S SHEEHSKEBABS
“And the provision of Solomon for each day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred rams, besides venison of harts, roes, and buffles, and fatted fowls” (3 Kings 4:22-23).
INGREDIENTS
Plan out how many skewers you will need to roast, grill or broil―and how much of what you intend to put on each skewer. This is a flexible recipe as regards ingredients and quantities.
● Enough skewers for the anticipated numbers of family and/or guest―go with only 1 skewer per person, for it’s a 12 course meal.
● 1 skinless chicken leg and thigh per 3 persons OR 1 skinless chicken breast per 3 persons ― approximation only.
● 1 bag of PEARL ONIONS (the little tiny onions―you can get them white or purple―mixing colors looks nice)
● 1 or two LARGE cloves of garlic PER EACH SKEWER
● Box of GRAPE TOMATOES which are firmer than cherry tomatoes―tomatoes are the first to turn to mush on kebabs
Marinade ingredients (the chicken can be marinated in this overnight up to 24 hours)
Always marinate in the refrigerator, that’s not negotiable! Leaving your meat to stand in marinade on the kitchen counter or, worse yet, outdoors will encourage growth of bacteria that can make you sick. Allow approximately ½ cup of marinade for each one to two pounds of chicken. Extra marinade can be stored in the refrigerator for basting during the roasting process, but only if it hasn’t touched raw meat. Use a food-safe plastic bag, non-reactive glass, or a stainless steel container to marinate your meat. You can save those plastic boxes with lids used for salads, as they come in useful for marinating, they make a sturdier vessel than plastic bags and you can just toss in the trash when the messy job is done. Also, remember to turn or stir the chicken occasionally, to allow even exposure to the marinade.
● 1 large clove (or 2 small cloves) of finely chopped garlic
● 1 tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro
● 4 tablespoons of ground cumin
● 2 tablespoons of salt
● 2 tablespoons of freshly ground pepper
● 1 tablespoon of saffron
● 2 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix all the ingredients together and place in a sturdy freezer bag, to await the chicken pieces.
DIRECTIONS
Remember that all the foods do not require the same length of cooking time if they are all the same size. Therefore the longer something takes to cook, the smaller its size should be―so that everything, hopefully, comes together at the same time. With the above ingredients―the longest cooker is the chicken, then the onion, then the garlic and finally the tomato. It will never be perfect―unless you put all the chicken together on a skewer, with another skewer for the onions, another skewer for the garlic and another for the tomatoes. That way you either take them out on a staggered time basis, or put them in on a staggered basis. You can remove any skewer once its contents are cooked, leaving the others in for longer that still need cooking.
● Cut chicken into cubes―do not make them too large, for the tomatoes will turn to mush before the chicken is cooked. Look at the size of your pearl onions and make the chicken cubes around the same size or fractionally smaller.
● Marinate the chicken in a sturdy food-safe freezer bag overnight IN THE REFRIGERATOR and on a dish with raised edges in case of a leak from the bag. Or marinate in a non-reactive glass, or a stainless steel container, or plastic box in which salad greens are sold, which you should discard after use.
● Thread each skewer with your desired combination of foods―or, as stated above, keep all the same kind of food together on one or two skewers.
● Brush each skewer with olive oil and season with salt and pepper or any other spice you wish to add.
● Set broiling pan or grill about 6 inches from heat source. Broil or grill kebabs, turning often, until chicken is lightly browned and cooked through and onions are lightly charred on ends, about 10 minutes. Serve kebabs hot with a dipping sauce of your choice.
► COURSE EIGHT ― PALATE CLEANSER
This is like a reset for your taste buds. Its purpose is to remove residual tastes from the mouth before the next course.
● Sorbet (lemon, melon, or mint)
● Prosecco sparkling wine (Italian)
● Water with lemon
► COURSE NINE ― SECOND MAIN COURSE: MARINATED (or MARIA-NATED) BEEF OR LAMB
“And when the Ark of the Lord was come into the city of David, they brought the Ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle, which David had pitched for it: and David offered holocausts, and peace offerings before the Lord. And when he had made an end of offering holocausts and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. And he distributed to all the multitude of Israel both men and women, to everyone, a loaf of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and fine flour fried with oil” (2 Kings 6:16-19).
“And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ‘Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: “Let every man take a lamb by their families and houses. But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he shall take unto him his neighbor that joineth to his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb and they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce. You shall not eat thereof anything raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted at the fire” (Exodus 12:1-9).
So roast your lamb or roast your beef―whichever you choose. If you have a favorite recipe―feel free to use it. Here we will offer a recipe for roasted beef (lamb might to way too expensive for most folk―especially if the family is large or many persons will be present).
INGREDIENTS
Marinade ingredients (the beef can be marinated in this overnight up to 24 hours)
Allow approximately ½ cup of marinade for each one to two pounds of beef. Extra marinade can be stored in the refrigerator for basting during the roasting process, but only if it hasn’t touched raw meat. Use a food-safe plastic bag, non-reactive glass, or a stainless steel container to marinate your meat. You can save those plastic boxes with lids used for salads, as they come in useful for marinating, they make a sturdier vessel than plastic bags and you can just toss in the trash when the messy job is done. Also, remember to turn or stir the beef occasionally, to allow even exposure to the marinade.
● 1 cup olive oil
● 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
● 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
● 1 tablespoon cooking molasses OR 2 tablespoons honey
● ½ cup lemon juice
● 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
● 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
● 1 clove garlic, minced
● 3 tablespoons dried basil
● 1 ½ tablespoons dried parsley flakes
● ¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
● salt and ground black pepper to taste
● Blend all the ingredients together and then taste and finally season with salt and pepper according to your taste preferences.
● ONCE THE MARINADE HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE MEAT, IT SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR BASTING DUE TO THE BACTERIAL CONTENT, WHICH IS UNLIKELY TO BE KILLED IN THE SHORT TIME SPANS THAT BASTING CAN SOMETIMES GIVE. IF YOU WISH TO USE THE ABOVE MARINADE FOR BASTING THE MEAT AS IT COOKS, THEN SET SOME MARINAFE ASIDE BEFORE PLACING THE MEAT IN IT―THAT WAY YOU HAVE A “CLEAN” and “PURE” MARINADE FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Other Ingredients
● The quantity of beef required to give each person one-quarter pound (4 to 6 ounces) of beef. The size and thickness of your palm, excluding your fingers, equates to a 4 to 6 ounce serving size of beef. Another way of “eyeballing” the correct size for a portion is remembering that 4 to 6 ounces is also around the size of bar of soap. Therefore, for 4 persons you are looking at anything from 1lb to 1½ lbs of beef. The cheapest cuts are usually the least tender and more tough―but the marinating process always tenderizes meat. Note, however, that the tougher the meat, then the lower should be temperature at which it is roasted and the longer it should be roasted at that low temperature. Which is helpful, because you can place the meat in the oven well before people start to arrive (just take note of the time and follow its progress!!!). Roasting in a Dutch Oven always produces tender meat―even from the “tough cuts”.
● Our Lady―in the prayer, Hail Holy Queen―is hailed as the “Mother of Mercy” and “our sweetness” and the prayer ends with words: “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!” Therefore, the choice of vegetables for this course have been deliberately chosen for their “Sweetness”―being Sweet Potatoes, Beets and Carrots. These vegetables will be steamed (or you can roast them if you wish), for steaming will keep them soft―which somehow seems to fit with “sweetness”― “soft and sweet” is more in harmony than “hard and sweet”. Furthermore, the juices that will gather at the bottom of the steaming pot will be deliciously sweet and will have preserved more of what can be preserved of the nutritional value of the food―which also furnishes a wonderful base or addition to the sauce or gravy that can be made from the spicy juices of the roast beef blending with the sweet juices of the vegetables. Now, you can of course, choose whatever vegetables you want in addition to or in place of those suggested. For St. Paul speaks of “the liberty of the glory of the children of God”―thus you are at liberty to choose and use whatever good things you wish!
DIRECTIONS (FOR DUTCH OVEN STYLE COOKING)
● Slice enough onions (equatorially, and not north pole to south pole) into very thick slices―at least one-half-inch and coat the entire base of the Dutch Oven with them. Fill gaps with cloves of garlic.
● Pour the broth (or plain water if you have no broth) over the onions so that they are just about covered.
● KNOW THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF YOUR PIECE OF MEAT―if you did not notice its weight at the time of purchase, then weigh it now―for the cooking time is calculated according to the weight of the meat.
● Presuming that you are using a cheaper, but tougher, cut of beef and are roasting it as one big piece and not in little chunks―after having marinated it for 24 hours or less, season all sides of the meat with your preferred seasoning blend or mixture (make it a little spicy for the vegetables will be sweet) and place the meat in your Dutch Oven on top of the onions and garlic. IF YOU WISH, BEFORE PLACING THE MEAT IN THE DUTCH OVEN, YOU CAN SEAR (BROWN) THE MEAT IN A FRYING PAN UNTIL ALL SIDES HAVE BEEN BROWNED.
● Set the oven temperature on 350 degrees for the FIRST HOUR ONLY―then reduce the heat to 250 degrees and cook at a rate of approximately 60 minutes PER EACH POUND of weight. However, this is totally subjective―for some ovens cook faster than others, and some people like their meat RARE, others like it MEDIUM and others like it well DONE.
RARE ― Cool red center ― 125° F or 52° C
MEDIUM RARE ― Warm red center ― 135° F or 57° C
MEDIUM ― Warm pink center145° F63° C
MEDIUM WELL ― Slightly pink center ― 150° F or 66° C
WELL DONE ― Little or no pink ― 160° F or 71° C
So there is no better way on checking on the “doneness” of your meat than checking it with the thermometer.
● VEGETABLES―This is very simple and quick. Hopefully you have a “double-decker” steaming pot or two steaming pots―for the quantity of vegetables might be large if you have large family or many guest.
● Slice the Sweet Potatoes into fairly thick circular slices, peel them, and place in your steaming tray.
● Similarly slice your Beets into slightly thinner slices than your Sweet Potato slices, peel the edges off, and place in lower tray (so that when they drip, they won’t turn any vegetables beneath them into crimson colored veggies).
● Scrub and wash the carrots, then slice the carrots into chunky sized pieces and place in the tray.
● Pour in a sufficient amount of water so that a decent amount will left after about 15 minutes of steaming (to be used for the sauce in combination with the meat juices).
● Steam for about 15 minutes―but start checking on desired softness of veggies after about 10 minutes.
● SAUCE―This where you own personal tastes must reign supreme. You will be combining the liquid from the bottom of the Dutch Oven (which will be more spicy than sweet) with the liquid left over from steaming the vegetables (which will be more sweet than spicy). The blend depends upon you―so go easy and don’t just dump everything together right away. For your tastes it might be two parts meat liquid to one part veggie liquid, or 50-50, or 80-20, or 35-75, or whatever. You are the judge of that. You will also have to thicken the resulting mix―by reducing it in a saucepan or frying pan on the stove top at a medium high heat to your desired consistency―adding further herbs and spices if needed, or perhaps adding some tomato paste, or pasta sauce, or roux to thicken it. As St. Paul says: “The liberty of the glory of the children of God.”
Place all the items in your desired quantities on a plate and serve.
► COURSE TEN ― CHEESE COURSE (OF COURSE)
Goats, and to a lesser extent, sheep, provided milk for part of the year, and milk and dairy products were a significant source of food. Dairy products are mentioned in the Bible (for example, Genesis 18:8, Judges 4:19, and 2 Kings 17:29, and a repeated description of the Land of Israel in the Bible is “a land flowing with milk and honey” (for example, Exodus 3:8, Exodus 33:3, and Joel 4:18)).
Fresh milk could not be stored for long without spoiling. Typically, thick sour milk called laban was drunk because the Israelites stored the milk in skin containers, in which it curdled quickly. Milk had to be processed to preserve it. This was done by first churning it, using a goatskin or clay container to separate the butterfat from the whey. The butterfat was processed by boiling and then cooling it to make clarified butter, which could then be stored for a long time. Clarified butter was used principally for cooking and frying. Butter churns have been excavated at Beersheba, dating from the 4th century BC, and other ancient Israelite sites.
Goat milk and sheep’s milk cheeses were the most prevalent types of cheese. Soft cheese was made using cloth bags filled with soured milk. The thin liquid was drained through the cloth and soft cheese remained in the bag. A hard cheese was made from fermented soured milk: Milk was poured into special moulds in which it curdled and was then hardened by drying in the sun, or by heating and numerous small cheese molds, with holes for the draining the whey, have been discovered by archeologists. Cheese is not mentioned often in the Bible, but in one case, David is sent to take a gift of cheese to the commander of the army (1 Kings 17:18).
Before choosing the cheese for the course―it is well worth looking at the process by which cheeses are made―for there is much therein that can instruct us for the spiritual life. An article will be devoted to that at some point in the future. Most experts agree that there are seven stages in the life of the cheese―if you include the eating of the cheese―six stages of preparation and one stage of consumption. This reminds us of the Seven Sacraments―the greatest of which also includes “consumption”, which is the Holy Eucharist and, incidentally, it is milk white or cheese white. Note too, that milk comes from the female animal―much like with humans―and the mother feeds that milk to her offspring―as Our Lady feeds us the “milk” of God’s grace, being the Mediatrix of All Grace.
It takes 10 lbs of milk to make 1 lb of cheese. Why? Whey! Way too much whey! Not enough fat! It is the fat that makes the cheese―whey has way too little fat. The fat content of whey is low. For example 1,000 lbs of whey are required to make typically 1 lb of whey butter, whereas it takes 16 lbs of milk to make 1 lb of butter. A ratio of 1,000 to 1 and 16 to 1―that is a massive difference. Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled, has coagulated and has been strained. Thus, in the preparation of cheese, there has to be separation of the curds (high fat cream) from the whey (low fat liquid)―much as Our Lord speaks of the separation of the wheat from the chaff, or the wheat from the cockle. The whole subject is spiritually fascinating―if you have ever looked into it―but this is not the time and place for a development of that subject! Those few curds of fat should be enough to chew on as you chew on your cheese!
Choose whatever cheese you want. If you wish, you can include a variety of cheese textures and flavors, such as aged, soft, firm, and blue cheeses.
● Choose a selection of breads and crackers
● Provide companion items, such as jams, chutneys, spicy mustards, caramelized onions, sweet pickled onions, candied almonds and pistachios―which were both popular nuts in ancient Israel.
► COURSE ELEVEN ― DESSERT: POTS DE CRÊME WITH ROSE AND POMEGRANATE
“Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which lieth hid within” (Canticles 4:3)
The Pomegranate is a symbol of the fruitfulness of Our Lady. The Rose color (and edible Rose petals) remind us Our Lady’s Rosary. Pots de crême is the tastiest and easiest way to use up those egg yolks. Can you believe that a few egg yolks and cream can whip up something so delicate and spectacular? The flavors you can play with are endless and some are right there sitting in your pantry. Like lemon or orange (a tsp of zest does it), cinnamon, maple syrup, honey, coffee, chocolate or plain vanilla. Want something more creative, use ginger, berries, nuts, caramel, lavender, coconut, saffron and the list goes on.
NOTES : If you are using farm fresh eggs that have deep yellow or orange yolks, the color of your custard might differ slightly and be less pinkish. Use the grocery store eggs for making this dessert because of the use of color.
You could use other red fruits instead of pomegranates if they are unavailable. Raspberry, strawberries and cherries make a good substitute. The pomegranate seeds could be placed on the bowl before the custard is poured for a surprise element when one is eating or you could serve them as a topping.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 5-6
● ½ cup (half-a-cup) milk
● 1½ cups heavy/thickened cream
● 1 tablespoon rosewater
● 4 egg yolks (NOT THE EGG WHITES)
● 3 tablespoons honey ¼ cup castor sugar
● 1-2 drops pink food coloring (optional) or you could use some drops of red beet juice
● Pomegranate seeds, to serve
DIRECTIONS
● Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
● While the oven is preheating, combine cream and milk in a saucepan on the stove top over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.
● Add the rosewater, mix and set aside.
● Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Pour the warm cream mixture over the egg yolk mixture―a little at a time―whisking constantly until smooth. Take care not to add the entire cream to the eggs together at one time, as it can overcook the eggs resulting in scrambled eggs. You now have a custard.
● Mix in the food color and strain the mixture into a pouring jug.
● Divide the custard into five or 6 lightly-greased, ramekins (small porcelain soufflé cups) or ovenproof cups.
● Place ramekins in a deep baking tray. Pour boiling water into baking tray until halfway up sides of ramekins.
● Bake custards, uncovered, for around 45 minutes or until just set (while the centers are slightly jiggly when shaken).
● Remove from the oven and take the ramekins out of the water bath. Leave to cool to room temperature.
● Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
● Serve with pomegranate seeds, silver cachous or grated white chocolate. You could decorate with edible, dried rosebuds or petals.
► COURSE TWELVE ― CANTICLE OF CANTICLE (SONG OF SONGS) NUT-CAKES
“Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon” (Canticle of Canticles 4:13-14).
This is an ancient recipe from 1800 BC.
INGREDIENTS
● 1 cup of fresh or juicy dried pitted dates or figs or mixture of both
● 1½ cups of water
● 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
● 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
● ½ cup (half-a-cup)of chopped walnuts
● ¾ cup (three-quarters of a cup) of chopped almonds
● honey
DIRECTIONS
● In a blender, or food processor, mix the dates or/and figs to a paste with the water.
● Add cinnamon, cardamom, all the chopped walnuts, but only ¼ cup (a quarter of a cup) of chopped almonds and mix well.
● Form into small balls and coat with honey.
● Then roll each honey coated ball in the chopped almonds. Have some more almonds on hand to chop some more if you run out of almond coating.
Alternatively, you could take the menu as a BREAKFAST―LUNCH―DINNER arrangement with little snacks in between.
► COURSE ONE ― MELON, GRAPE & NUT ROSARY BEADS
“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).
Our Lord refers to Himself as the grape vine: “I am the true vine” (John 15:1). If Our Lord is symbolized by a vine, the Our Lady, His Mother, can likewise be symbolized by the grape vine―and so we apply to her the words of Holy Scripture: “Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the water: her fruit and her branches have grown out of many waters” (Ezechiel 19:10). “And she flourished as a grape soon ripe” (Ecclesiasticus 51:19).
“I went down into the garden of nuts [not idiots], to see the fruits of the valleys, and to look if the vineyard had flourished” Canticles 6:10).
INGREDIENTS
● 1 Watermelon, or Honeydew Melon (all of the melon will NOT be used in this course)
● 1 bag of Grapes (all of the grapes will NOT be used in this course)
● At least 6 Hazelnuts (they are round nuts―and therefore look like a Rosary bead) for the 5 Our Father beads and the 1 Glory Be to the Father bead.
● 1 large Strawberry for the Rosary medallion
DIRECTIONS
● Use a melon-baller to cut-out 33 melon balls (for the Hail Marys) from the melon (or 20 balls of melon if you want to use more grapes than melon)
● Take 20 grapes for the remaining Hail Marys (or 33 grapes if you prefer to use more grapes than melon).
● On a large serving plate―or anything large enough to contain your melon-grape-nut Rosary, arrange all of the balls into a Rosary bead shape of your choice―circular, or heart shaped, or irregular shape, etc.
● If you are using a majority of Melon balls, then each decade would be as follows―10 Melon balls―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon balls―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon Balls―Strawberry medallion―1 Hazlenut―3 Melon balls―1 Hazlenut―Crucifix (either a real crucifix or a cross made from flat pieces of cucumber or celery stalks).
● If you are using a majority of Grapes, then each decade would be as follows―10 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon Balls ―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes ―1 Hazlenut―10 Melon Balls ―1 Hazlenut―10 Grapes―Strawberry medallion―1 Hazlenut―3 Grapes―1 Hazlenut―Crucifix (either a real crucifix or a cross made from flat pieces of cucumber or celery stalks).
The entire Rosary is to be consumed as finger-food by the family and/or guests. If there will be large number of people, you may need to make more than one Rosary.
► COURSE TWO ― HEART-SHAPED CUCUMBER SLICES WITH VINAIGRETTE
“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).
In the book, The Life Of Mary As Seen By The Mystics, we read: “Mary was very fond of vinegar.”
As regards the use of honey, the Church has the following verse as part of the reading in one of the Masses of Our Lady: “For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb” Ecclesiasticus 24:27).
Salt preserves food from corruption― “In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13) and Our Lady was, of course, free from all corruption of Original Sin. ― “In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt” (Leviticus 2:13). “You are the salt of the Earth. But if the salt lose its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is good for nothing any more but to be cast out, and to be trodden on by men” (Matthew 5:13). “Let your speech be always in grace seasoned with salt” (Colossians 4:6).
Furthermore, in the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the office of Matins, in the 3rd Lesson or Reading, we have reference of cinnamon being linked with the Blessed Virgin Mary: "I was exalted like a cedar in Lebanon, and as a cypress tree on Mount Zion. I was exalted like a palm tree in Cadiz, and like a rose plant in Jericho. As a fair olive tree [cf. Olive Oil] in the plains, and as a plane tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. I gave forth a sweet fragrance like cinnamon and aromatic balm. I yielded a sweetness of fragrance like choicest myrrh" [myrrh is fragrant but also bitter, which reminds us that we need some bitterness or suffering in our lives if we are to achieve the frangrance of sancity] (Ecclesiasticus 24:17-20).
INGREDIENTS
● 1 large Cucumber (wide enough for your heart-shaped cookie-cutter, otherwise you will have to cut the heart shape by hand).
● Vinaigrette of your choice OR make your own vinaigrette:
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 tablespoon of vinegar of your choice (go 2 tablespoons if you prefer a really vinegary flavor)
1 tablespoon honey
1 minced large Garlic clove (or 2 smaller cloves)
Salt and pepper to taste
Sprinkling of herbs of your choice (e.g. Herbes de Provence, or Italian Seasoning, or Basil, Thyme, Oregano, etc.)
Dash of Cayenne Pepper (only if you like it spicy)
Dash of Cinnamon Powder
Dash of ground Myrrh
DIRECTIONS
● Slice the Cucumber into medium thickness slices, e.g. one-quarter inch thick.
● With your smallest heart-shaped cookie-cutter, or a size that better fits your cucumber slices, press-out the heart-shaped pieces of cucumber. Make as many as needed for the number of family-members and/or guests―making around 3 to 5 slices per person.
● Serve on a small plate or saucer and drizzle the vinaigrette lightly over all the slices.
► COURSE THREE ― LEEK, ONION AND GARLIC SOUP
“We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost: the cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic” (Numbers 11:5).
INGREDIENTS
● 3 tablespoons olive oil
● 6 onions, thinly sliced into half-moons (Our Lady has the moon under her feet)
● 2 leeks, thinly sliced or, if you prefer, finely chopped
● 5 cloves garlic, minced
● 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar (which is sweeter)
● 2 tablespoons of wine (of your choice―sweeter the better for this recipe)
● 3 (14 oz) cans beef broth (or 6 cups homemade broth)
● salt and pepper (or any other favorite herbs and spices), to taste
ALL THIS MAKES 1½ QUARTS ― You will only be giving SMALL servings, so the 1½ quarts should be enough for 6 servings
DIRECTIONS
● Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onions and leeks, and toss to coat evenly in oil.
● Reduce heat to low and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions are golden brown and caramelized, about 10-12 minutes
● Stir in the garlic, and season well with salt and pepper.
● Deglaze the pan with the vinegar, and stir until it reduces completely. Add the broth (and any other favorite herbs and spices), and bring the soup to a simmer.
● Add the wine
● Simmer until the soup has good flavor, about 20-25 minutes.
● The soup can be made the day before and gently reheated when needed.
► COURSE FOUR ― STUFFED SWEET PEPPERS
The stuffed-pepper is symbolic of St. Anne with Mary in her womb. Keeping with name MARY, the stuffing will be made of four items―the name of each ingredient will begin with one of the four letters in the name MARY. Thus we have M―for meat; A―for apple; R―for rice; and Y―yogurt; plus bits and bats of various seasonings. Before you say “Yuck!”―realize that most of those ingredients are the chief ingredients for a meat loaf too!
This stuffed sweet pepper can be made earlier (or the day before), refrigerated and then taken out before the 12-course meal starts and allowed to come a little closer to room temperature rather than being served straight out of the fridge, but you can serve it straight from the fridge if you wish.
As for quantities―you should look for the smallest sweet peppers you can find, any color or mix of colors will do. With it being a 12-course meal, you want to avoid large portions. In the worst case scenario, you could always serve the dish with the stuffed-pepper in one whole piece, and then, if necessary, cut the pepper in half and share it between two persons.
INGREDIENTS
● 1 lb ground beef
● 1 cup of already cooked rice (brown, or white, or wild)―1 cup of uncooked rice would give far too much rice.
● ¾ cup of Greek yogurt (or plain yogurt if you prefer). Make sure it is FULL-FAT yogurt, if it is not, then it will curdle when heated!
● 2 fairly finely chopped sweet apples―without the skins and seeds.
● 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
● 2 tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar (or Apple Cider Vinegar)
● 1 teaspoons salt
● ¼ teaspoon pepper
● 1 teaspoon onion powder or granules
● 1 teaspoon garlic powder or granules
● 1 teaspoon paprika powder (or ½ tsp of cayenne if you like it spicy)
● 1 teaspoon basil (or whatever herb you prefer instead)
● 1 teaspoon oregano (or whatever herb you prefer instead)
DIRECTIONS
● Cook the rice beforehand according to its specified instructions (times vary for the different kinds of rice).
● Roast the sweet peppers in the oven before you begin cooking the meat. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush a baking sheet lightly with olive oil. Lay peppers on their sides, stems pointing sideways. Put baking sheet in oven and allow peppers to roast for 20 minutes. Remove baking sheet. Using tongs, give the peppers a half turn, then place back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Check to make sure peppers have fully roasted. The skin should be charred and soft, but not too soft for they will break during stuffing. The peppers should look slightly collapsed. If they don't look ready, let them roast for a few more minutes. When they're done, remove baking sheet from oven and set aside―if needed, you can return the peppers to the oven for a mere warming-up once they have been stuffed.
● Browning the Ground Beef. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned, separating and reducing the meat to small separate.
● Stir in the salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika or cayenne, cinnamon, basil and oregano as you brown and stir the ground beef.
● As the meat begins to brown, add the finely chopped apples and stir well to combine with the meat.
● Just before removing the browned and cooked ground beef, reduce the heat to low, and add the vinegar to deglaze the pan, scraping all the bits off the bottom of the pan and mixing it well with the vinegar. Stir well to mix the beef with the vinegar so it is all absorbed by the meat. This should only take a minute or so.
● Then, with the heat still on low, add the already cooked rice and the yoghurt and simmer very gently while stirring for a few minutes (no more than three minutes or so)―because everything is already cooked and you are merely combining flavors.
● High heat is the root cause of curdled yogurt in cooked sauces. Lowering the heat to a bare simmer will cook the yogurt more gently, and lessen the risk of curdling. Make sure that you let the yogurt come to room temperature before adding it to your meat ― otherwise you will risk curdling it.
● Then fill your roasted peppers with the seasoned ground beef, apple and yogurt mixture and serve―or return to oven for a very short time, at 400 degrees, to simply warm the skins of the peppers if you feel this is needed.
► COURSE FIVE ― SALAD
Green leafy salads and vegetables move through the body faster than denser food. Water-packed leafy greens and vegetables help your body to lubricate your digestive path, and they act as an enzymatic spark. Green is the chief color of nature―the grass is green and we walk upon it―thus giving us a symbol of humility, as being under our feet. Humility is the foundation of the spiritual life―there can be no sanctity without humility. Hence, of all the virtues Our Lord could have mentioned as being examples of His own virtue, He chose to say: “Learn of Me, because I am humble of heart!” (Matthew 11:29). It is said that the fact that God gave Our Lady such a plenitude of grace was primarily down to her humility―and it is a virtue that terrorizes the proud devils.
Vegetables that were commonly eaten included leeks, garlic and onions, black radishes, net or muskmelons (sometimes misidentified as the cucumber) and watermelons. Gourds and melons were eaten raw, or flavored with vinegar. Black radishes were also eaten raw when in season during the fall and winter. Field greens and root plants were generally not cultivated and were gathered seasonally when they grew in the wild. Leafy plants included dandelion greens and the young leaves of the orach plant. Wild herbs were collected and were eaten uncooked or cooked. These are known to have included garden rocket and mallow and both leaf chicory and endive. Wild lettuce, known as chazeret, was a leafy herb with prickly, red tinged leaves that became bitter as they matured. Sweeter head-lettuce was only developed and introduced by the Romans. Bitter herbs eaten at the Passover sacrifice with the unleavened bread, matza, including chicory or endive, horehound , reichardia or eryngo and wormwood.
Olives were one of ancient Israel’s most important natural resources. The olive is one of the biblical Seven Species and one of the three elements of the “Mediterranean triad” in Israelite cuisine. Olive oil was used for not only as food and for cooking, but also for lighting, sacrificial offerings, ointment, and anointment for priestly or royal office.
INGREDIENTS
● The green salad or your choice or a mixture of greens (lettuce, dandelion leaves, chicory leaves, endives, etc)―which will serve as a bed for the vegetables
● 1 medium onion
● 1 large tomato
● Around 3 or 4 Olives per person―stay with one kind or buy a mixed variety of olives, e.g. green, black, stuffed, etc.
● Several thin slices of cucumber which are then halved
● Some crumbled cheese of your choice
For the vinaigrette:
● 2 tablespoons white wine
● 2 tablespoons lemon juice
● 1 teaspoon honey
● 1 teaspoon mustard
● ½ teaspoon salt
● ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
● ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
● Mix the wine, lemon juice, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender. With the machine running gradually blend in the oil. Season the vinaigrette to taste with more salt and pepper, if desired. Alternatively, you can blend by hand.
DIRECTIONS
● Arrange your selected and preferred salad greens on each plate to serve as a bed for the vegetables
● Slice the onion (to create onion rings, not crescents) relatively thinly and scatter on top of the salad greens
● Slice the tomato to give small chunks of tomato and scatter over the salad greens
● Scatter the thinly sliced cucumber half-circles over the salad greens.
● Sprinkle the crumbled cheese over the items
● Place the 3 or 4 olives per person on top of the other items on the plate
● Make the vinaigrette and drizzle over the vegetables and salad greens.
► COURSE SIX ― FISH
Fish is seen to play a major role in Holy Scripture. Four chief Apostles were fishermen―Peter, Andrew, James and John. Our Lord performed several miracles involving fish―the feeding of the five thousand; the feeding of the four thousand; and two miracles involving St. Peter fishing for fish, where Our Lord arranged for miraculous catches. The Israelites ate a variety of fresh and saltwater fish. Remains of freshwater fish from the Yarkon and Jordan rivers and the Sea of Galilee have been found in excavations. Saltwater fish discovered in excavations include sea bream, grouper, meager and gray mullet. Fishermen supplied fish to inland communities, as remains of fish, including bones and scales, have been discovered at many inland sites. To preserve them for transport, the fish were first smoked or dried and salted. Merchants also imported fish, sometimes from as far as from Egypt, where pickled roe was an export article. Merchants shipped fish to Jerusalem and there was evidently a significant trade in fish; one of the gates of Jerusalem was called the Fish Gate, named for a fish market nearby (Habacuc 1:10, 2 Esdras 3:3, 2 Esdras 12:39, 2 Esdras 13:16, 2 Paralipomenon 33:14). In the Galilee, small-scale fishing was a fundamental component of the agrarian economy.
INGREDIENTS
● Choose whichever fish you prefer or can afford
● Olive Oil
● 1 tablespoon of honey
● Balsamic vinegar
● Lemon juice
● Lemon peel for lemon zest (= grated peel)
● 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley or cilantro or both
● salt
● pepper
● Minced garlic cloves
DIRECTIONS
For the vinaigrette:
● 1 tablespoon olive oil
● 1 tablespoons lemon juice
● 1 tablespoon honey
● 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
● ½ teaspoon salt
● ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
● 1 teaspoon minced garlic
● Mix the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and honey together first, to dissolve the honey more easily. Then add the salt, pepper and minced garlic and mix some more. Use an electric blender (hand-held mini version works well inside a cup) if desired. Alternatively, you can blend by hand.
You can choose which way to cook your fish―steaming, poaching, broiling, grilling, baking or frying. If you are in doubt as to which fish best for which method, just tell the fish seller how you are planning to cook the fish and ask them which fish they recommend.
● Steaming offers two benefits for cooking fish: It doesn't dry out the flesh, and it doesn't require any added fat. All you need is a piece of equipment that holds the fish while allowing it to steam. One option is a steamer basket, which rests above a pot of boiling water, or a Chinese bamboo steamer. This method of cooking doesn't lend itself to salting; the salt will drip off as it steams. Additionally, other than microwaving -- which is simply another form of steaming -- this method of cooking retains the most nutrients. A 1-inch-thick fish fillet could take anywhere from six to 15 minutes to steam, depending on which variety you choose.
● Poaching, which refers to cooking the fish in a simmering liquid, is most effective with firm fish fillets such as Pacific halibut, yellowfin tuna and lake trout. The healthier the liquid you choose for poaching, the healthier the end result will be. Options include fish stock and water seasoned with onion, garlic and herbs. To cook, bring the liquid to a simmer, but don't let it boil. Simmer the fish until the center is opaque and then remove it from the pan with a slotted spatula.
● Broiling. Because its natural oils prevent drying, salmon is a top choice for broiling, a cooking method that exposes the fish to direct heat in the oven. This dry cooking method requires no oils. Other oil-rich fish options include tuna, sea bass and mackerel. Leaner cuts of fish should be marinated before broiling. A half-inch piece of fish will take approximately six minutes to cook for rare, and nine to 12 minutes for medium or well-done.
● Grilling is another direct-heat cooking method, but the heat comes from the bottom rather than -- as in broiling -- from the top. The same candidates for broiling work well in grilling. To cook fish directly on the grill, lightly brush the fillet with extra-virgin olive oil so it doesn't stick. To infuse the fish with a smoky flavor, grill it on a wooden plank -- cedar, maple or hickory -- for approximately 20 minutes.
● Baking. Perhaps the simplest method for cooking fish is baking. Season the fish with herbs and spices or slices of lemon or lime and arrange the fillets on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Bake the fish for seven to 10 minutes per inch of thickness.
● Frying. For quick stovetop cooking, go for a white fish fillet. Any lean white fish can be cooked with this stovetop technique―tilapia, cod, bass, grouper, haddock, catfish, and snapper. This is one instance where you could turn to a non-stick skillet―especially if you are not used to frying fish. It will make this already-easy cooking process even easier, and you won’t be as worried about the fish sticking to the pan and tearing. However, the advantage of a cast-iron skillet or stainless steel skillet is that the fish tends to get a little more golden and crispy. First of all pat the fish dry. Then season the natural top-side (the curvy side, not the flat side) of the filet with salt and pepper. Pour in olive oil into the skillet so that you have a film of oil covering the whole surface―if using cast iron or stainless steel skillets, add a bit more, for the fish can have a tendency to soak up and stick. Heat the olive in the skillet and, when hot, place the fish into the skillet with seasoned side down. Cook for two to three minutes without moving it. While it is cooking, season the upward facing side of the fish with salt and pepper. Flip the fish over and cook for another 2 or 3 minutes.
● Finally, whichever method you chose, drizzle the vinaigrette (which you gently heat for a minute if you wish) over the fish. If you wish to add something more―you could serve the fish on a few salad, lettuce, etc. leaves, or on a very thin bed of cooked rice (from the earlier course above―Course Four: Stuffed Pepper)
► COURSE SEVEN ― FIRST MAIN COURSE: SOLOMON'S SHEEHSKEBABS
“And the provision of Solomon for each day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred rams, besides venison of harts, roes, and buffles, and fatted fowls” (3 Kings 4:22-23).
INGREDIENTS
Plan out how many skewers you will need to roast, grill or broil―and how much of what you intend to put on each skewer. This is a flexible recipe as regards ingredients and quantities.
● Enough skewers for the anticipated numbers of family and/or guest―go with only 1 skewer per person, for it’s a 12 course meal.
● 1 skinless chicken leg and thigh per 3 persons OR 1 skinless chicken breast per 3 persons ― approximation only.
● 1 bag of PEARL ONIONS (the little tiny onions―you can get them white or purple―mixing colors looks nice)
● 1 or two LARGE cloves of garlic PER EACH SKEWER
● Box of GRAPE TOMATOES which are firmer than cherry tomatoes―tomatoes are the first to turn to mush on kebabs
Marinade ingredients (the chicken can be marinated in this overnight up to 24 hours)
Always marinate in the refrigerator, that’s not negotiable! Leaving your meat to stand in marinade on the kitchen counter or, worse yet, outdoors will encourage growth of bacteria that can make you sick. Allow approximately ½ cup of marinade for each one to two pounds of chicken. Extra marinade can be stored in the refrigerator for basting during the roasting process, but only if it hasn’t touched raw meat. Use a food-safe plastic bag, non-reactive glass, or a stainless steel container to marinate your meat. You can save those plastic boxes with lids used for salads, as they come in useful for marinating, they make a sturdier vessel than plastic bags and you can just toss in the trash when the messy job is done. Also, remember to turn or stir the chicken occasionally, to allow even exposure to the marinade.
● 1 large clove (or 2 small cloves) of finely chopped garlic
● 1 tablespoon of finely chopped cilantro
● 4 tablespoons of ground cumin
● 2 tablespoons of salt
● 2 tablespoons of freshly ground pepper
● 1 tablespoon of saffron
● 2 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix all the ingredients together and place in a sturdy freezer bag, to await the chicken pieces.
DIRECTIONS
Remember that all the foods do not require the same length of cooking time if they are all the same size. Therefore the longer something takes to cook, the smaller its size should be―so that everything, hopefully, comes together at the same time. With the above ingredients―the longest cooker is the chicken, then the onion, then the garlic and finally the tomato. It will never be perfect―unless you put all the chicken together on a skewer, with another skewer for the onions, another skewer for the garlic and another for the tomatoes. That way you either take them out on a staggered time basis, or put them in on a staggered basis. You can remove any skewer once its contents are cooked, leaving the others in for longer that still need cooking.
● Cut chicken into cubes―do not make them too large, for the tomatoes will turn to mush before the chicken is cooked. Look at the size of your pearl onions and make the chicken cubes around the same size or fractionally smaller.
● Marinate the chicken in a sturdy food-safe freezer bag overnight IN THE REFRIGERATOR and on a dish with raised edges in case of a leak from the bag. Or marinate in a non-reactive glass, or a stainless steel container, or plastic box in which salad greens are sold, which you should discard after use.
● Thread each skewer with your desired combination of foods―or, as stated above, keep all the same kind of food together on one or two skewers.
● Brush each skewer with olive oil and season with salt and pepper or any other spice you wish to add.
● Set broiling pan or grill about 6 inches from heat source. Broil or grill kebabs, turning often, until chicken is lightly browned and cooked through and onions are lightly charred on ends, about 10 minutes. Serve kebabs hot with a dipping sauce of your choice.
► COURSE EIGHT ― PALATE CLEANSER
This is like a reset for your taste buds. Its purpose is to remove residual tastes from the mouth before the next course.
● Sorbet (lemon, melon, or mint)
● Prosecco sparkling wine (Italian)
● Water with lemon
► COURSE NINE ― SECOND MAIN COURSE: MARINATED (or MARIA-NATED) BEEF OR LAMB
“And when the Ark of the Lord was come into the city of David, they brought the Ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle, which David had pitched for it: and David offered holocausts, and peace offerings before the Lord. And when he had made an end of offering holocausts and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. And he distributed to all the multitude of Israel both men and women, to everyone, a loaf of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and fine flour fried with oil” (2 Kings 6:16-19).
“And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt: ‘Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say to them: “Let every man take a lamb by their families and houses. But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he shall take unto him his neighbor that joineth to his house, according to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb and they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and unleavened bread with wild lettuce. You shall not eat thereof anything raw, nor boiled in water, but only roasted at the fire” (Exodus 12:1-9).
So roast your lamb or roast your beef―whichever you choose. If you have a favorite recipe―feel free to use it. Here we will offer a recipe for roasted beef (lamb might to way too expensive for most folk―especially if the family is large or many persons will be present).
INGREDIENTS
Marinade ingredients (the beef can be marinated in this overnight up to 24 hours)
Allow approximately ½ cup of marinade for each one to two pounds of beef. Extra marinade can be stored in the refrigerator for basting during the roasting process, but only if it hasn’t touched raw meat. Use a food-safe plastic bag, non-reactive glass, or a stainless steel container to marinate your meat. You can save those plastic boxes with lids used for salads, as they come in useful for marinating, they make a sturdier vessel than plastic bags and you can just toss in the trash when the messy job is done. Also, remember to turn or stir the beef occasionally, to allow even exposure to the marinade.
● 1 cup olive oil
● 2 tablespoons wine vinegar
● 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
● 1 tablespoon cooking molasses OR 2 tablespoons honey
● ½ cup lemon juice
● 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
● 4 tablespoons Dijon mustard
● 1 clove garlic, minced
● 3 tablespoons dried basil
● 1 ½ tablespoons dried parsley flakes
● ¼ teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
● salt and ground black pepper to taste
● Blend all the ingredients together and then taste and finally season with salt and pepper according to your taste preferences.
● ONCE THE MARINADE HAS BEEN IN CONTACT WITH THE MEAT, IT SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR BASTING DUE TO THE BACTERIAL CONTENT, WHICH IS UNLIKELY TO BE KILLED IN THE SHORT TIME SPANS THAT BASTING CAN SOMETIMES GIVE. IF YOU WISH TO USE THE ABOVE MARINADE FOR BASTING THE MEAT AS IT COOKS, THEN SET SOME MARINAFE ASIDE BEFORE PLACING THE MEAT IN IT―THAT WAY YOU HAVE A “CLEAN” and “PURE” MARINADE FOR THAT PURPOSE.
Other Ingredients
● The quantity of beef required to give each person one-quarter pound (4 to 6 ounces) of beef. The size and thickness of your palm, excluding your fingers, equates to a 4 to 6 ounce serving size of beef. Another way of “eyeballing” the correct size for a portion is remembering that 4 to 6 ounces is also around the size of bar of soap. Therefore, for 4 persons you are looking at anything from 1lb to 1½ lbs of beef. The cheapest cuts are usually the least tender and more tough―but the marinating process always tenderizes meat. Note, however, that the tougher the meat, then the lower should be temperature at which it is roasted and the longer it should be roasted at that low temperature. Which is helpful, because you can place the meat in the oven well before people start to arrive (just take note of the time and follow its progress!!!). Roasting in a Dutch Oven always produces tender meat―even from the “tough cuts”.
● Our Lady―in the prayer, Hail Holy Queen―is hailed as the “Mother of Mercy” and “our sweetness” and the prayer ends with words: “O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary!” Therefore, the choice of vegetables for this course have been deliberately chosen for their “Sweetness”―being Sweet Potatoes, Beets and Carrots. These vegetables will be steamed (or you can roast them if you wish), for steaming will keep them soft―which somehow seems to fit with “sweetness”― “soft and sweet” is more in harmony than “hard and sweet”. Furthermore, the juices that will gather at the bottom of the steaming pot will be deliciously sweet and will have preserved more of what can be preserved of the nutritional value of the food―which also furnishes a wonderful base or addition to the sauce or gravy that can be made from the spicy juices of the roast beef blending with the sweet juices of the vegetables. Now, you can of course, choose whatever vegetables you want in addition to or in place of those suggested. For St. Paul speaks of “the liberty of the glory of the children of God”―thus you are at liberty to choose and use whatever good things you wish!
DIRECTIONS (FOR DUTCH OVEN STYLE COOKING)
● Slice enough onions (equatorially, and not north pole to south pole) into very thick slices―at least one-half-inch and coat the entire base of the Dutch Oven with them. Fill gaps with cloves of garlic.
● Pour the broth (or plain water if you have no broth) over the onions so that they are just about covered.
● KNOW THE TOTAL WEIGHT OF YOUR PIECE OF MEAT―if you did not notice its weight at the time of purchase, then weigh it now―for the cooking time is calculated according to the weight of the meat.
● Presuming that you are using a cheaper, but tougher, cut of beef and are roasting it as one big piece and not in little chunks―after having marinated it for 24 hours or less, season all sides of the meat with your preferred seasoning blend or mixture (make it a little spicy for the vegetables will be sweet) and place the meat in your Dutch Oven on top of the onions and garlic. IF YOU WISH, BEFORE PLACING THE MEAT IN THE DUTCH OVEN, YOU CAN SEAR (BROWN) THE MEAT IN A FRYING PAN UNTIL ALL SIDES HAVE BEEN BROWNED.
● Set the oven temperature on 350 degrees for the FIRST HOUR ONLY―then reduce the heat to 250 degrees and cook at a rate of approximately 60 minutes PER EACH POUND of weight. However, this is totally subjective―for some ovens cook faster than others, and some people like their meat RARE, others like it MEDIUM and others like it well DONE.
RARE ― Cool red center ― 125° F or 52° C
MEDIUM RARE ― Warm red center ― 135° F or 57° C
MEDIUM ― Warm pink center145° F63° C
MEDIUM WELL ― Slightly pink center ― 150° F or 66° C
WELL DONE ― Little or no pink ― 160° F or 71° C
So there is no better way on checking on the “doneness” of your meat than checking it with the thermometer.
● VEGETABLES―This is very simple and quick. Hopefully you have a “double-decker” steaming pot or two steaming pots―for the quantity of vegetables might be large if you have large family or many guest.
● Slice the Sweet Potatoes into fairly thick circular slices, peel them, and place in your steaming tray.
● Similarly slice your Beets into slightly thinner slices than your Sweet Potato slices, peel the edges off, and place in lower tray (so that when they drip, they won’t turn any vegetables beneath them into crimson colored veggies).
● Scrub and wash the carrots, then slice the carrots into chunky sized pieces and place in the tray.
● Pour in a sufficient amount of water so that a decent amount will left after about 15 minutes of steaming (to be used for the sauce in combination with the meat juices).
● Steam for about 15 minutes―but start checking on desired softness of veggies after about 10 minutes.
● SAUCE―This where you own personal tastes must reign supreme. You will be combining the liquid from the bottom of the Dutch Oven (which will be more spicy than sweet) with the liquid left over from steaming the vegetables (which will be more sweet than spicy). The blend depends upon you―so go easy and don’t just dump everything together right away. For your tastes it might be two parts meat liquid to one part veggie liquid, or 50-50, or 80-20, or 35-75, or whatever. You are the judge of that. You will also have to thicken the resulting mix―by reducing it in a saucepan or frying pan on the stove top at a medium high heat to your desired consistency―adding further herbs and spices if needed, or perhaps adding some tomato paste, or pasta sauce, or roux to thicken it. As St. Paul says: “The liberty of the glory of the children of God.”
Place all the items in your desired quantities on a plate and serve.
► COURSE TEN ― CHEESE COURSE (OF COURSE)
Goats, and to a lesser extent, sheep, provided milk for part of the year, and milk and dairy products were a significant source of food. Dairy products are mentioned in the Bible (for example, Genesis 18:8, Judges 4:19, and 2 Kings 17:29, and a repeated description of the Land of Israel in the Bible is “a land flowing with milk and honey” (for example, Exodus 3:8, Exodus 33:3, and Joel 4:18)).
Fresh milk could not be stored for long without spoiling. Typically, thick sour milk called laban was drunk because the Israelites stored the milk in skin containers, in which it curdled quickly. Milk had to be processed to preserve it. This was done by first churning it, using a goatskin or clay container to separate the butterfat from the whey. The butterfat was processed by boiling and then cooling it to make clarified butter, which could then be stored for a long time. Clarified butter was used principally for cooking and frying. Butter churns have been excavated at Beersheba, dating from the 4th century BC, and other ancient Israelite sites.
Goat milk and sheep’s milk cheeses were the most prevalent types of cheese. Soft cheese was made using cloth bags filled with soured milk. The thin liquid was drained through the cloth and soft cheese remained in the bag. A hard cheese was made from fermented soured milk: Milk was poured into special moulds in which it curdled and was then hardened by drying in the sun, or by heating and numerous small cheese molds, with holes for the draining the whey, have been discovered by archeologists. Cheese is not mentioned often in the Bible, but in one case, David is sent to take a gift of cheese to the commander of the army (1 Kings 17:18).
Before choosing the cheese for the course―it is well worth looking at the process by which cheeses are made―for there is much therein that can instruct us for the spiritual life. An article will be devoted to that at some point in the future. Most experts agree that there are seven stages in the life of the cheese―if you include the eating of the cheese―six stages of preparation and one stage of consumption. This reminds us of the Seven Sacraments―the greatest of which also includes “consumption”, which is the Holy Eucharist and, incidentally, it is milk white or cheese white. Note too, that milk comes from the female animal―much like with humans―and the mother feeds that milk to her offspring―as Our Lady feeds us the “milk” of God’s grace, being the Mediatrix of All Grace.
It takes 10 lbs of milk to make 1 lb of cheese. Why? Whey! Way too much whey! Not enough fat! It is the fat that makes the cheese―whey has way too little fat. The fat content of whey is low. For example 1,000 lbs of whey are required to make typically 1 lb of whey butter, whereas it takes 16 lbs of milk to make 1 lb of butter. A ratio of 1,000 to 1 and 16 to 1―that is a massive difference. Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled, has coagulated and has been strained. Thus, in the preparation of cheese, there has to be separation of the curds (high fat cream) from the whey (low fat liquid)―much as Our Lord speaks of the separation of the wheat from the chaff, or the wheat from the cockle. The whole subject is spiritually fascinating―if you have ever looked into it―but this is not the time and place for a development of that subject! Those few curds of fat should be enough to chew on as you chew on your cheese!
Choose whatever cheese you want. If you wish, you can include a variety of cheese textures and flavors, such as aged, soft, firm, and blue cheeses.
● Choose a selection of breads and crackers
● Provide companion items, such as jams, chutneys, spicy mustards, caramelized onions, sweet pickled onions, candied almonds and pistachios―which were both popular nuts in ancient Israel.
► COURSE ELEVEN ― DESSERT: POTS DE CRÊME WITH ROSE AND POMEGRANATE
“Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which lieth hid within” (Canticles 4:3)
The Pomegranate is a symbol of the fruitfulness of Our Lady. The Rose color (and edible Rose petals) remind us Our Lady’s Rosary. Pots de crême is the tastiest and easiest way to use up those egg yolks. Can you believe that a few egg yolks and cream can whip up something so delicate and spectacular? The flavors you can play with are endless and some are right there sitting in your pantry. Like lemon or orange (a tsp of zest does it), cinnamon, maple syrup, honey, coffee, chocolate or plain vanilla. Want something more creative, use ginger, berries, nuts, caramel, lavender, coconut, saffron and the list goes on.
NOTES : If you are using farm fresh eggs that have deep yellow or orange yolks, the color of your custard might differ slightly and be less pinkish. Use the grocery store eggs for making this dessert because of the use of color.
You could use other red fruits instead of pomegranates if they are unavailable. Raspberry, strawberries and cherries make a good substitute. The pomegranate seeds could be placed on the bowl before the custard is poured for a surprise element when one is eating or you could serve them as a topping.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 5-6
● ½ cup (half-a-cup) milk
● 1½ cups heavy/thickened cream
● 1 tablespoon rosewater
● 4 egg yolks (NOT THE EGG WHITES)
● 3 tablespoons honey ¼ cup castor sugar
● 1-2 drops pink food coloring (optional) or you could use some drops of red beet juice
● Pomegranate seeds, to serve
DIRECTIONS
● Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
● While the oven is preheating, combine cream and milk in a saucepan on the stove top over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until hot (do not allow to boil). Remove saucepan from heat.
● Add the rosewater, mix and set aside.
● Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl until well combined. Pour the warm cream mixture over the egg yolk mixture―a little at a time―whisking constantly until smooth. Take care not to add the entire cream to the eggs together at one time, as it can overcook the eggs resulting in scrambled eggs. You now have a custard.
● Mix in the food color and strain the mixture into a pouring jug.
● Divide the custard into five or 6 lightly-greased, ramekins (small porcelain soufflé cups) or ovenproof cups.
● Place ramekins in a deep baking tray. Pour boiling water into baking tray until halfway up sides of ramekins.
● Bake custards, uncovered, for around 45 minutes or until just set (while the centers are slightly jiggly when shaken).
● Remove from the oven and take the ramekins out of the water bath. Leave to cool to room temperature.
● Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
● Serve with pomegranate seeds, silver cachous or grated white chocolate. You could decorate with edible, dried rosebuds or petals.
► COURSE TWELVE ― CANTICLE OF CANTICLE (SONG OF SONGS) NUT-CAKES
“Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon” (Canticle of Canticles 4:13-14).
This is an ancient recipe from 1800 BC.
INGREDIENTS
● 1 cup of fresh or juicy dried pitted dates or figs or mixture of both
● 1½ cups of water
● 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
● 1 tablespoon ground cardamom
● ½ cup (half-a-cup)of chopped walnuts
● ¾ cup (three-quarters of a cup) of chopped almonds
● honey
DIRECTIONS
● In a blender, or food processor, mix the dates or/and figs to a paste with the water.
● Add cinnamon, cardamom, all the chopped walnuts, but only ¼ cup (a quarter of a cup) of chopped almonds and mix well.
● Form into small balls and coat with honey.
● Then roll each honey coated ball in the chopped almonds. Have some more almonds on hand to chop some more if you run out of almond coating.