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Good Friday Hot Cross Buns

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Good Friday marks the second day of the Triduum (from the Latin for ‘three days’), the day on which we commemorate the Lord’s crucifixion and death. The Good Friday liturgies at our monastery (and many others around the world) mark our observance of Christ’s final hours, picking up from Maundy Thursday Eucharist, and continuing through the Holy Saturday Vigil, the Great Vigil of Easter, and carrying us all the way to Easter morning.

In keeping with the solemnity of the day, we remember Christ’s death by bringing to the liturgy of the hours the full range of spiritual depth and beauty found in the ancient texts; we participate in the veneration of the cross, and chant Gospel Passion Narrative. It is a special and holy time, filled with moments of silence, listening, reflection and conviction, as well as a time of joy-filled anticipation.

This day of the Cross marks us with God’s presence, and He marks us for his own.

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Good Friday Hot Cross Buns
SERVINGS
1dozen buns
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
dozen buns
COOK TIME
25mins
PREP TIME
30mins
READY IN
3hrs

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Dissolve the yeast by sprinkling it over the very warm water and add a pinch of sugar to activate.
  2. Heat milk in a medium saucepan over low heat until about 100 degrees F. (but no more than 110 degrees)
  3. In a mixer, fitted with a dough hook, add the warmed milk to the yeast mixture.
  4. Plump the raisins (or currants) and citron in the microwave with a little orange juice; cool and set aside
  5. To the yeast & milk mixture add the remaining sugar, melted butter, egg yolk and extract.
  6. Add the salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger to the mixture and continue kneading.
  7. Add the flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough starts pulling away from the sides of the bowl.
  8. Remove the orange juice from the raisins and citron and discard.
  9. Add the raisins and citron to the dough and mix well. The dough should be slightly sticky and not dry.
  10. Knead until soft and elastic, about 8 min. Shape into a ball.
  11. Brush the inside of a large bowl with butter. Put dough in the bowl and turn to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 1 hr. 30 min. **
  12. To form the rolls: Pam a 9x13” pyrex pan. Turn the dought out of the bowl and roll into a log. With a dough cutter or sharp knife, divide the dough into 12 equal portions. Roll each of these pieces into a round bun shape, tucking the edges under.
  13. Place them seam side down in the prepared pan, leaving a little space between each roll. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until the rolls are doubled in size, about 45 min. or longer.
  14. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. and prepare your egg wash.
  15. Prepare glaze: In a mixer, combine powdered sugar, milk and vanilla or almond extract and oil until smooth (the oil will give it a high gloss). The icing should be quite thick. If too runny, add more powdered sugar. Transfer icing to a pastry bag or a ziplock bag with a corner snipped off.
  16. Remove the plastic wrap from the top of the rolls and brush the buns with egg wash. Bake rolls until golden brown and puffy, about 25 min. (an instant read thermometer inserted into the roll should read 190 degrees F.)
  17. Ice buns with a thick cross shape on the top of the warm buns and serve.

** Please note:  This dough might take a long time to rise, but be patient...it is worth the wait because they will come out nice and light!

Convent English Muffin Bread

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I have always found bread baking to be an intensely spiritual and creative act. You mix, you knead, you wait. It is prayer.

In our Convent during Lent, we always make an effort to serve a traditional Lenten meal, most often with candlelight and readings. A simple sampling of hard boiled eggs, cheese, some dried fruits, and nuts, is always accompanied by a smorgasbord of beautiful homemade breads. Tonight is no exception. With 65 Sisters in our Convent, we start early with our bread baking and continue through the day.

I am partial to this recipe, one that my grandmother passed on to me, and I am blessed to pass it on to you. It is wonderful sliced and toasted with a big smear of butter and jam. Don’t be daunted by making bread—there is really no fear to be had here! Bake and break bread with your family this Lent and see what God can do.

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Convent English Muffin Bread
SERVINGS
2loaves
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
loaves
COOK TIME
25minutes
PREP TIME
15​minutes
READY IN
2hours or less

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Lightly grease two 8” loaf pans with Crisco and sprinkle the cornmeal over the bottom of the pans. Set aside
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
  3. Sprinkle your yeast over the very warm water, mix with a fork and leave for about 5 min. until bubbles form and your yeast is “active”. (If your yeast doesn’t do anything at this stage, throw it out and begin again!)
  4. Microwave your milk until it is very warm to the touch, but not so much that you can’t stick your finger in it, about 125 degrees
  5. Add your warm milk to your active yeast mixture in a large bowl and sprinkle the sugar over. Mix with a wooden spoon.
  6. Add ​the​ flour, one cup at a time, stirring the dough as you go. After adding about 2 cups of flour, add your salt and baking soda, then add the remainder of your flour.
  7. The dough will look quite dry and stiff at this point, so remove the dough onto a counter and knead the rest of the flour into the dough until it is a smooth dough.
  8. Divide the dough in half, form two oblong loaves and press these into the prepared pans.
  9. Put the dough in a warm place to rise, covered with a tea towel, for about 45 min. The dough should be doubled in size.
  10. Bake in a 400 degree oven until golden brown and cooked through, about 25 min.
  11. Remove from the pans immediately onto a cooling rack and let cool.

Raspberry and Apricot Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies

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Traditionally, in true Benedictine style, we offer our guests a time of fellowship after a concert in our church. It’s a wonderful time to greet people, listen to how the music moved them, and find out what brought them to our Community at this time.  This past weekend, prior to the first great Cape Cod blizzard of 2016, our choir Gloriae Dei Cantores sang a deeply spiritual and beautiful program at the Church of the Transfiguration – a concert made up of music recently sung on a concert tour in Italy. We ended with a reception, and the menu featured a combination of savory and sweet. Unbeknownst to us, a pastry chef from Falmouth was there, and he delighted in these cookies. He asked for the recipe and then told us that he had worked for Martha Stewart for ten years and that these were the best cookies he had ever had. What a compliment!

Since Lent is just a mere few weeks away, make these quickly before you decide to give up sugar!

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Raspberry and Apricot Almond Shortbread Thumbprint Cookies
SERVINGS
26cookies
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
cookies
COOK TIME
12-14minutes
PREP TIME
20minutes
READY IN
45 minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour and salt, set aside.
  2. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together butter and sugar until combined (it will take a minute or two since the butter is cold. If you don't have a paddle attachment that constantly scrapes bowl, then occasionally stop mixer and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl). Mix in almond extract then add in flour blend until mixture comes together (it will take a bit of mixing since the butter is cold, so be patient, it will seem really dry at first), don’t over mix or your dough will be tough
  3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls, or use a small ice cream scoop to form, and place 2-inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet lined with parchment. Make a small indentation with thumb or forefinger in each cookie (large enough to fit 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of jam). Fill each with 1/4 - 1/2 tsp jam. Chill in refrigerator 20 minutes (or freezer for 10 minutes). Bake in preheated oven 12-14 minutes, or until slightly golden.
  4. Cool several minutes on baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool (at this point you can add a little more jam if you'd like to, it just won't be set like the other is). Drizzle cookies with glaze when when cool. Store cookies in an airtight container.
Glaze
  1. Whisk all glaze ingredients together in a small mixing bowl, adding enough water to reach desired consistency (thicker is better). Pour or spoon mixture into a sandwich size resealable bag, cut a small tip from one corner and drizzle over cookies. *To measure flour scoop with measuring cup and level with a butter knife. Don't whisk or sift first and don't spoon into the measuring cup. Recipe source: adapted from www.cookingclassy.com

Prosciutto, Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza with Arugula Salad

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This past spring, the brass group of our community built us an amazing outdoor kitchen and wood fire oven inspired by the one we have at Villa Via Sacra, our mission house in Barga, Italy.  All summer long and even now into the colder months of fall, we’ve been able to fire up the oven and make one of our favorite foods, amongst other things, pizza!

When I served at Villa Via Sacra, I invented a Tuscan pizza of gorgonzola and prosciutto with fig jam that we had made from our gorgeous fig tree.  It was delicious – almost like dessert – and we quickly adopted it as one of our “house pizzas”.  This past weekend, we hosted a men’s retreat at our community, so I thought it might be fun to make some adaptions to this recipe and really perfect it – once and for all.  I am so happy with the results!  Thin crust pizza with a mixture of sweet and salty ingredients topped with a salad of crisp nutty arugula that’s been tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette.  Heaven begins here!  It doesn’t get much better than this!  Now that figs are readily available in the market (get green fresh ones, not dried) and certainly are a treat to many, you just might want to fire up your oven and give this a try.

Andiamo mangiare!

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Votes: 5
Rating: 4.8
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Prosciutto, Fig and Gorgonzola Pizza with Arugula Salad
SERVINGS
4-6
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
5minutes
PREP TIME
20minutes
READY IN
4hours

Ingredients

Instructions

Dough:
  1. Place ¼ cup very warm water in a small bowl and sprinkle with the yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes or until yeast is hydrated and creamy (This will allow the yeast to be quickly absorbed by the flour).
  2. Place flour, salt, yeast mixture, and remaining water in mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook.
  3. Mix on low speed for 2 minutes to combine. If the dough appears too wet and sticky and is not combining, add flour 1 tablespoon at a time while mixing until dough takes on a “shaggy” appearance.
  4. Drizzle with oil and mix for 2 minutes more. Dough should form a smooth ball and clear the sides of the bowl.
  5. Turn mixer off, cover top of bowl with plastic wrap, and let rest for 20 minutes.
  6. Resume mixing on medium low speed for 3 minutes, or until dough forms a smooth ball, clearing sides of bowl.
  7. Place in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
  8. Let sit at room temperature for 2 ½ hours. It will double in size. Dough may be used immediately.
Instructions for Assembly:
  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees or highest setting
  2. Cut dough into 4 – 8 oz. balls
  3. Dust both sides of dough with flour and roll out to make a thin crust
  4. Drizzle with Olive oil
  5. Sprinkle generously with Gorgonzola
  6. Place into a wood fire oven (or regular preheated oven – preferably on a pizza stone)until the crust is starting to golden
  7. Remove from oven and quickly distribute on top of the pizza: sliced fresh figs, cover with slices of prosciutto and dot with fig jam and mascarpone cheese – don’t get too heavy on any one ingredient or your end result will be soggy and the individual flavors will be lost.
  8. Drizzle with olive oil
  9. Place back into oven for about another minute – watch carefully
  10. Meanwhile, dress a bunch of fresh arugula with an aged balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper
  11. Once out of oven, top with the dressed arugula, slice and enjoy!

My Grandmother’s Green Tomato Mustard Relish

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One of my strongest childhood memories was watching my grandmother​s​ in the kitchen preparing meals for our large family ​gatherings ​on Sunday afternoons.  Both my grandmother and my great-grandmother were influential figures in my lif​e and instilled a quiet passion ​in me for bringing your heart and soul to the table.  They would create memorable and delicious dishes ​that would cause us to want to sit at the dinner table for hours, not just minutes, and share together.  ​They were wonderful and patient teachers and, like a sponge, I would absorb their body language, their knife skills, and their innate sense of creating something out of nothing as I worked alongside them.  They were frugal, but they would never let us know it, as we sat down to a meal fit for kings.

When my great grandmother died, I inherited a few of her cookbooks.  They have her notes in them from World War I, when she was a cook for the soldiers.  They hold a place of honor on my bookshelf.  It helps me to remember what an important role food has to play both in life and in death.  I thumb through the fragile pages from time to time, half expecting to hear grandma’s voice whisper a secret direction to me.

This is among one of my grandmother​’s signature recipes–a relish made with green tomatoes.  We put our gardens to bed this past weekend and pulled up our tomatoes–​now it’s​ time to take a stroll down memory lane.​

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Votes: 4
Rating: 4.25
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My Grandmother's Green Tomato Mustard Relish
SERVINGS
6-7pints
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
pints
COOK TIME
30minutes
PREP TIME
1.5hours
READY IN
2hours

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Grind and drain for 1 hr. the first 4 ingredients (green tomatoes, green and red peppers and onions).
  2. Mix the remaining ingredients together and add the vegetables.
  3. Cook until it boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
  4. Pack in sterilized hot jars.
  5. Store in a cool, dry place.

Apple Brown Betty

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“No matter what their age from the youngest to the oldest” everyone
in the Community of Jesus gathers together for Saturday morning beehive,
a time to busily work on everything that needs doing in the community that week.
Each is assigned a job he or she is capable of doing.

Last Saturday  while I was in the convent yard I heard excited shouts and
squeals of fun and laughter coming from the apple orchard.  Although we
still have not reached peak apple season we have an abundance of
drops each day and we never waste any of them. That day the nursery school
kids were having a contest to see who could gather the most.
The two sisters responsible for child care had cleverly come up with a way
for them to be useful while at the same time learn a lesson in good stewardship
of God’s gifts to us.

Their mission accomplished, the little wagon full of drops were drawn to
the convent kitchen where they were magically transformed into a
favorite old fashioned  dessert that everyone without exception enjoyed
at the coffee hour break…..that is EVERYONE  no matter what their age
from the youngest to the oldest!

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Votes: 2
Rating: 5
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Apple Brown Betty
SERVINGS
4-6
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
COOK TIME
45minutes
PREP TIME
20minutes
READY IN
65minutes

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a shallow 8” x 8” baking dish.
  2. Place half the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Mix the remaining cubes with 2 tablespoons of melted butter and set aside.
  3. Stir together the apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, water, orange juice, orange rind and the remaining 5 tablespoons of butter. Mix until sugar is dissolved. Pour over the bread cubes in the dish and then top with the reserved bread cubes.
  4. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 minutes covered with foil at 400 degrees Fahrenheit then uncovered 10 minutes or so until golden brown. Serve warm or cold.