Sword and Miter Cookies for the Feast of St. Thomas Becket

Today is the feast of St. Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Cantebury, who was martyred for the Catholic Faith in his cathedral on December 29, 1170.   You can read more about this amazing saint here.

According to My Nameday-Come for Dessert, St. Thomas a Becket is symbolized by "a sword through a mitre."  Since I was already baking sugar cookies for my children to decorate this week, I decided to try and make them each a "Sword and Miter Cookie" in honor of today's feast day using the Miter & Cross Cookie Cutter from the St. Nicholas Center.  (If you don't happen to have this wonderful little cookie cutter, they wouldn't be too hard to cut out by hand.)  

 

St. Thomas Becket

Sword and Miter Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

* I used the cut-out cross from the miter and then added a strip of dough to form a sword, which was then placed underneath the miter. 

Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely and decorate.   (I used Wilton's White Cookie Icing to outline the Miter.)

O God, for the sake of whose Church the glorious Bishop Thomas fell by the sword of ungodly men: grant, we beseech Thee, that all who implore his aid, may obtain the good fruit of his petition. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest with Thee in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

St. Thomas Becket, Pray for us! 

Roasted Chicken With Brown Rice And Chestnut Stuffing

  Today is Christmas and as a Christian we do value this special and meaning day in December Calender. For the past two years, our church has planned outdoor Christmas Party in the neighbourhood area so that more residents can join us to celebrate this special occasion at the eve of Christmas. So since today is a rest day for family gathering, I decided to try my hand on preparing my very 1st Christmas Lunch.

To be honest, I seldom prepared western dishes because I do not own many of those spices or herbs which we hardly used in our daily Asian cooking. And this Roasted Chicken Lunch that I prepared is also not a fully western dishes too. As when you read the rest of the post, you would notice that I replaced the usual herbs stuffing with brown rice and etc.

Here are some collage photos to show the ingredients and steps on preparing the Brown Rice Stuffing which is quite similar to what I did a few years back on the Baked Pumpkin with Rice Stuffing (link HERE).

Ingredients: (for 1 quantity)

1 Cup of Uncooked Brown Rice Mixture
2 Tablespoons of Frozen Green Peas
6 - 8 Whole Ready to Eat Roasted Chestnuts
1 Tablespoon of Mixed Fried Fruit/Golden Raisin
1 Teaspoon of Minced Garlic
1/2 Teaspoon of Minced Ginger
1/2 Tablespoon of Oil
Seasonings:
Dash of Pepper and Sesame Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Light Soya Sauce

Method:

1. Rinse the rice mixture two to three time then soak in water for about 30 minutes before cooking.(soaking the brown rice prior cooking can decrease the cooking time)
2. Cook the brown rice in rice cooker with the usual method and once it is cooked through stand it rice cooker for another 10 minutes.
3. Next scoop the cooked rice to a place and let it cool off to room temperature while preparing the ingredients for the fried rice and get ready the chicken.
4. When done, preheat a non-stick pan with 1/2 tablespoon of cooking oil, saute the minced garlic and ginger till fragrant then drop in green peas and give it a quick stir before adding the cooked brown rice.
5. Use the back of the spatula, loosen all the lumps of the cooked rice till grains are formed.
6. Stir-fry the rest of the ingredients such as chestnut and mixed dried fruits then follow by the seasoning till well mixed.
7. Transfer the rice mixture to a plate while handling the chicken.

Note:-

~ Mix 1/2 cup each of Brown Rice with normal Long Grain Jasmin Rice. (I do encourage you to try brown rice as it will give this dish a very nutty fragrant and taste)

This is the final Brown Rice Stuffing with Chestnut, green peas and dried mixed fruit mixture which is ready to be used. Since this is used as a Christmas theme stuffing you could realise that the colour that I used seems t be circling with green, red, golden and etc. I am sure this would be something new to you as to add dried mixed fruits into rice stuffing.

Here is another set of collage photos showing the ingredients of the roasted vegetables and steps on stuffing the chicken.

Ingredients For Roasted Vegetables: (Serves 4)

1 Medium Carrot, cut into 2cm thick chunks
2 Medium Potato, removed skin and cut into 6 chunks each
300g of Pumpkin, removed skin and cut into chunks
1 Fresh Sweetcorn, cut into 2cm thick ring, halves
Seasonings:
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Peppercorns
1/2 Teaspoon of Dried Chilli Flakes
1/2 Tablespoon roughly chopped Coriander

Method:

1. Mixed all the vegetables together with the seasonings in a bowl and set aside while preparing the chicken.


Since I still have some Seah's Spices available from their complimentary gift (link HERE) set, I decided to use one of this "Seah's Salt-Roasted Chicken Spices" for our Christmas Roast Chicken Lunch. There are two small 20g sachets of spices in each packet where you can roast up to 2 chicken of 600g each.

Ingredients: (Serves 4)

1 20g Sachet of Spices(Seah's Salt-Roasted Chicken Spices)
1 Sakura Chicken, around 1kg size
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Quantity of Prepared Brown Rice Stuffing
Prepared Vegetables Chunks for roasting

Method:

1. Before stuffing the chicken, trim the extra fats, emptied and cleaned the cavity, removed the head, neck and feet. Rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel.
2.Next brush the olive oil evenly around the chicken before rubbing the powder spices all over the chicken include the cavity of the chicken and under the skin layers.
3. Scoop the rice stuffing into the cavity and pressed tightly using the back of the spoon until all all or most of the stuffing are used up.
4. Place the stuffed chicken in a baking dish, secure the chicken thighs and wings to its body by using some kitchen string.
5. Arrange the prepared vegetables chunks around the sides of the baking dish and roast in a pre-heat 220 degree roast for about 20 minutes.
6. Remove the baking dish from the oven, quickly brush over another layer of olive oil all around the chicken and also give the veggies a quick toss before putting back to the oven to roast for another 20 minutes.
7. To get that nice and crispy outer skin, you can switch the oven function to fan-force mode on the last 7 - 10 minutes of cooking time.



In about 1 hour time, we could enjoy a hearty Christmas Roasted Chicken Lunch with rice stuffing and mixed veggies at our comfort home without need to eat in rush and wait for the festive season queues in the eateries. You can also re-heat some ready served chicken gravy pack or festive cranberry sauce from the supermarket to go with the roasted chicken.

This photo shows the inner cut of the roasted chicken where you can see the colourful brown rice stuffing in the cavity. The rice is so yummy and fragrant by the spices and juice from the roasted chicken too.

Roasted Chicken will be great to serve with Caesar Salad that consists of the crispy romaine lettuce and croutons which dressed with Parmesan cheese, lemon juice, olive oil and etc.You can easily prepared this by getting some fresh romaine lettuce and ready salad dressing pack from local supermarket such as Cold Storage.

This is the 1 person serving portion of our Christmas Lunch. Everyone enjoys this simple and wonderful meal with accompany of white wine and sparking drinks.

Although this year Christmas has almost come to an end in another few hours time but I would still like to wish everyone of my blog readers a wonder and blessed Christmas. Hope you have enjoy this festive season with your loved to ones and Merry Christmas everyone!!!!

And also I am submitting this post to "Aspiring Bakers #2: Christmas! (Dec 2010)", hosted by Passionate About Baking at this link HERE.

[Recipe] Decorated Festive Chocolate Cookies Together With Early Christmas Party

Last Saturday we have a small Christmas potluck gathering at my place with some of my old friends as well as the new friends from Twitter. Everyone has a wonderful time despite on the chaotic happening in the kitchen while some of us are busying with the food preparations.

And in order to make this a memorable gathering with Christmas atmosphere, Rey and I have decided to prepare some "door-gifts" for the guests which includes some of these mini decorated festive cookies in it. Can you spot Pooh, Minni and Tigger among these cookies?

  We made these Chocolate cookies instead of the usual one that is infused with spices because we are afraid that some of the guests might not prefer the aroma of the spice. So Chocolate flavor will be best for everyoe. These are some collage photos on the ingredients and steps on making the cookie dough.

Ingredients: (makes roughly 2 dozen)

90g Unsalted Butter
100g Caster Sugar
1 Egg
180g Self-raising Flour
2 Tablespoons Dutch Cocoa Powder
¼ Teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon orange liquor, optional


My boy and I are busy with the cookie cutout and get them ready for baking and icing decoration.

Method:

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and creamy, add egg and orange liquor then beat till combined.
2. Fold in flour mixture (sifted flour, cocoa powder and salt together) in the egg till it forms a dough.
3. Turn dough on lightly floured surface and knead gently until soft dough is formed.
4. Divide the dough into two portions, flatten each portion on between sheet of baking paper and place in fridge for 30 minutes.
5. On floured surface, roll dough out to half a cm thick, cut into shapes using festive shaped cookies cutters.
6. Re-rolled leftover dough and cut again.
7. Baked in preheat 180 degree oven for about 8 – 12 minutes depending on the size of the cookies.
8. They will be soft when come out of the oven but will set as they cool.


After the cookies cool off and decorated with colourful icing, we packed them into individual packet and get them ready into the goodies baga together with some chocolate for the guests as "door-gifts".

Ingredients For Royal Icing:

65g Icing Sugar
1/2 Egg White
1/4 Teaspoon Lemon Juice
Assorted Food Colourings
Assorted Christmas Theme Sprinkles, optional

Method:

1. Sift the icing sugar and set aside.
2. Beat the egg white till foamy then add in lemon juice and icing sugar in a few batches till smooth. (about 5 - 8 minutes, it must be a spreadable consistency)
3. Divide the icing into a few portion then mixed with your desire colours.
4. Spoon icing into disposal piping bag, snip the tip off and pipe decorative outlines and design on each biscuit.

PREVIEW OF OUR CHRISTMAS POTLUCK GATHERING

Christmas Turkey prepared by Misstamchiak(Maureen) and Kai. Everyone is looking high and low for the roasted vegetables and sauce :p

Cheesy Ham Roll prepared by Yancai, Maureen and Rae. This is another way to present the sliced Turkey and it taste very yummy for us to snatch with just these limited rolls on the plate.

Stir-fried Fish Fillet with Thai Basil Leaves by me (Cuisine Paradise). This is something similar to the Chicken version recipe that I have posted HERE.

Spicy Egg and Cucumber Kerabu prepared by Rae(Shan). This cold appetiser consists of a lot of ingredients such as prawns, egg, cucumber, pineapple, belacan, dried prawns and etc.

Here is another main dish which is the "STAR" and highlight of the day too. Cioppino or fish stew that is prepared by Alvin and Lobs(Lobsterpaints) As you can see, there are big fresh prawn, mussels, clams and different type of fish that are stew together using tomato paste, red wine and many other herbs and seasonings. Very delicious pot :)

The whole table of food that are ready to be served. Yummy Chicken Curry by Susan, Grilled Chicken Drumlets by Joyce(ahpoohbear), stir-fried broccoli with mushroom, logcake, fruitcake and etc.

Thanks everyone for the hard work on preparing the food and travel all the way to my place in order to make our 1st potluck party a successful one. Thanks a lot pals.

Christmas Cookie Recipe Exchange Link-Up

With Christmas just days away, I thought it would be fun to host another link-up here at Catholic Cuisine, so we can all exchange Christmas Cookie Recipes.

To participate, just post the recipe(s) on your blog, add the button above and link back to this post (though not required for participation), and then add the link to your recipe below.   This link-up will be open until January 1st.

I pray that you are all having a Blessed and Fruitful 4th week of Advent as we prepare to celebrate the Birth of Our Lord!

Christmas Potluck Dishes

Festive seasons are always full of parties and gatherings. With Christmas just a few days around the corner I am sure most of you are busying with the festive feast preparation too. As usual every year our church cell group would organize Christmas potluck party a week before Christmas where each family would bring along some food/goodies to share with each other during the gathering.

This year with my NEW Tupperware Tapau set we could easily prepared and brings the food without being afraid that the gravy from the food might leak out half way through the journey or having trouble to pack food in multi sizes containers. Below are some of the food we prepared and packed for our last week Christmas potluck gathering using my Eco-friendly Tapau containers.

Using one of the 1-Litre size Crystalwave Dish to pack some homemade pizza , gingerbread man and tart as finger food.

For starter we packed some freshly prepared salad using red and green coral lettuce, rocket leaves, mixed dried fruits and etc with some Italian dressing in another similar Crystalwave Dish.

As for the big Crystalware bowl mum used it to pack some curry chicken to go with the freshly baked baguette which most of us love to use it for dipping the curry gravy (in order to prevent the bread from contact with the curry gravy you can place a layer of aluminum foil/baking baker on the holder before placing the bread).

Before reheating the curry chicken in the microwave, open the cover and remove the noodle holder with bread then secure the cover back on the Crystalwave bowl leaving only the vent cap open. Reheat the curry chicken for about 2  - 3 minutes high (depending on the microwave voltage) and serve warm with bread.

These collage photos shows the ingredients and steps on preparing the chicken curry.

Ingredients: (serves 4)

1 Medium Size Chicken, about 1 - 1.2kg
1 Packet Hai's Instant Curry Chicken Paste
3 Medium Potato
150ml Coconut Milk
600ml Hot Water
1 Medium Tomato, optional

Method:
1. Trim, clean and chop the chicken into bite-size chunks and set aside.
2. Peel the skin of the potato, cut into cubes.
3. Preheat a medium pot and sauté the Hai’s instant curry paste on medium low heat for about 1 minute or so till fragrant.
4. Stir in the chicken pieces and potato cubes, give it a quick stir till combined.
5. Slowly pour in hot water till the chicken mixture is almost covered with water.
6. Add in tomato wedges and when the mixture comes to boil again simmer it on medium how heat for about 15 minutes or till the chicken and potato are cooked through.
7. Lower the heat, slowly stir in the coconut milk and simmer for another 5 minutes till done.
8. Serve warm with white rice or baguette.

Note:
~ If you prefer thick and creamy curry gravy, you can use 250ml coconut milk/cream with 500ml hot water as stated from the instructions from the back of the packaging.


This is the new packing of Hai's Instant Curry Chicken Paste that I have used for this recipe.

If you have read through the 2 previous Tupperware posts (refer to links below) that I have shared I am sure you would agreed with me that this Tupperware set is indeed a great gift for Christmas season. You could use it not only as a TaPau container but as well as for packing homecook food or snacks too. I believed there are still many ways of using this wonder products which some of you are practicing so do share with us your valuable tips if you do own a set.

Related Tupperware Tapau Set Links
1. Go Green with Tupperware TaPau Set
2. Comfort Food At Ease


This Tupperware Tapau Set retails at S$49.00 which comes with  2 Crystalwave Dishes in 1-Litre capacity,  1 Crystalwave Bowl in 2-Litres capacity, 1 Noodle Holder and a Grip-n-Go Cariolier. And if you are interested to know more about this product do take look at their website here ”http://www.tupperware.com.sg/” or contact any one of the nearest Tupperware outlets shown below:

Note:-

This post is sponsored by Tupperware Singapore but the opinions expressed are 100% mine. No photos or text may be reproduced without seeking prior permission.

O Antiphons :: Incorporating an Old Monastic Tradition in the Home

There is an old monastic custom of providing special treats, representing each of the O Antiphons, leading up to Christmas. According to Father Saunders:

"At the Benedictine Saint Benedict Abbey of Fleury (now Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire), these antiphons were recited by the abbot and other abbey leaders in descending rank, and then a gift was given to each member of the community. By the eighth century, they were in use in the liturgical celebrations in Rome. The usage of the "O Antiphons" was so prevalent in monasteries that the phrases "Keep your O" and "The Great O Antiphons" were common parlance. One may thereby conclude that in some fashion the "O Antiphons" have been part of Western liturgical tradition since the very early Church.

The Benedictine monks arranged these antiphons with a definite purpose.[2] If one starts with the last title and takes the first letter of each one—Emmanuel, Rex, Oriens, Clavis, Radix, Adonai, Sapientia—the Latin words ero cras are formed, meaning, "Tomorrow, I will come". Therefore Jesus, whose coming Christians have prepared for in Advent and whom they have addressed in these seven Messianic titles, now speaks to them: "Tomorrow, I will come." So the "O Antiphons" not only bring intensity to their Advent preparation, but bring it to a joyful conclusion."

This has been a tradition in our home since my oldest children were very young and they look forward to it every year.   It is such a fun way to teach the children about them and increase their excitement and anticipation as Christmas gets closer!  I've posted our special treats and activities for the past few years at Shower of Roses, but I thought I would combine all of the "food" related treats into a post here at Catholic Cuisine.  You can find even more ideas in Jenn's O Antiphon post in the archives. 

December 17th

O Wisdom that comest out of the mouth of the Most High, that reachest from one end to another, and orderest all things mightily and sweetly, come to teach us the way of prudence!

Since the symbol for wisdom is a book, serve a book shaped cookie to each person.  You could use a book shaped cookie cutter, create your own template, or even make Bible Cookies out of Fig Newtons!

(Lacy at Catholic Icing, expanded on this idea, cutting off one side and adding a piece of fruit roll-up for a ribbon.  Super cute!) 

If you are feeling really ambitious, you could even bake a book shaped cake, like Anne's from the feast of St. Gregory, and write the above O Antiphon prayer on the "pages."

December 18th

O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel, Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush, and gavest him the law in Sinai, come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

In past years, my family has usually made our Gingerbread houses this day, emphasizing the word "house" in this Antiphon.  You can purchase kits, or bake your own using the Fox Run Ten Piece Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter Bake Set.  Charlotte recommends using melted white chocolate instead of the royal icing that comes with the kit!

If you would rather avoid the kit, or baking your own gingerbread cookies to build a house, you can also make Gingerbread Graham Cracker Houses.  Honey Maid has even come out with Gingerbread Flavored Graham Crackers for a limited time!  

Another option would be to let your children decorate Gingerbread House Cookies using the cute Wilton Gingerbread House Cookie Cutter, or perhaps even a cake with the Wilton Stand Up House Pan! 

Looking at the rest of this O Antiphon, you could always tie in "Moses in the burning bush."  A couple options can be found in the Jesse "Tea" for Advent including Ten Commandments Cookies!

December 19th

O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people, at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths, Whom the Gentiles shall seek, come to deliver us, do not tarry.

There are so many root vegetables that can be used for this O Antiphon.   You could make a Hearty Beef Stew and serve a Carrot Cake for dessert.

Root beer is another perfect option for this O Antiphon!

In the past I usually would purchase our Christmas poinsettia (O Root of Jesse/O Flower of Jesse) on this day, and read The Legend of the Poinsettia to our children.   This year I am planning on making Poinsettia Cupcakes!    To make these, all you need to do is decorate cupcakes with some triangles of red fruit roll-up, attaching small yellow candies to the top with a bit of extra white frosting.

Another option would be to serve Poinsettia Cookies.  If you don't have a Poinsettia Cookie Cutter, a Star Shaped Cookie Cutter would work as well.

December 20th

O Key of David, and Sceptre of the house of Israel, that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, come to liberate the prisoner from the prison, and them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death.

Since this is initially a monastic tradition, and on this night, the monk in charge of the wine cellar would provide a special bottle of wine. We usually have a special drinks with dinner. Costco has a great package of delicious fruit spritzers which our family enjoys.

I also usually serve a Marie Calendar's Key Lime Pie, which is quick, easy and delicious.   If you'd like to make one from scratch, here is a recipe.

Key Lime Cookies or Key Shaped Cookies would also work great!

December 21st

O Dayspring, Brightness of the everlasting light, Son of justice, come to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death!

Last year, my family enjoyed "O Dayspring Ice Cream" inspired by a Blue Bunny recipe.

"O Dayspring" Ice Cream

6 small tangerines, peeled

1 1/2 cups Vanilla Ice Cream

6 teaspoons orange marmalade

Place six freezer safe dessert plates in the freezer 30 minutes before serving. For each serving, gently pry segments of a tangerine apart. Place on dessert plate in a "spoke" like circle.

Place a 1/4 cup scoop of vanilla ice cream in center of tangerine "spoke"; top with 1 teaspoon orange marmalade. Repeat with remaining tangerines and serve immediately.

Charlotte's family enjoyed Texas Sunrises (Tequila Sunrises without the Tequila) last year, and they look like so much fun!

Texas Sunrise

8 ounces chilled orange juice
3/4 ounce grenadine syrup
Cracked or shaved ice (optional)

Put orange juice in glass.
Add the grenadine.
Let it settle on the bottom or stir, as desired.
Add ice (optional) if desired.
Makes one serving.


There are also lots of snacks that could tie in "Dayspring" (Sun) including Sun Chips, Sun Cups or Sun Drops.   For a cookie option, how about some fun sun shaped cookies.  You could even use a glass to create round cookies, cut them in half before baking and then decorate with a sunrise using frosting!)

If you'd rather not serve a dessert, what about a Sun Bean Dip?

Sun Bean Dip:

1 can refried beans, topped with 1 package cream cheese mixed with 1 cup of sour cream and 2 tablespoons of taco seasoning, and then topped with cheddar cheese.  

(The recipe calls for green onions, diced tomatoes, and olives on the very top after it bakes, but I omitted them for the "Sun")

Add chips around edges of dip to form rays, after it has baked.  

Of course, a glass of orange juice or orange slices cut horizontally would work just perfectly as well. 

December 22nd

O King of the Gentiles, yea, and desire thereof! O Corner-stone, that makest of two one, come to save man, whom Thou hast made out of the dust of the earth!

There are all sorts of ideas for crown sandwiches, cakes and cupcakes in the archives.  You could also bake and decorate some crown shaped Christmas Sugar cookies or even make "Crown" Shaped Rice Krispie Wreaths!

December 23rd

O Emmanuel, our King and our Law-giver, Longing of the Gentiles, yea, and salvation thereof, come to save us, O Lord our God!

This would be a perfect day to make a Chocolate Nativity Scene to decorate a Birthday Cake for Baby Jesus!

Another fun option would be to bake a set of Nativity Cookies using the Fox Run Eighteen Piece Nativity Cookie Cutter Bake Set.


Before I go,  don't forget about the O Antiphon Chocolate Coins!  You could always make one set for each person in your family and place them next to their dinner plate each night!   I had hoped to make a couple other versions (in Latin and Spanish) but I just haven't had the extra time.

You can also listen to the O Antiphons beautifully chanted in Latin here or purchase An Advent Processions Based on the Great O Antiphons .