Being the Church

Beloved:

            Another Holy Season is in the books.  Jesus ascends to heaven, and we settle down to be the day-in, day-out church.  A whole week after and I still have more adrenaline than interest in the work to be caught up.  I wonder if the ancients had a practice for this strange transition, from urgent  to eternity, such contrary states of mind.


            As we resume our more ordinary calendar of worship, prayer, and service, I am grateful for another year together.  I’ll soon start preaching through Romans, if you want to read ahead.  In the next few weeks we will have a wedding shower and a baby shower, and get Vacation Bible School ready to go.  Another school year will wind up, and town will quiet down.  Only God knows what the future holds for us, but I trust our life together will take the shape of kindness, justice and humility.   

~ peace & prayers,
pastor annette

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This recipe came from a Nigerian chef at Tasty who described it as fast food ~ what his mom cooked when she didn’t feel like cooking.  Ben and I have made it twice in two weeks.  Chicken would work as well as beef.  Fried plantains are so good!


Nigerian Beef Stew
Ingredients for 6 servings

• 5 plum tomatoes, chopped, divided (or 2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes)
  
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
  
• ½ red onion, chopped
  
• ½ red onion, sliced
  
• 2 habanero peppers, chopped
  
• 6 cloves garlic
  
• 12 oz. tomato paste
  
• 1 tablespoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon salt, divided
  
• 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper, divided
  
• ½ cup water
  
• 3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
  
• 1 ½ lb. flank steak, cut into strips
  
• 1 teaspoon fresh rosemary
  
• 1 teaspoon paprika
  
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
  
• 2 cubes beef bouillon (We love this Better Than Bouillon paste from Kroger.)  
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• white rice, cooked, for serving
  
• fried plantain, for serving
  
• scallion, for serving
  
• fresh parsley, for serving
  

Preparation

1. In a food processor or blender, combine 4 chopped plum tomatoes, red bell peppers, chopped red onion, habanero peppers, garlic cloves, tomato paste, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, and water.  Puree until smooth.
   
2. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
   
3. Add the remaining tomato, sliced onion, remaining salt, and remaining pepper.  Sauté until fragrant.
   
4. Add steak, rosemary, paprika, curry powder, and bouillon cubes.  Cook until the steak is golden brown and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
   
5. Add the blended tomato and pepper mixture and the bay leaf.
   
6. Bring to a boil over high heat.  Cover and simmer at low heat for 20 minutes, until the stew has thickened.
   
7. Fish out the bay leaf, remove stew from heat and let sit 10 minutes.
   
8. Serve with white rice and fried plantains.  Garnish with scallions and parsley, if desired.
   

For Fried Plantains - get two of the ripest plantains and slice into ¼-in. slices.  Heat about 2 inches vegetable oil in heavy pan and fry slices a few at a time, turning them a couple of times.  They fry fast.  Drain on cooling rack and sprinkle with sea salt.