Andouille Stuffed BBQ Chicken

SORRY VEGETARIANS, THIS DISH IS NOT FOR YOU.

To serve four:
4 chicken breasts
2 links of andouille sausage
1 yellow onion
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3/4 cups KC Masterpeice BBQ sauce
Several toothpicks

-Start by slicing the onion into long strips and sauteing the strips in a little oil, then putting them into a small mixing bowl
-Cut the sausages into 1/2 inch peices, and add to the onions (along with the shredded cheese)
-Take the chicken breasts and lay them flat on a cutting board, using a sharp knife, about 1/3 of the way down the thick side, cut a deep pocket horizontally into the center of the meat about 3/4 of the way down, being careful not to cut through to the other side. (The pocket will be about 2 1/2 inches long and 1 1/2 to 2 inches deep.)
-Stuff the cheese, sausage and onion mixture into the pockets in the chicken breasts
-Using the toothpicks, fasten the openings in the chicken breasts together by peircing directly through the bottom part of the opening (towards one end of the opening) with the toothpicks, going over the top flap about 1/2 an inch and then peicing through the chicken breasts again (continue all the way across the opening)
-Brush with the BBQ sauce continually over an open grill
-Serve with a homemade potato soup, some green veggies, and a nice Belgian white

ENJOY!

a Generous Or+hodoxy/Brian McLaren/Emerging(ent) Church

PREFACE:

I’m not really sure, after reading this book, why, in some of the religious circles I find myself, this book and author are so controversial. I understand the rejection of a trendy and shallow version of the emerging(ent) church movement, everybody just rushing toward something newer and better, forming clubs, a new “christianese” dialect, so on and so forth. It’s so annoying really.

So much of what he is explaining (or as he says, “confessing”) in this book is how he got from point A, to point B, to point C, to point D, to point E, etc. Anglo-Evangelicalism in America is just grabbing onto point E with both hands because it’s in fashion (but when point A was in fashion, they clenched and choked it too) and they have no idea about all the points in between, the journey, the difficulty. It’s just a trend to them.

So, I can see why this shift toward point E is so perplexing to the rest of evangelicals who don’t relate to point B thru point E, and are unwilling to just dive in head first to embracing point E because everyone else is doing it. I empathize.

But damned if this book didn’t elevate my sights towards Jesus and leave me thrilled to follow him!

END OF PREFACE

In this book, McLaren describes orthodoxy as “how we search for a kind of truth you can never fully get into your head, so instead you seek to get your head (and heart) into it.” He claims later in this passage to be merely advocating a sort of humility about what we can know. Not that truth is relative and everything is cool: but a sort of happy tension between knowing and not-knowing. As the previous quote implies, our God is too vast to fit within the confines of our heads, so instead of trying to fit him into us, we get lost in him. “We must be open to the perpetual possibility that our received understandings of the gospel may be faulty, imbalanced, poorly nuanced, or downright warped and twisted.” And if God is infinite, of course this is possible! We should be worried (or think ourselves God–which would be a huge mistake) if this weren’t possible: “The day we are completely satisfied with what we have been doing; the day we have found the perfect, unchangeable system of work, the perfect answer, never in need of being corrected again, on that day we will know that we are wrong, that we have made the greatest mistake of all.” (Vincent Donovan, “Christianity Rediscovered”, quoted in the book).

In this way, to many, McLaren comes across as a relativist with loosy-floosy doctrine. But you’d have to actually sit down and read the book to see that his position really isn’t all that wacko. I expected to be in danger from reading this book, but found instead to relate to quite a few of his “confessions.”

His book, in a lot of ways, seems to be a commentary on G.K. Chesterton’s classic “Orthodox” but it really goes beyond Chesterton. He works his way through fragmented subgroups of Christianity (fundamentalists, evangelicals, pentacostals, catholics, calvinists, liberals, etc.) showing what each has contributed to a more full and complete “orthodoxy” (more… but not there yet; he makes sure to show how each group, though helpful in knowing God better, isn’t “good to go” but still needs to be reformed, and we all need EACH OTHER for that).

prayer for meditation

We used this prayer for meditation during the first 30 minutes of youth group last week. Each line of the prayer was put on screen for a few minutes and students/leaders were encouraged to dwell on the words and on God, or ignore the words if needed and sit in silence. It benefitted us immensely, so we wanted to share it with anyone who might also enjoy it.

THANK YOU
your grace
your love
your sacrifice
your faithfulness

I LOVE YOU
your beauty
your mystery
your presence
your heart

FORGIVE ME
my indifference
my pride
my rebellion
my infidelity

Hosea 11:1-9; We worship an emotional God, a risk taker, a lover

In his book SEX GOD, Rob Bell talks about God as a risk-taker. When God gave us freewill and the ability to choose to love him or not love him he was acting like a middle school boy taking a great risk and crossing the dance floor to ask a girl to dance. The boy extended an invitation that COULD be rejected, and so did God. This is freewill and this is God’s great risk, according to Bell. The following part of the book of Hosea points to that side of God’s character (the emotional, risk-taking side):

1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and I called my son out of Egypt.
2 But the more I[a] called to him,
the farther he moved from me,
offering sacrifices to the images of Baal
and burning incense to idols.
3 I myself taught Israel[b] how to walk,
leading him along by the hand.
But he doesn’t know or even care
that it was I who took care of him.
4 I led Israel along
with my ropes of kindness and love.
I lifted the yoke from his neck,
and I myself stooped to feed him.
5 “But since my people refuse to return to me,
they will return to Egypt
and will be forced to serve Assyria.
6 War will swirl through their cities;
their enemies will crash through their gates.
They will destroy them,
trapping them in their own evil plans.
7 For my people are determined to desert me.
They call me the Most High,
but they don’t truly honor me.

8 “Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.

With more than enough history to make God hopeless towards Israel, he says that he can’t give them up. He won’t. He will take compassionate and passionate risk on their behalf and remain among them, in the remnant that he will leave, even if all odds point to sure and certain disappointment. And what is more: not only could God not give us up, but he gave up his only begotten for us.

It seems odd to say that God takes risks (even though odd is exactly the kind of God I signed up to worship), I mean, God knows the future, right? Well, maybe he does, but even if he does, would that really change the enormity of the heartbreak? Let’s say that you, a mere mortal, knew about the future. And let’s say your spouse was cheating on you (because even though you asked her/him to love you you cannot and will not force her/him to love you) but because you know the future you know that 5 or 6 years down the line she/he is going to fall madly in love with you again. Does knowing the future really keep your heart from breaking in the moment? I imagine not. Even if it all ends up fine and dandy, how much that must hurt!

But I heard somewhere that if you’re not willing to get hurt you don’t deserve to be in love. And God is the great Lover, so he knows better than anyone how worthy of risk love is, but being the great Lover, he must also be well acquainted with the exposure to heartbreak that risking at love brings about.

I’m really amazed that God could be so unbelievably above us, and like us at the same time. He gets hurt, he exposes himself to heartbreak, he even bleeds, but he’s also the God who will bring peace on earth and an end to injustice. The mystery of this paradox magnifies him, though, instead of diminishing him. I can get my head around a god who is supreme and nothing more, but I can’t seem to get my little mind around a God who is above all but managed to humble himself. That is not a God that man could conjure up! He is vast and deep and strange.

He agrees above in verse 9 when he says “I am God and not a mere mortal.”

Where the Echoes Stop by Erwin McManus

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Far past where sound has abandoned thought.
Where silence reigns over redundancy.
Where once well said is more than enough.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where words must be born to be heard.
Where speech is a gift and not a curse.
Where there is more of the unique and less of the mundane.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where meaning is rescued from noise…
Where conviction replaces thoughtless repetition…
Where what everyone is saying surrenders to what needs to be said.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where the shouting of the masses falls silent to the whisper of the one…
Where the voice of the majority submits to the voice of reason…
Where “they” do not exist; but “we” do.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where substance overthrows the superficial…
Where courage conquers compliance and conformity…
Where words do not travel farther than the person who speaks them.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.
Where I only say what I believe.
Where I only repeat what changes me.
Where empty words finally rest in peace.

I want to stand where the echoes stop.

“Be still and know that I am God…” -Psalm 46:10a

POETRY AND SONG, I THINK, SHOULD HAVE SOME ELEMENT OF THE UNIVERSAL. THEY SHOULD SAY BETTER AND OUT LOUD WHAT IS ALREADY IN OUR HEARTS. THEY SHOULD RING OLD AND NATURAL. BUT THEY SHOULD ALSO HAVE AN ELEMENT OF THE ORIGINAL AND NEW. THEY SHOULD SAY THE AGE OLD DREAM IN A NEW WAY, BUT IN A NEW WAY THAT SATISFIES OUR ANCIENT SOULS. AND IT’S A BEAUTIFUL THING WHEN THIS HAPPENS. I READ THIS POEM BY MCMANUS THIS MORNING AND IT OPENED MY HEART TO NEW WAYS OF SEEING WHAT I HAVE ALWAYS FELT.

Easy Dulce de Leche

1 can sweetened condenced milk

-Fill a medium size pot with water to where when the can in placed in the pot it only reaches half way up the can
-Bring the water to a boil, and place the can (minus the paper) in the pot
-Over the course of three hours you will keep the water boiling (you will need to continuely replenish the water as it evaporates)
-Voila: let the can cool, open it up, and you have Dulce de Leche

Milanesas de Pollo

4 chicken breast
2 cups bread crumbs
1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 lemon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
salt and pepper

-Prepare the chicken by placing it between peices of plastic wrap or in a plastic bag and pound with a meat tenderizer until 1/2 inch thick
-Season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside
-In three bowls place the following: The flour in one bowl, the eggs (beaten) in one bowl, and the bread crumbs seasoned with salt and pepper in the third bowl, then line up in an assembly line in that same order
-In a deep skillet pour the oil and put on medium heat on the stove (the oil shouldn’t be deep just coating the bottom of the skillet sufficiently)
-Evenly coat the chicken first with the flour, then the eggs, then the seasoned bread crumbs, and once the oil in hot, place the chicken in the skillet and cook 4 minutes on each side
-Serve with a green salad, ensalada rusa (potato salad a la argentina), or mashed potatoes. Slice the lemon into wedges and squeeze over the milanesas. Serves 4 people

Prayer before birth by Louis MacNeice

I am not yet born; O hear me.
Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the
club-footed ghoul come near me.

I am not yet born, console me.
I fear that the human race may with tall walls wall me,
with strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure me,
on black racks rack me, in blood-baths roll me.

I am not yet born; provide me
With water to dandle me, grass to grow for me, trees to talk
to me, sky to sing to me, birds and a white light
in the back of my mind to guide me.

I am not yet born; forgive me
For the sins that in me the world shall commit, my words
when they speak to me, my thoughts when they think me,
my treason engendered by traitors beyond me,
my life when they murder by means of my
hands, my death when they live me.

I am not yet born; rehearse me
In the parts I must play and the cues I must take when
old men lecture me, bureaucrats hector me, mountains
frown at me, lovers laugh at me, the white
waves call me to folly and the desert calls
me to doom and the beggar refuses
my gift and my children curse me.

I am not yet born; O hear me,
Let not the man who is beast or who thinks he is God
come near me.

I am not yet born; O fill me
With strength against those who would freeze my
humanity, would dragoon me into a lethal automaton,
would make me a cog in a machine, a thing with
one face, a thing, and against all those
who would dissipate my entirety, would
blow me like thistledown hither and
thither or hither and thither
like water held in the
hands would spill me.

Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me.
Otherwise kill me.

I LOVE THIS POEM BY LOUIS MACNEICE! IT MAKES YOU THINK: IF ONLY WE COULD KNOW IN ADVANCE ALL THE THINGS TO AVOID BEFORE WE GET A CHANCE TO SCREW UP THIS ONE LIFE WE ALL GET. BUT REALLY, IT WASN’T MEANT TO BE LIKE THAT, AND THIS POEM REVEALS THAT. YEAH, IF ONLY WE KNEW EVERYTHING AHEAD OF TIME WE WOULD NEVER MAKE MISTAKES, BUT WE DON’T KNOW AND WE DO MAKE MISTAKES. SO WHAT NOW? EMBRACE THE TENSION OF A LIFE WITH SOME REGRETS THAT IS STILL WORTH LIVING.

The Life

At bible study the other night, while we were praying, I was trying to express gratitude towards God. My heart felt full of it. I was trying so hard to think of all the “stuff” I could be thankful for, but stuff wasn’t really what came to mind. It’s not the stuff that was making me thankful. Really, it was this (and this really inspired me): God hasn’t just given us good “stuff”, he’s given us a new and bright way of seeing and experiencing EVERYTHING (all the good “stuff” included, but also ordinary things, and sometimes, even painful things). There is profound peace and a sense of fullness in my heart and mind about life in general and being human. It’s so unspeakable and mysterious, really, that I’m having a hard time saying exactly what it is. All I can say with clarity is that it’s not the “stuff”, it’s the life.

Empanadas Argentinas

For the dough:
1 Bag All-purpose flour
2 cups of melted lard
3 cups of a water
2 tablespoons of salt

-Warm the water and mix with the salt
-Put all but 5 cups of the flour in a stand mixer, add the lard, and 1 1/2 cups of the water/salt mixture
-Mix thoroughly on a slow speed
-Slowly add 2 more cups of flour and the rest of the water/salt mixture
-Once everything is mixed together, divide the dough into three parts, make into a round ball, wrap in plastic, and place in the frig for at least 20 minutes (each round should make a dozen empanada shells)
-When the dough has set in the frig for 20 minutes, remove and roll untill very thin (slightly thinner than pie crusts, using the remainder of the flour to keep it from sticking to your rolling pin and counter top)
-Then, using a large bowl or cookie cutter, cut into 5 in. diameter circles. Store between wax paper in the freezer for up to three months, or in the frig for two weeks, or use immediatly. Makes 3 dozen empanada shells

For the filling: Humitas (cream corn empanadas)
2 cans of cream corn
1 cup of flour
2 tablespoons of corn starch
1/2 cup of water
3/4 cup of heavy cream
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/2 red pepper, diced and sauteed
1/2 yellow onion, diced and sauteed
1 cup of shredded cheese
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons minced garlic

-Mix the water with the corn starch in a small cup
-Place the cream and flour in a sauce pan over medium heat, mixing thoroughly
-Add the water/corn starch mixture, the dijon, the seasonings, and remove from heat
-Add the cheese, the corn and the other veggies and now you are ready to fill the empanada shells

For the filling: de Pollo (chicken empanadas)
Three shredded chicken breasts
1/2 cup chopped green olives
1/2 red pepper, diced and sauteed
1/2 yellow onion, diced and sauteed
1/2 cup plain tomato sauce
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon paprika

-Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and you are ready to fill the empanada shells

For filling empanadas:
1/4 cup of water
2 eggs
1 recipe of empanada filling (humita or pollo are found above)
1 recipe of empanada shells (recipe found above)

-Beat the eggs with the water in a small cup or bowl
-Using a brush, run some of the mixture around the edge of the empanada shells (this really helps it to stick together so the filling doesn’t leak our while the empanadas are in the oven)
-Spoon about two medium spoonfuls into the middle of the shells, fold over and pinch the edges together, making sure they are sealed
-Then, fold little peices over each other (overlapping), all the way around the now moon shaped empanada. Place in a 350 degree oven, and let cook for 15-20 minutes, or untill brown on top.

THESE RECIPES ARE THE RESULT OF MEMORY (HOW I REMEMBER THESE EMPANADAS TASTING IN ARGENTINA AND SEEING PEOPLE MAKE THEM), AND WE REALLY ENJOYED THEM. TO ME, THEY TASTED VERY AUTHENTIC. I HOPE YOU CAN ENJOY THEM AS WELL.