St. Peter’s Fish with Herbs

June 29: Feast Day of St. Peter and St. Paul

What a blessed opportunity for us to have traveled to Rome to celebrate Highlander’s 50^th birthday last spring!  Our pilgrimage included a tour to the awe-inspiring St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City. Inside the magnificent St. Peter’s Basilica, where Roman Catholicism’s first pope is entombed, Islander traditionally venerated his famous bronze statue by rubbing his foot.  We also paid a solemn visit to Mamertine Prison, where St. Peter was chained along with St. Paul (with whom he shares this feast day) to a dungeon pillar as they awaited martyrdom by crucifixion and beheading.  We honor these saints’ memory and their steadfast devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ with a customary feast day fish dish flavored with herbs.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf and Catholic Culture)

Ingredients

• 4-6 fresh fish fillets (John Dory, tilapia or other fish)
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried tarragon
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• salt and pepper to taste
• ½ cup flour
• ½ cup breadcrumbs (we used Japanese panko)
• 1 egg, beaten
• ¼ cup butter, melted

Directions

Clean and pat dry the fish fillets. In a shallow dish, squeeze the lemon and mix in the dried herbs. Marinate the fish fillets in the lemon-herb mixture on both sides, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. Combine the salt, pepper, flour and breadcrumbs in a flat dish. Lightly beat an egg.

Dip the fish fillets in beaten egg, then dredge them in the flour-breadcrumb mixture. Fry in a skillet with the melted butter. Drain on paper towels. Serve hot.

Notes

• St. Peter was a fisherman by trade, therefore, many recipes associated with him are of fish. But he also became a disciple, according to the bible (Matthew 4:19 and Mark 1:17): “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
• The Feast Day of the Conversion of St. Paul is January 25.
• Thanks to Lisa L. for the melamine fish platter from Fehmarn, a German island in the Baltic Sea.

Pudín de Chocolate

June 26: National Chocolate Pudding Day

Chocolate pudding is a childhood treat that is readily available in plastic cups or easily made with milk and a mix. For a gourmet and grown-up version, we cooked homemade chocolate pudding with a tablet of Mexican drinking chocolate and vainilla (both ingredients have a hint of cinnamon). For a south-of-the-border style sweet snack, prepare pudín de chocolate for National Chocolate Pudding Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Desi Chef)

Ingredients

• 1 tablet of Mexican drinking chocolate
• pinch of salt
• cinnamon, nutmeg and chili powder to taste
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 ounce of bittersweet or semi-sweet chocolate (we used one square of chocolate from Baker’s brand)
• 1 ¾ cup cream
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ¼ cup milk
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla (we used Mexican vainilla)

Directions

Grate the tablet of Mexican drinking chocolate into a sand-like consistency. In a saucepan, stir the water with the grated chocolate, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and chili powder.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until well mixed. Lower the heat and add an ounce of chocolate to melt. Stir in the cream.

Make a paste with the cornstarch and milk, then pour into the saucepan.  Gently stir until thickened. Mix in the vainilla. Pour into a shallow bowl or container and spread the pudding evenly.

Cover the top with a plastic film wrap to avoid any skin forming over the pudding.  Chill in the refrigerator and leave it to set for two or more hours.  After the pudding has chilled and set, remove the plastic cover and stir vigorously or strain to remove any lumps. Spoon the smooth pudding into dessert cups.  Garnish with whipped cream and cinnamon.

Notes

• The grated tablet of Mexican drinking chocolate yields a little over ½ cup of sand-like consistency.
• Search our blog for other recipe posts using tablets of Mexican drinking chocolate as an ingredient.

Honig-Johannisbrot Laib

(Loaf with St. John’s Bread

and Honey)

June 24: The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Islander sometimes gives up chocolate for Lent and substitutes carob in her recipes to satisfy her sweet tooth during the 40-day fasting period.

Curiously, carob powder or flour is referred to as St. John’s bread because the ground seed pods come from the honey locust tree. In the bible, Matthew 3:4 provides a description of the food that John the Baptist subsisted on while living in the wilderness: locusts and wild honey. But in Greek, the word for “locusts” may refer to carob pods instead of grasshoppers.

For our observance of the saint’s nativity, Islander baked a traditional German St. John’s bread called Honig-Johannisbrot Laib. While it looks a lot like a decadent chocolate dessert, this healthy carob loaf is naturally sweetened with honey—probably just the way St. John the Baptist would have liked it himself!

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking with the Saints by Ernst Schuegraf)

Ingredients

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup carob powder
• 1 tablespoon orange rind, grated
• 2 tablespoons carob powder (for dusting)

Directions

Sift the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a large mixing bowl, stir the honey with sesame oil. Gradually add the flour mixture. Combine the egg with the water and beat lightly. Pour into the batter and mix. Add the carob powder  and blend until the batter has a smooth, deep chocolate color.

Add the orange rind and mix until the batter is well incorporated. Spread the batter into a generously-buttered loaf pan. Dust the top with two tablespoons of carob powder. Bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for 70 minutes, testing for doneness. Remove from the oven, cool the bread completely on a wire rack, slice and serve.

Notes

• Feast days of St. John the Baptist are on January 7 (Eastern Orthodox Synaxis of the Forerunner), June 24 (nativity) and August 29 (beheading).
• Search our blog for other recipes posts using carob as an ingredient.