Soup and Bread Suppers

Our usual fare during Lent has become soup and bread suppers, since I started following the older Latin and current Eastern discipline of removing not only meat but also dairy and eggs from the menu during Lent. In a shocking concession to weakness, I have, after the first go at it 3 or 4 years ago, allowed oil (but not olive oil) in the kitchen during this season, but the flesh is weak.

For the past year and a half, I've been meeting on Monday nights, when my wife is working a late shift, with my organist friend Fred for supper and vespers. And last Fall we included a new companion, Robert, in our weekly meals and prayer. So, this week they got treated to a typical Lenten meal, Canadian Split Pea Soup with bread and salad. I cheated on the bread, and used a garlic cibatta loaf from the local supermarket, but the soup is home-made, from a recipe in the Horn of the Moon cookbook.



Ingredients

• 8 cups water
  
• 2 cups uncooked yellow split peas
  
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil (or safflower, or canola)
  
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
  
• 3/4 cup chopped onion (2 smallish onions)
  
• 3/4 cup sliced carrot (1 large carrot)
  
• 3/4 cup sliced celery
  
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  
• 1 cup chopped, unpeeled potato
  
• 1 cup chopped, peeled turnip or rutabaga (or double the potato)
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
  
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Bring water to boil in a 4-quart soup pot. Add split peas, lower heat to a simmer, and cover loosely. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 1 hour, until split peas are tender.
Meanwhile, set a 10-inch fry pan over medium heat. Add oil and when hot, add the garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and thyme. Sauté until tender. Add sautéed vegetables, potato and turnip to the cooked peas; continue to simmer. Add the salt, vinegar, pepper, and parsley. Cook the souop 30 minutes more, covered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the peas have dissolved.

Shrove Tuesday
Our family has been keeping the tradition of pancakes for supper on the night before Ash Wednesday for many years. Even though all the children are away from home now, Laurie and I still kept up the tradition this year. Since we could indulge our more adventurous tastes, I made baked apple & pecan pancakes, based on a recipe from The Inn Cookbook.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees
Mix:
2 cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Add 1 - 1/3 cups milk
3 eggs, beaten

pecans (about 1/2 cup)

peel, core and slice two granny smith or other tart apples

heat a cast iron skillet on the stove, add 2 Tablespoons butter, and brown half the apple slices. Add half the batter, then pop in the oven for 7 minutes. At the end of the 7 minutes, turn out on a plate, then slide back in the pan to cook on the other side for another 6 minutes.

If you have two cast iron skillets, you can do both pancakes at once. Otherwise, put the finished pancake on a warming plate and cook the second one.

Sprinkle the finished pancake with brown or demerara sugar and serve with maple syrup.

We added Canadian Bacon to the meal in honor of the Olympics this year : )

And that will be the last of eggs I eat until Easter!

Easter Feasting, pt. 2

The day started early; I rose at 5 a.m. to start the dough for hot cross buns (which we always have on Easter morn) and challah bread, which I frequently make for feast days. Then while the dough was rising, I chanted Mattins and then enjoyed my first cup of coffee since Mardi Gras, because I gave up coffee for Lent. Then on to baking the hot cross buns and challah bread, and making the deviled eggs which I wrote about last year.

We picked up my sister Cindy on the way to Mass and spent a little time after Mass visiting with friends there, before heading home to finish dinner preparations.



We had three guests for dinner, my sister Cindy, my friend Fred, and a former co-worker Margaret. After enjoying the Easter deviled eggs and antipasto, we sat down to a dinner of baked ham, lasagna, baked-stuffed potatoes, asparagus, carrots & peas, and a new recipe for this year, Maple Bourbon Sweet Potatoe Casserole.

Mashed Maple Bourbon Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients

• 6 pounds sweet potatoes
  
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced (or orange, pace many commenters)
  
• 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
  
• 3 tablespoons bourbon (or Irish Whiskey?)
  
• 8 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
  
• Pecan Crumb Topping, optional
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Place the sweet potatoes on a foil lined baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until very soft to the touch. Remove from the oven and let cool 20 minutes. When cool enough to handle, peel them by hand and put the flesh in the bowl of a mixer. Using a paddle attachment, mix in the lemon zest and juice, maple syrup and brown sugar.

Place the bourbon in a small saucepan and place over high heat. Let it come just to the boil and then tilt the pan slightly towards you to set it aflame*. Add to the potatoes along with the butter. Mix well. Add salt and pepper and transfer to a 13 by 9-inch oven-safe casserole dish. (Recipe can be made to this point up to 2 days before, refrigerated.) Sprinkle topping over potatoes and bake for 20 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Alternatively, you may simply sprinkle the top of the casserole with a little bit of brown sugar and 1/2 cup chopped pecans.

*This method does not "burn off" the alcohol.

Pecan Crumb Topping:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  
• 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
  
• Pinch dried thyme
  
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
  
• 5 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into bits
  

Mix the flour, brown sugar, salt, pepper, thyme and pecans together in a small bowl. Add the butter and work with your fingers until a crumbly mass forms.

Lenten Fasting, Easter Feasting

It has been a long, thorough! Lent this year. Except for the solemnities of St. Joseph and Annunciation and Sundays, it's been no meat, eggs or cheese since Ash Wednesday.

I spent Holy Saturday splitting my time between church services and preparing for tomorrows dinner. An Altar Service at St. Athanasius in the morning, followed by preparing the chapel for tomorrow, was preceded and followed by preparing dishes for Easter dinner.

I went to the Easter Vigil at the chapel of the Sisters of Jesus Christ Crucified, near our home. I had a little extra time, since my friend told me the service would start at 5:00 p.m., and I got there at 4:15 p.m. to help set up and prepare to serve. But the time was 6:00 p.m., so I spent an extra hour in the chapel praying the rosary, singing Vespers and rehearsing the Exultet (which I didn't have to sing, as there was a cantor for that).

Tonight, after the Easter Vigil, Laurie and I dined on Indian food we prepared at home. Basmati rice, a chickpea-mushroom curry, potatoes and peas, and kashmiri kofta, a type of lamb meatball.

Kasmiri koftas

• 2 lb. (900 g) ground lamb
  
• A piece of fresh ginger, about 1 1/2 inches (4cm) long and 1 inch (2.5cm) thick, peeled and finely grated
  
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
  
• 1 Tbsp. ground coriander
  
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
  
• 1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
  
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
  
• 1/8 - 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
  
• 1 1/4 tsp. salt
  
• 5 Tbsp. plain yoghurt
  
• 7-8 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  
• 1 2-inch (2.5cm) stick of cinnamon
  
• 5-6 whole cardamom pods (take the seeds out of the husks)
  
• 2 bay leaves
  
• 5-6 whole cloves
  
• 1 cup (225ml) warm water
  

Combine lamb with ground spices, salt and 3 Tbsp. yoghurt in a bowl. Mix well.
Wet your hands and form 24 long koftas - sausage shapes, about 2 1/2 - 3 inches long and about 1 inch thick.

Heat the oil in a large, preferably non-stick frying pan. When hot, put in the cinnamon stick, cardamon pods, bay leaves and whole cloves. Stir for a few seconds. Put in the koftas in a single layer and fry them on medium heat until they are lightly browned on all sides. Beat the remaining yoghurt into the 1 cup of warm water. Pour this over the koftas and bring to a boil. Cover, lower the heat and simmer for half an hour. To serve, lift the koftas out of the pan onto a serving plate, leaving the whole spices behind. From Madhur Jaffrey's Indian Cooking.

Laurie and I have done a bit more preparation for tomorrow, including the antipasto plate below which I just finished assembling.



The cheeses are parmesan, cheddar, double gloucester, gorgonzola, and feta. There are two types of salami (one rolled in ground pepper), prosciutto, and cherry peppers stuffed with mozzarella wrapped with prosciutto. The vegetables are green olives, some stuffed with pimiento, others with sun dried tomatoes; kalamata olives; marinated mushrooms; and pepperocini.

Pope Benedict XVI's Lenten message focuses on Fasting

At the beginning of Lent, which constitutes an itinerary of more intense spiritual training, the Liturgy sets before us again three penitential practices that are very dear to the biblical and Christian tradition – prayer, almsgiving, fasting – to prepare us to better celebrate Easter and thus experience God’s power that, as we shall hear in the Paschal Vigil, "dispels all evil, washes guilt away, restores lost innocence, brings mourners joy, casts out hatred, brings us peace and humbles earthly pride" (Paschal Praeconium). For this year’s Lenten Message, I wish to focus my reflections especially on the value and meaning of fasting. Indeed, Lent recalls the forty days of our Lord’s fasting in the desert, which He undertook before entering into His public ministry. We read in the Gospel: "Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry" (Mt 4,1-2). Like Moses, who fasted before receiving the tablets of the Law (cf. Ex 34,28) and Elijah’s fast before meeting the Lord on Mount Horeb (cf. 1 Kings 19,8), Jesus, too, through prayer and fasting, prepared Himself for the mission that lay before Him, marked at the start by a serious battle with the tempter.

We might wonder what value and meaning there is for us Christians in depriving ourselves of something that in itself is good and useful for our bodily sustenance. The Sacred Scriptures and the entire Christian tradition teach that fasting is a great help to avoid sin and all that leads to it. For this reason, the history of salvation is replete with occasions that invite fasting. In the very first pages of Sacred Scripture, the Lord commands man to abstain from partaking of the prohibited fruit: "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Gn 2, 16-17). Commenting on the divine injunction, Saint Basil observes that "fasting was ordained in Paradise," and "the first commandment in this sense was delivered to Adam." He thus concludes: " ‘You shall not eat’ is a law of fasting and abstinence" (cf. Sermo de jejunio: PG 31, 163, 98)...

You can read the full message on the Vatican web site.

Interestingly, today while working on the blog I do for work, I came across an article on fasting in the Los Angeles Times. In the article "Running on empty: the pros and cons of fasting", the author, while mentioning the support for fasting in "various religious and cultural practices around the globe", dwells on the possible scientific evidence for fasting's physical benefits. Pope Benedict refers to this theme in his Lenten message, noting that, "in a culture characterized by the search for material well-being, a therapeutic value for the care of one’s body," fasting is looked at primarily for its physical value.

But for Christians, the primary focus must remain on the spiritual aspect of fasting. The fathers of the Church noted that almsgiving and fasting are the twin wings of prayer. Pope Benedict refers to Pope Paul VI's Constitution on Penance Paenitemini, in which the earlier Pope taught:
"in our time there are special reasons whereby, according to the demands of various localities, it is necessary to inculcate some special form of penitence in preference to others.(60) Therefore, where economic well-being is greater, so much more will the witness of asceticism have to be given in order that the sons of the Church may not be involved in the spirit of the "world,"(61) and at the same time the witness of charity will have to be given to the brethren who suffer poverty and hunger beyond any barrier of nation or continent."

Interestingly, of course, there is probably less fasting in the richer nations; yet that is precisely whom Pope Paul VI singled out to be first in such disciplines.

The Boston Globe had an editorial on Farm Aid, Farmers' Markets and Community Supported Agriculture in the July 28th issue. While it's a bit of a cheerleader for Massachusetts, it does highlight the importance of local farms, and the ways that people can support local farmers, particularly Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) clubs.
Natually, I'd rather grown my own vegetables and fruits, but not everyone has the space or the time (my wife would say that I don't have the time!) to do so.

The garden is certainly growing vigorously this year, although we've picked up some sort of blight in the tomatoes (at least the early girls and the plum tomatoes). The cherry tomatoes seem fine and will be huge producers over the next few weeks as they start to ripen.

We've had some good zucchini harvest, but the squash plants are definitely looking pretty sad. Even the cucumbers are already looking worn out, and they've not produced much at all yet. It may be we've had too much rain this summer...July and August are usually pretty dry here on the South Shore, but this year the rain is never far away, and I've spent very little time watering. But that's made up for by the extra time I have to spend weeding!


The green beans are the stars of the garden this year. I've had more than we can eat, and have started bringing some in to share with my coworkers. I have some neighbors that will get the next batch of extra...which should be in a day or so.


The other crops are doing well also. We've harvested some Swiss Chard already, and are getting out Mexican recipes for our tomatillos.

Our garden continues to grow, and the promise of fresh provisions, a mere wisp of hope a few weeks ago, is growing more and more concrete. Here are some photos from last night.
Tiny cucumbers adorn the vines which are climbing up chicken wire. Meanwhile, there's plenty of blossoms on the yellow squash, but no squash so far.


There are lots of small peppers and tomatoes on the vine too. Quite a difference from just a month ago.


Tomatillos and chard. I planted the tomatillos about 5 years ago. They keep coming back. We've been getting ready for the harvest by collecting recipes for mole.

The first eggplant has shown up, so we'll be having baba ganoush soon!

And tomorrow should be our first zucchini of the season (although you can't see it because it's hidden beneath the leaves).

Our pole beans are already far taller than I am (the poles in the foreground are over 6 feet above ground).


Pretty as all the vegetables are, there are flowers around the yard too. Here are our glads.


Hues leaping heav'nward,
As roots, anchors in the soil,
fix them in the breeze

Finally, in the matter of drink, St. Benedict has the following to say:

Of the Quantity of Drink, Chapter 40

"Every one hath his proper gift from God, one after this manner and another after that" (1 Cor 7:7). It is with some hesitation, therefore, that we determine the measure of nourishment for others. However, making allowance for the weakness of the infirm, we think one hemina [about 10 ounces] of wine a day is sufficient for each one. But to whom God granteth the endurance of abstinence, let them know that they will have their special reward. If the circumstances of the place, or the work, or the summer's heat should require more, let that depend on the judgment of the Superior, who must above all things see to it, that excess or drunkenness do not creep in.
Although we read that wine is not at all proper for monks, yet, because monks in our times cannot be persuaded of this, let us agree to this, at least, that we do not drink to satiety, but sparingly; because "wine maketh even wise men fall off" (Sir 19:2). But where the poverty of the place will not permit the aforesaid measure to be had, but much less, or none at all, let those who live there bless God and murmur not. This we charge above all things, that they live without murmuring.

Naturally, people entering a monastery bring with them habits and expectations that they formed while living in the world. And while some of the vows that monks traditionally take (not the three evangelical vows of the friars, i.e., poverty, chastity and obedience) are obvious such as obedience and stability, that of conversion of life is the furtherst reaching. Indeed, it is in some ways the heart of monastic life, because both obedience and stability can be seen to be a part of this conversion of life. In this sense, the monastic vows are the fulfillment of St. Paul's admonition in Romans chapter 12:

I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God.

The people of St. Benedict's time would expect to drink wine...it was often the only way of drinking uncontaminated drink, especially after the disapperance of the Roman administration following the collapse of the Empire. Nevertheless, St. Benedict knew that it was all too easy to take too much wine, and that this would inhibit the life of Christ and the community for the monks. So this small amount (two glasses really) of wine per day is the allotment for well-off monasteries. Poorer ones are to go without, but most importantly, without grumbling.
This is of course, the key idea in St. Benedict's rule: that we are to be grateful for the grace of God, not grumbling about what we don't have. That grumbling may be just as much a part of human life as making mistakes, but we are supposed to learn from the example of the Israelites who left Egypt, but grumbled about the onions and garlic they left behind. Unfortunately, we all too often imitate those ancient children of Israel too closely.

Let's return to the Rule of St. Benedict, to see what wisdom it contains about eating.

Chapter 39: Of the Quantity of Food
Making allowance for the infirmities of different persons, we believe that for the daily meal, both at the sixth and the ninth hour, two kinds of cooked food are sufficient at all meals; so that he who perchance cannot eat of one, may make his meal of the other. Let two kinds of cooked food, therefore, be sufficient for all the brethren. And if there be fruit or fresh vegetables, a third may be added. Let a pound of bread be sufficient for the day, whether there be only one meal or both dinner and supper. If they are to eat supper, let a third part of the pound be reserved by the Cellarer and be given at supper.
If, however, the work hath been especially hard, it is left to the discretion and power of the Abbot to add something, if he think fit, barring above all things every excess, that a monk be not overtaken by indigestion. For nothing is so contrary to Christians as excess, as our Lord saith: "See that your hearts be not overcharged with surfeiting" (Lk 21:34).
Let the same quantity of food, however, not be served out to young children but less than to older ones, observing measure in all things.
But let all except the very weak and the sick abstain altogether from eating the flesh of four-footed animals.

Each monk is allotted, per day, one pound of bread (to be split between the two meals on days when two meals are served), and one cooked dish, although fresh fruits and vegetables can also be served when in season. No “meat”, that is, no beef, veal, pork, lamb, or mutton except for the sick and convalescing. The foundation of the daily diet is, naturally enough, bread, the “staff of life.”
What would those cooked dishes have been? Well, pasta wasn’t invented yet, rice was unknown in Italy at this point, and neither potatoes nor corn (maiz for non-US English-speakers) hadn’t been brought back to Europe yet. So dishes could have been made with barley, buckwheat, millet, fava beans, lentils or garbanzos. (Most of our beans such as kidney, pinto, and green beans were also unknown in Europe at the time of Benedict. These all came to Europe, along with peppers, tomatoes, squash and pumpkins, not to mention chocolate, from the Americas after Columbus.)
This diet would have, no doubt, seemed especially bland to modern-day Americans, used as we are to a diet enriched by foods and cuisines from all over the world. But the diet Benedict laid out was one that was sufficient for a person’s daily needs, and even looked out for taste (hence the requirement of two cooked dishes) as well as for the differing needs of the sick and of children.

The New York Times food blog has an interesting item titled "The 11 Best Foods You Aren't Eating". The foods they list are:

1. Beets
2. Cabbage
3. Swiss chard
4. Cinnamon
5. Pomegranate juice
6. Dried plums
7. Pumpkin seeds
8. Sardines
9. Turmeric
10. Frozen blueberries
11. Canned pumpkin

The idea behind the list is that many times, as was the case with the two books I recently read by Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food) the easy critique of the "industrial" eating that contemporary Americans have taken on isn't joined to simple advise on how to direct your diet in a more healthful direction.
One of Pollan's points was that in the past culture helped pass on healthful diets (at least as an ideal...of course, in preindustrial societies, famine was a real possibility at times); and that "culture" in most cases meant "Mom". In contemporary society, mothers rarely have the leisure to cook properly, and so are not passing along much in the way of accumulated wisdom. Nor do children learn how to cook from their mothers, and so we need to reforge the broken chain of food culture.
So in the Times' list there are many foods that are healthful, easy to find; they should be items commonly found in most kitchens. We use all of these regularly in our kitchen, except for Pomegranate juice. Canned pumpkin is great, not only in pies, but in rolls. Prunes are great too--we've got a fabulous spice cake that uses stewed prunes in it. We've got Swiss Chard and Blueberries in the garden. And I've liked canned sardines ever since my father introduced me to them at the bar in the Old Colony Yacht Club when I was but a "wee lad". Cinnamon is used in so many recipes, Indian foods, chili, baked items, and mixed with sugar as a topping for French toast; turmeric is an essential in Indian recipes, and one in particular that we like is cauliflower.

Cauliflower, Indian-style

• One head of cauliflower, with greens removed and broken into small florets
  
• 1/2 stick (2 ounces) of butter
  
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
  
• 1 Tbsp. Turmeric
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt

melt the butter in a heavy, large skillet or dutch oven under medium-high heat. Heat the cumin seeds in the butter, then add the turmeric and salt. Finally, add the cauliflower, stirring and turning so that it is covered in the butter and spices. Add 1/4 cup of water and cover for 3-4 minutes. Uncover, stir and serve.

Taking a second look at the list, I notice that all the items, except the Pomegranate juice, are among the less expensive items you might pick up on the grocery list, the vegetables especially when they're in season. Foods that pack a powerful nutritional wallop needn't be out of the reach of the poor. Among the "ethnic poor" I've visited over the years, there seems to be a storehouse of traditional recipes which are heavy on plant foods and rice, and which can be very healthful. But in the houses of the poor "natives", that culinary culture isn't usually in evidence, and the foods that they rely on are the kind that contribute to poor health. Because no matter what your culinary culture, you only buy what you can afford, and refined carbohydrates are cheap. In the past we've printed and distributed a brochure based on info from Bob Waldrop's "Better Times Cookbook" to help folks figure out a better way of buying food, but even that can't overcome the problem created by the gap in cultural food transmission that is evident.