There are actually two of us under the title of "Gourmet Nun!" One of us came at age 13, the other in her 30s. We have been sisters for 43 and 38 years respectively. One of use came with her mother (who felt called to this community), the other drove down in a red Carmen Ghia, leaving behind a job in a flower shop in Boston. Between us we have almost a century of cooking experience (that actually sounds kind of frightening!) having cooked since we were young. We have been in choir, wind ensemble, orchestra, painted, made quilts and both have been or are executive chefs in our events kitchen. We both love food; but especially the relationship between hospitality and the dining room, the Eucharistic table and the banquet table. Nothing makes either of us happier than a well-planned and well-executed meal that speaks of the love of God.
Our convent menus usually include pork once a week in some form or other. Some of us would happily settle for homemade applesauce along with our crusty golden roasted pork and potatoes….but one of our younger, more innovative cooks came up with something that others found more appealing--and you may too: golden roasted pork with a luscious mango chutney she felt the Holy Spirit inspired her to create!
Coat the surface of a large oven-proof skillet or cast iron pan with olive oil. Heat on high heat. When oil begins to smoke, add pork loin to pan or skillet.
Season with salt and pepper. Once the first side has a golden crust, turn pork in the pan to get a crust on the other side. This will seal the meat before roasting, ensuring a juicy serving of meat when cut
Place the skillet and pork into the oven and roast, about 1 hour or until the internal temperature registers 145F on a meat thermometer.
Pull out the pork and let rest, loosely covering the meat with foil.
Chutney
Coat the bottom of a medium saucepan with olive oil over medium heat.
Once oil is warm, sautee the red onion until it becomes translucent. Add red and green bell peppers and cook until tender.
Once vegetables are cooked, add mango and duck sauce, cooking through until the chutney starts to bubble. Add salt to taste.
Once the pork has rested, slice into ½ to ¼ inch slices, top with warm chutney and serve.
Everyone in the neighborhood knew that my mother made the best sugar cookies on the block, but not everyone knew what made them them the best…
When I discovered the secret I felt I’d made one of the greatest discoveries in the culinary world. Mama’s good friend Olga was Jewish and never used dairy products, so instead of butter she substituted schmaltz--which is rendered chicken fat--that gives the recipe a distinct flavor and richness unlike any other shortening--including real butter!
SERVINGS
2dozen
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
dozen
COOK TIME
10mins
PREP TIME
20mins
READY IN
Ingredients
Cookies
3/4cupschmaltz(bought or rendered from chicken skins)
Cream schmaltz and sugar in an electric mixer using a paddle attachment.
Add eggs (one a at time), lemon juice and lemon zest. Beat until well incorporated.
Slowly add flour, baking soda and salt.
Roll dough into balls roughly 1 ½ inches wide and place on a greased cookie sheet, or a baking sheet lined with parchment. Press each cookie with a bottom of a glass dipped in sugar.
Bake for 10 minutes or until the bottoms are slightly golden. Remove and cool completely.
Frosting
Combine all the ingredients until it reaches a creamy consistency. If it’s too thick, add either lemon juice for an extra shot of lemon or milk until it thins to the desired thickness.
Either frost with a spreader (pictured) or pipe onto the cookies and enjoy!
The message came to our Guest House cooks: Luncheon for two on Friday—and they would prefer to have no meat.
With Spring on the way, the first thing that came to me was a Shrimp Salad plate—quick, easy, delicious!
Being a Benedictine House, we start our day with the office of Lauds followed by Eucharist. As I left the service today, I was struck by just how many years Monasticism has existed and thrived, and how blessed I was to be a part of a living organism that has withstood the passage of time and changed the world in the process.
As I passed through our atrium, I was met with the lovely singing of birds. With the cold winter we’ve had, this promise of spring was a delight to my ears and got me itching to create a light new soup that was both colorful and tasty. I set out for the kitchen to create just that.
In a large stockpot over medium heat, sautee leeks, garlic, and thyme in the butter and olive oil until softened- about eight minutes.
Add diced potato and cook an additional 5 minutes or until the potatoes begin to take on a slightly translucent hue. Meanwhile, prepare asparagus by snapping off the ends and peeling the sides with a vegetable peeler and cut into 1" pieces.
Add broccoli florets to your stock pot and cook for an additional 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add prepared asparagus pieces and cover with 8 cups of stock (vegetable or chicken, whichever you prefer). Stir and bring to a simmer.
Cover your pot and cook until your vegetables are tender about 10 min.
After 10 minutes, uncover the pot, turn off the heat and add the spinach. Allow to sit for an additional five minutes.
Cool slightly, and puree using an immersion blender or a countertop blender. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Add more broth to achieve the desired thickness or add some cream. Re-heat and serve. Makes 14 cups of soup.
Our corner of the world becomes pretty bleak at this time of year with bare trees, plowed under gardens and occasional winter storms that blow through.
Ever on the lookout for new recipes, this one for sweet potato, roasted chickpeas and creamy hummus sauce caught our eye: tasty, colorful and with flavors that evoke a warmer time and place, this proved to be a great way to beat the winter blues! We’ve adapted it to our tastes and feel free to do the same. Filling–and meatless–this recipe will most likely find its way back on the table right into spring.
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Baked Sweet Potato with Roasted Chickpeas and Creamy Hummus Sauce
Preheat oven to 400. Line 2 metal cookie sheets with baking paper.
Place the sweet potato halves on one cookie sheet and set aside.
Place 1 cup of chickpeas in a bowl and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Dust with salt and pepper and gently toss until lightly coated. Pour in a single layer on the second cookie sheet.
Put the potatoes and the chickpeas in the oven for roasting. Roast the chickpeas until they become a medium shade of brown, about 15 minutes. The sweet potatoes should be cooked until they are fork tender, about 45 minutes.
While the potatoes and chickpeas are roasting, prepare the hummus sauce.
Place remaining 2 cups of chickpeas in a food processor.
Place remaining 2 cups of chickpeas in a food processor and begin to process while pouring in a thin stream of olive oil. Once the chickpeas begin to become a paste, add milk, lemon juice, zest, garlic, salt and pepper. The consistency should be thin enough to drizzle on the potatoes, but still be visible (not watery).
Once the potatoes and chickpeas have finished in the oven, top the potatoes with the roasted chickpeas and drizzle them generously with the hummus sauce. For added color, garnish with fresh parsley or feta cheese and serve warm or room temperature.
When I spent time at our mission house in Italy, I fell in love with fennel. For many, this might be a vegetable you see in the grocery store and have absolutely no idea what you would do with it. It is an underutilized vegetable and during the doldrums of winter, it might just become your new favorite. It looks a bit like it might be a member of the celery family or some sort of cabbage, but instead, it’s a flowering plant of the carrot family. The flavor is subtle, slightly sweet and has hints of anise, but don’t worry, you won’t be eating a Twizzler when it is cooked correctly. It can be eaten raw – thinly sliced in a salad or slaw or carmelized and used in a soup or stew. In this simple recipe, we’ll show you how to take this lovely vegetable and transform it into a velvety and flavorful side dish.
Cut each fennel half into 3 wedges. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add fennel; cook 7 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally.
Add wine, stock, salt, pepper, minced garlic and thyme sprigs; bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Increase heat to medium-high; cook, uncovered, 1 minute or until liquid is slightly thickened. Remove thyme sprigs from pan; discard.
Melt remaining 1 Tbsp.butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs; cook 3 minutes or until browned, stirring frequently. Remove pan from heat; stir in parsley and cheese. Arrange fennel wedges on a plate and sprinkle with breadcrumb mixture.
