Merry Christmas from Bethany Convent! This year, the Sisters enjoyed this lovely Grilled Ceasar Salad with our Christmas meal. It was so easy and delicious, we wanted to share it with you. Our prayers are with each one of you as we close out 2019 and look forward with hope and expectation to a new year together!
Prepare the dressing: In a bowl, add the mayonnaise, Worcestershire, lemon juice, Dijon, vinegar and garlic and whisk until combined. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Add the Parmesan and continue to whisk. Season the dressing with salt and pepper. This can be made ahead and kept refrigerated until ready to use
Preheat a grill to medium-high heat.
Brush olive oil on the romaine hearts and season with salt and pepper. Place the romaine cut-side down on the grill and cook until nicely marked, 2 to 3 minutes.
Brush the lemon halves with olive oil and grill cut sized down until you have grill marks on the lemons and they are soft and golden
Preheat an oven to 375 degrees. Prepare croutons: tear up the bread into bite sized chunks and drizzle with olive oil. Toss until the oil is well distributed. Toss with Italian seasoning, garlic powder and salt until well seasoned to your liking. Spread on a baking sheet and bake until crispy and golden about 10-15 min. Remove from oven and let cool.
With a vegetable peeler, flake your Parmesan cheese into large pieces.
To assemble: lay your grilled romaine hearts on a platter, drizzle with the dressing and finish off with croutons, flakes of Parmesan cheese and the grilled lemon halves. Enjoy!
So requested a lady on Personal Retreat in our guesthouse. To be honest, I actually was planning something a little more elaborate such as zucchini lasagna, Caesar salad, and herb-buttered Italian bread. But I replied, “Of course!” and conceived a plan. As I picked fresh lettuce from our kitchen’s “Chef's Garden”, ideas came– what about fried eggplant and deviled eggs to add a special little touch! Some avocado slices, sliced ham or chicken, olives, cherry tomatoes.
Once again, the Holy Spirit came alongside and brought ideas fresh and new. Our retreatant was very blessed…as was I!
Lay a slice of eggplant on paper towel and sprinkle with salt on both sides. After a few minutes, press with the paper towel to extract any excess moisture
Beat the egg with a fork and a little water, thoroughly immerse the eggplant slice
Dredge the slice in bread/panko crumbs while heating butter and oil in frying pan
When butter mixture is hot, add eggplant and fry until soft and golden brown; lower heat if
necessary so as not to get too brown too fast – about 10 minutes. Drain on a paper towel
Deviled Egg
Place 2 eggs in boiling water, boiling for 10 minutes
Cool under cold water and peel
Gently slice in half, and carefully remove yolks, placing in a bowl and crush with a fork; the extra egg is good to have for more yolk filling
Add mayonnaise and mustard, more if needed, mix until creamy and smooth
Atop the microwave in the Convent kitchen sits a woven wicker bread basket that collects all kinds of interesting mixed bread goods. From soft white leftover sandwich bread to crunchy crusts of Italian loaves. Each time I pass the overflowing basket I think of all the ways bread could be used: stuffing for a nice chicken or pork roast, croutons for a great Caesar salad, or baked into a nice golden cheese strata. But the one idea that keeps presenting itself is old-fashioned Bread Pudding. Whether it’s spiked with Bourbon the way Thomas Jefferson liked it or simply seasoned with a touch of vanilla as I myself prefer it. It is almost always welcomed by anyone to whom it is offered!
Heat milk and butter over medium heat until butter is melted and milk is hot.
Mix eggs, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a separate bowl and stir in bread cubes and raisins.
Stir in milk and butter mixture and pour into an ungreased pan.
Cover with foil and bake 40 to 45 minute or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serve warm with a dollop of whipped cream!
Classic Bread Pudding. To subscribe to the weekly Recipe blog from the Monastery Kitchen at the Community of Jesus click here: http://monasterykitchen.org/
The view from this convent window encompasses the convent orchard, the cutting garden and some of the Community vineyards.
At the end of each row of grapevines stands a robust clump of rhubarb which has just reached its peak… a rich and beautiful sight to behold! Sisters were out picking it this morning and now it is being prepared for the Oblate retreat dinner dessert.
When our “Oblate family” members return for retreats we always try to “welcome them home” with their favorite foods. This golden buttery crusted dessert has been one of their favorites for years, and since their spring retreat is always at this same time each year when rhubarb is at its prime they always look forward to having it.
The vibrant combination of rhubarb, fresh oranges and coconut produces one of those desserts that keeps tempting the eater to have just a little bit more. This is a mouthwatering flavor that makes no apology for being old fashioned – because it’s old fashioned goodness at its very best!
Recently four of our young sisters were invited to a neighbor’s house in our community for a special dinner. The next day when I asked, “So how was the dinner?”
the response was, “Phenomenal!” That didn’t surprise me knowing that the menu had featured a choice tenderloin of beef, which they all liked and
we rarely have at the Convent. What did surprise and amuse me was that each of them individually wanted to tell me about one special dish
that had put the meal “over the top” and sent it “out of the park.”
This was a savory bread pudding that included leeks, fresh mushrooms, Gruyere cheese, pancetta, and sherry. Well then, why wouldn’t that
impress anyone as a phenomenal dish? And because our brave leeks are still holding their own out in the garden, why shouldn’t we give
it a try here at home? Well, we did, and sure enough it scored a home run with the whole sisterhood. Why not try it yourself and see
what kind of a rating it gets at your house?
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Phenomenal Savory Bread Pudding
SERVINGS
8-10people
CHANGE SERVING SIZE
people
COOK TIME
2hours
PREP TIME
READY IN
2.25hours
Ingredients
6cupsbreadcubed (1/2-inch-diced) from a rustic country loaf
1.5cupsGruyeregrated, or your favorite cheese (6 ounces), divided
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Spread the bread cubes on a sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly browned. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat the oil and butter in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat.
Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Stir in the leeks and cook over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, until the leeks are tender.
Stir in the mushrooms, sherry, 1 tablespoon onion salt and 11/2 teaspoons pepper and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, stir in the parsley.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, chicken stock and 1 cup of the Gruyere.
Add the bread cubes and mushroom mixture, stirring well to combine. Set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to allow the bread to absorb the liquid.
Stir well and pour into a 2 1/2-to-3-quart gratin dish (13 x 9 x 2 inches). Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup Gruyere and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is browned and the custard is set. Serve hot.
“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!
Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a shallow 8” x 8” baking dish.
Place half the bread cubes in the prepared baking dish. Mix the remaining cubes with 2 tablespoons of melted butter and set aside.
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.
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.
