We asked various religious order members, priests, deacons and seminarians if they had any favorite, simple recipes to share with our readers that were in the spirit of Lent.
By Anna Weaver
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Chilies Rellenos
By Father William “Pila” Tulua
Parochial vicar at St. Catherine Parish in Kapaa, Kauai
This is a great recipe for a Friday meal that my Mexican family has always made.
Ingredients
- 6 poblano chili peppers
- 5 plum tomatoes, with the core taken out and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 to 1 whole onion, chopped finely
- 1 clove garlic (or more if you like), chopped finely
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 1/2 cups of shredded Monterey jack or pepper jack cheese
- 3 large egg whites and 1 egg yolk, sitting at room temperature
- Vegetable oil for frying the chilies
- All-purpose flour
When making chilies rellenos you will need to use a comal (flat-iron skillet) for charring the chilies. (A heavy cast iron skillet can be substituted in a pinch.) You must keep turning the chilies around in the skillet so as not to burn them. You want to roast the skin but not the chili itself. They will eventually turn black, and that is what you want. This might take about 10 minutes.
Put all the chilies in a plastic bag and let the heat steam them and become soft. After about ten minutes the chilies will be soft and easy to peel. You might use a paper towel to gently rub the skin off, and don’t freak out if there is perhaps a few black flakes left on a chili. Using a paring knife, make a slit from the tip to the stem of each chili on one side only. Scoop out the seeds.
To prepare the sauce that will go on top, puree the tomatoes, onions and garlic in a blender until smooth. Put olive oil in a sauce pan and heat on medium before adding the blended sauce. Let it cook down for about 10 minutes. Then add salt and pepper to taste.
For the filling, mix the cheese, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl together. Before adding the oregano, you might smash it a bit between your hands to release the flavors, and your hands will smell good too!
Stuff the chilies with the cheese mixture. Don’t overstuff or you will end up with a little mess. People sometimes say to use toothpicks to close the chilies, but I have never seen my family do that. It might be good to try with toothpicks a few times until you get the hang of it.
Heat some oil in a skillet. This will be for the frying of the chilies.
Mix some flour with salt and pepper in a bowl and coat the chilies with the mixture.
Some recipes say to whip the egg whites until they form peeks, but we really never did. Next, you coat the flour-covered chilies with the egg batter.
Fry the chilies in the hot oil carefully, placing the tips in first and the stems last. You will need to flip the chilies so they evenly brown on all sides. This should take about one to two minutes. Using tongs, take the chilies out of the oil and put on a paper towel to sop up some of the grease.
Finally serve the chilies topped with the sauce you made earlier and serve with some frijoles (refried beans) and rice or a salad and enjoy!
Markus Spiske, Unsplash
Insalata Caprese
By Christopher Derige Malano
Paulist seminarian from Hawaii
Pope Francis’ encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” inspired local action at UH-Manoa’s Newman Center where I was formerly the pastoral administrator. The community created an herb garden outside the kitchen window. We regularly picked from the garden when we cooked for parish events and weekly campus ministry meals. The fresh basil that I would use when I cooked this dish for the students was food from our shared labor.
Ingredients
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 3 tablespoons chopped Italian (flat leaf) parsley
- 3 tablespoons drained capers (or chopped olives)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Fresh coarsely ground black pepper
- 2 pounds ripe tomatoes, cut into half-inch thick slices
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
- 2 cups fresh basil leaves
Add the balsamic vinegar to a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
Add the olive oil to a mixing bowl and combine with the garlic, parsley, capers, salt and pepper.
Arrange the tomato slices, mozzarella slices and the basil in an overlapping pattern on a serving plate and drizzle with the olive mixture and additional freshly ground black pepper.
Drizzle the reduced balsamic over the top. Set aside a little while for flavors to meld or serve immediately.
Jakub Kapusnak, Foodiesfeed
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
By Taylor Mitchell
Diocese of Honolulu seminarian
I recommend pairing this with some hearty bread spread with butter and a little honey.
Ingredients
- Butternut squash
- Carrots
- Apples
- Onion
- A few cloves of garlic
- Vegetable or chicken stock
- Heavy cream or coconut milk
- Nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, pepper and salt, seasoned to taste
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Chop and roast butternut squash that’s been tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper. I also like to roast carrots, which I always have lying around because I bought them in an attempt to eat healthy, and my secret ingredient, an apple, which adds a sweet flavor to balance the squash. Maybe have a glass of wine while you wait for these things to roast.
When the squash, carrots and apple are almost roasted to softness, saute a considerable amount of onion and a few cloves of garlic in a suitable soup pot. I prefer to do this in butter, which I think tastes better with the soup. But if you are not eating dairy, olive oil works fine. If you’ve forgotten about your squash, don’t worry if it’s gotten very brown! That’s called the Maillard Reaction, and it is delicious. If it’s black, you’re in trouble. Maybe you can use the ashes for your own personal penitence?
Add the roasted elements into the soup pot with the sautéed onions and garlic. If your squash had skin on it, remove it as it won’t blend well. Add in vegetable stock (or chicken stock if it’s not a day of abstinence) and heavy cream. If you are not doing dairy, I recommend coconut milk, which adds a delicious, creamy taste. I like to season the soup with a little nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon and black pepper.
Finally, blend all of this up so it becomes consubstantial. I recommend using an immersion (stick) blender. If you use a traditional blender, be careful about blending hot liquids! This is a penitential season, but third-degree burns would be taking that too far.
This soup is imminently customizable. You could make it with kabocha or acorn squash, add in some celery, or take out the apple and put in some maple syrup. Some ginger or ’olena (tumeric) root would be a nice touch.
Salmon Gravy
By Father EJ Resinto
Pastor of Sacred Hearts Parish in the Punahou neighborhood on Oahu
I recommend serving this over rice, on crusty bread or with poi.
- 1 can pink salmon (or tuna, fresh salmon/fish)
- 1 small can tomato sauce
- 1 russet potato, sliced diagonally
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 round onion, chopped
- 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
- Small bunch cilantro
Put the potato, onion, carrot and garlic in a pot with just enough water to cover them and bring to a boil. When the potato and carrot are tender, add in the salmon and tomato sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Add in the chopped cilantro (for da color and the taste) and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Jakub Kapusnak, Foodiesfeed
Broiled Fish
By Carmelite Sisters
Of Carmel of the Holy Trinity in Kaneohe
The sisters use fish they raise on their property but say that this recipe is adaptable to most fish.
Ingredients
- 4-6 ounces of tilapia or any other fish
- 4 minced garlic cloves
- 1 1/2 pieces of ginger, grated
- 4 sliced tomatoes
- 1 1/4 teaspoon of fine salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Fresh lemon juice
- Fresh parsley (or dill) for serving
Thoroughly clean fish with salt and lemon. Put the garlic, ginger and tomatoes inside the fish. Heat the broiler.
Season fish with salt and pepper and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Broil the fish until it is flaky and cooked through, about 10 minutes. Top with a squeeze of lemon juice and fresh dill, then serve.
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Photo by Vinod Kumar on Unsplash
BBQ Jackfruit Tacos
By Chef Jennifer Kempin and lead chef instructor Janet Rorschach at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts
Jackfruit is an extremely versatile fruit grown in tropical regions and used as a delicious meat alternative. One of the greatest things about cooking with jackfruit is that it will take on whatever flavors you cook it with, so play with your favorite flavors and spices. I also like an adobo version of this with paprika, guajillo chili, lime and adobo chilies for a spicy kick.
Yield: 6- 8 tacos
Ingredients:
- 1 can young jackfruit in brine
- 2 tablespoon canola oil (or any cooking oil)
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 yellow onion mined
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- ½ tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ grapefruit juiced
- ½ orange juiced
- 16 ounces crushed tomatoes
- Salt and Pepper to taste
1. Strain liquid from jackfruit. Rinse thoroughly until the brine has been completely washed away. Set aside.
2. In a skillet, lightly toast all the spices.
3. In a saucepot, add the oil, sweat the onions until translucent, add the garlic. Cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds), add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.
4. Add the jackfruit to the pot, cover and cook until the jackfruit is tender and shreds with a fork. (It should look like shredded pork.)
5. Uncover and cook until the sauce has thickened. About 5 minutes.
6. Serve with your favorite taco toppings such as shredded cabbage, chimichurri and avocado.
More Recipes from the Carmelite Sisters
Egg Soup
Ingredients:
- Horseradish (Kalamunggay)
- 4 eggs
- Sea salt
Preparations:
1. Combine 4 cups of water with 4 beaten eggs, then bring the liquid to a boil.
2. Put horseradish in the soup (or any vegetables you’d like).
3. Add some sea salt according to taste then serve.
Tofu Stir-fry with Fish
Ingredients:
- 1 block of firm tofu
- Any kind of vegetables
- Tomatoes
- Ginger
- Any kind of fish
- Any kind of sauce according to taste
Preparation 1:
1. Prepare fish; slice the ginger.
2. Pour sauce into the fish.
3. Broil the fish until it becomes gold in color.
Preparation 2:
1. Stir-fry tofu until it becomes a little brown in color.
2. Add vegetables and tomatoes.
3. Put it all in a big pan and cover it.
4. Combine Procedure 1 and 2 in a big dish and serve.
Steamed Fish With Mushroom
Ingredients:
- Tilapia (or any kind of fish)
- Mushrooms (10 small ones or 4 big ones)
- Soy sauce
- Ginger
1. Prepare mushroom (soaked in cold water for few hours).
2. Clean the fish.
3. Place the prepared mushrooms with ginger and sauce on top of the fish.
4. Steam it for 15 minutes. (If the fish is big, it may take more like 25 minutes.)
5. Take it out and serve.
Red pozole served at the 2015 Encuentro Chilenero in Iztapalapa, Mexico City. Photo: Alejandro Linares Garcia, CC 4.0
Pozole de Puerco
By Father Tulua
A quick and easy recipe for non-abstinence days during Lent. One of my favorite dishes growing up was “Pozole de Puerco.” With the current cold temperatures Hawaiʻi is witnessing, I find this would warm the body as we try to stay warm. It is a wonderful dish that is like a soup and yet, it is filled with many goodies to fill one’s belly. I use a crockpot! I found it to be much easier to use than stirring the pot all day and waiting around the stove for hours for the dish to finish. One can do other things and not worry about your dinner burning. I would go to the “Mercado de la Raza” on Beretania Street to obtain some items that might be a little difficult to obtain elsewhere.
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2-3 tablespoons of oregano, fresh or dry
- 4-5 bay leaves
- ½-1 cup of ground “Ancho chile” powder (I love the flavor)
Wet Ingredients:
- 4-5 pounds of pork shoulder cut into 1/4-inch cubes
- 1 large onion, diced
- 6-8 garlic cloves, minced
- 2-3 tablespoons salt, used sparingly. More can be added later.
- 6-8 cups of chicken broth or the equivalent with broth/bouillon cubes
- 2-3 cans of hominy (with the liquid). (It might be easier to buy a large #10 can from “Mercado de la Raza.”)
I usually put all the wet ingredients first then add the dry ingredients in a lined crockpot to save on time in cleaning.
Set the crockpot on high and take off and go for a walk or a nap. The cooking time will usually be around 5-6 hours or until the pork is tender. Just before the food is completed it might be great to taste the Pozole. More salt? And I am sure that it will need more “Ancho Chile.” Please do not be nervous about using this chile. It is mild and very flavorful.
Once the pork is fork-tender then you can serve in a bowl with some corn tortillas and enjoy!
The garnishes one can use to add more flavor and stretch the posole out a little more are limes or lemons, cilantro, radishes that are sliced thin, shredded cabbage, diced avocado, and jalapeño chile if you like your posole with a lot more heat. My family added cheddar cheese for more flavor or used some “Queso Fresco.”
I like using pork for its flavor but one could use chicken as well. You can also use this recipe for making my other favorite dish called “Menudo,” but you do need to change the protein to beef trip if you do that.
My grandmother who comes from Aquascalientes, México, makes these dishes in the traditional style, but I figured that in the world of today, one does need to speed things up a little bit without losing the flavor. So this Mexican uses the crockpot. It is delicious and guaranteed to not only be filling but yummy to the tummy! ¡Disfruta la comida de mi cultura. Dios los bendiga a todos!
