A Simple French Feast for Saint Bernadette

Today is the first of two Feast Days dedicated to Saint Bernadette. Today’s feast is recognized in France, her native country, as the day to celebrate Saint Bernadette. The Universal Church honors her on April 16, the day she went to heaven.

In France, this day is celebrated because it is the day Our Blessed Mother promised Bernadette eternal happiness. It may have been this promise that gave Bernadette the ability to endure a life filled with suffering. There is a certain sense of confusion among some as to why the Lord, through Bernadette, gave healing waters at Lourdes, but that those same waters were not meant for her. It takes a different kind of faith to recognize that God works wonders and miracles through suffering. We cannot always understand why bad things happen to good people or why there is such suffering and sadness in the world. All we can do it to imitate Saint Bernadette. She believed fully in the promise of eternal life, a life free from suffering awaited her. She was dedicated to Mary, and loved her Son above all else. So Bernadette was content to wait until her appointed time.

I feel blessed in many way to have grown up when I did. Movies such as the 1943 film The Song of Bernadette helped to strengthen my faith as well as to make me feel somehow special to be Catholic. There were the fictional Bing Crosby movies and those featuring my favorite Mother Superior, Rosalind Russell. Images of the first family returning from mass, with the first lady properly veiled were commonplace in the media. These were images I could identify with. To a child, it were as though we were all connected through our common bonds of faith and traditions. But then things changed.

The pendulum is swinging back to center base as more faith-based forms of entertainment are becoming popular again. Family values are not such a terrible thing to have. Faith is not something that needs to be hidden in a closet or checked at the door. I’ve never really understood how separation of church and state was suppose to work anyway. Faith, true faith, it not an article of clothing that can be removed. It’s not the collar or the cross. If it is, that’s not real faith at all. And that’s my lecture for the day. Let me climb down from my soapbox and head into the kitchen.

Oh, and before I forget, I’ve actually had people ask me what kind of chicken is a Spatchcocked Chicken. For the record, that’s not a breed of chicken, but the way the bird is cut.

Spatchcocked Mayonnaise Roasted Chicken
1 (4 lb) Roasting Chicken
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
2 Garlic Cloves, grated
1 Lemon, zested
1 cup Mayonnaise
1 tablespoon Dijon Mustard
2 teaspoons Smoked Paprika
2 tablespoons Chives, finely chopped

Heat oven to 450-degrees.

Remove tail from the chicken. Remove backbone to Spatchcock the bird. Place the chicken, breast-side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Pat dry with paper towels. Season all over with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside for 30-minutes at room temperature.

Peel garlic, grate into a small bowl. Zest lemon over the grated garlic. Stir mayonnaise and mustard into the mixture. Measure out 1/2-cup of the mayonnaise mixture, reserve the rest for later. With the half-cup of mayonnaise mixture, rub the chicken all over. Sprinkle with paprika.

Place Spatchcocked chicken into the heated oven to roast for 35 minutes or so, until cooked through. Let bird rest for 10 minutes, tended, before serving.

Meanwhile, cut the zested lemon in half and juice half a lemon over the reserved mayonnaise mixture. Finely snip chives, add to the mayonnaise. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

When ready, place chicken on a serving platter. Carve as into serving pieces. Serve with mayonnaise on the side to use as desired.

Fondant Roasted Potatoes
3 large Russet Potatoes
2 tablespoon Grapeseed Oil or other high-heat oil
Salt to taste
Black Pepper to taste
3 tablespoons Butter
1 bunch Thyme Sprigs
1/2 cup Chicken Stock, if needed

Heat oven to 425-degrees.

Cut ends from the russet potatoes. Stand potatoes on ends, peel from top to bottom with a sharp knife to transform each potato into a uniformed cylinder shape. Cut each cylinder crosswise into 1-inch thick rounds.

Place potatoes into a bowl of ice water for about 5 minutes to dray out some of the starch from the outside.

Heat oil in a heavy oven-proof skillet over high heat until it shimmers slightly.

Pat potatoes dry with paper towels. Place potato cylinders into the hot oil. Reduce heat to medium-high, pan fry potatoes until well-browned, about 5 minutes or so. Rotate potatoes as necessary around in the pan for even browning. Season with salt and pepper.

While the potatoes fry, tie thyme into a bundle to create a brush, set aside.

Flip potatoes and repeat on the other ends. As the potatoes cook, use a paper towel held with tongs to carefully blot out the oil from the skillet. Add butter and thyme bundle to the skillet.

Once the butter has melted, use thyme sprig brush to brush the butter over the tops of the potatoes. Season with more salt and pepper.

Transfer the skillet to the heated oven and roast until potatoes are tender and creamy inside, about 30 minutes. If potatoes aren’t tender after 30 minutes of roasting, add about a half-cup stock to the skillet to create steam, cook an additional 10 minutes.

Place potatoes on a serving platter. Spoon the thyme-scented butter from the skillet over the potatoes. Potatoes can be enjoyed as is, with the mayonnaise mixture, additional butter or sour cream.

Mixed Greens with Small Tomatoes
8 oz Mixed Spring Greens
1 cup Grape Tomatoes
Fresh Black Pepper to taste
Salad Dressing of choice
Parmesan Cheese as desired

In a chilled salad bowl, place torn spring greens. Cut tomatoes in half, sprinkle over greens. Season with fresh black pepper. Toss to blend.

Serve with dressing of choice and grated Parmesan Cheese tableside.

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Your ways, O Lord, are love and truth to those who keep Your covenant