God’s call. To cooking?

When God called Ira Krizo distinctly and undeniably to ministry, “there was no use waiting any longer,” he says.

So he immediately went to New York… to culinary school.

Yes, cooking.

Ira wasn’t called to the pastorate. He wasn’t called to the foreign field as a missionary. He wasn’t called into worship.

He was called to be a chef — a Christian chef. After all, God’s calling and gifting is to myriad areas of life, not just stereotypical “ministry.”

Today, Ira is the president of Christian Chefs International, a network of believers who have almost as much gusto for gourmet cooking as the Gospel.

With 14 chapters active or pending in America and abroad, the Cannon Beach, Oregon-based non profit holds annual conferences and boasts a 1-year, non-denominational culinary school where they don’t throw knives at the students.

“In many secular kitchens I’ve worked in, I’ve seen the chef yelling and screaming all day long at people,” writes Ira in a devotional on CCI’s website. “I’ve seen chefs throw things; once even knives. Is that the best way?”

Ira recommends humbly confronting head chefs who abuse their authority. He suggests chefs use the Biblical model: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.” Matthew 18:15-18 (NKJV)

Even reality TV programs depict the outbursts of rage that occur under pressure when chefs are striving to meet the demands of their patrons.

Under the title “Christians in the Kitchen,” the CCI website offers devotions for cooks that include ethics in the kitchen, being content (restaurants typically experience a high turnover of staff) and being “prayed up” for the pressures of the job. One encourages disciples to be “sourdough Christians,” with analogies per ingredient. Read more about God’s calling to cooking.

My fav Chinese broccoli

Since marrying a Chinese girl, I have come to know and love many Chinese dishes, but none compares to the Chinese broccoli drizzled in hoisin or oyster sauce. There’s nothing better to get your dark greens packed with vitamins and roughage so important for cancer-free colon. Here’s a recipe from Free Recipe Network.

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch Gai Lan (Chinese broccoli), trimmed
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil.
2. Add the Chinese broccoli and cook uncovered until just tender, about 4 minutes, or steam the Chinese broccoli in a bamboo steamer for 3 minutes.
3. Drain and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, whisk the sugar, cornstarch, soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, hoisin sauce, ginger, and garlic together in a small saucepan over medium heat until thickened and no longer cloudy, 5 to 7 minutes.
5. Toss the broccoli in the sauce and serve.

Steaming and submersion cooking — Khushbu Singhal

I’ve launched into bamboo steamer business. I’m into healthy food and exercise, so this is perfect for me. Here are observations of an expert: Moist heat techniques – steaming, cooking en papillote, shallow poaching, deep poaching and simmering are liquid and or water vapor based cooking. Steaming Cooking is done by water vapor in a closed vessel. Steamed foods don’t lose much of their color. This method doesn’t impart their own flavor as the frying or roasting does. So […]

via Steaming and submersion cooking — Khushbu Singhal