What did Jesus have for dinner? What’s the surprise secret ingredient for the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich? What happens to three parish women when they try a spicy Indian curry? And what does Monsignor Edward Sacks look like in lederhosen?
The answers to these questions and more can be found on “Cooks with Collars,” this year’s collection of cooking videos produced by priests across the Diocese of Allentown.
There’s everything from snacks to serious eats, and breakfast to dessert. It all comes to you from parish kitchens and festivals, and it’s all for a good cause – to raise money for each parish.
Appetizers and snacks include hot butter soft pretzels made by Father Richard James at Most Blessed Sacrament, Bally; one-pan taco dip prepared by Father Michael Mullins at Sacred Heart, Palmerton; and Vietnamese pizza by Father Dominic Pham at St. Joseph, Sheppton.
Main dishes include butter sage pasta by Father Giuseppe Esposito at St. Anne, Bethlehem, assisted by Fathers Jerome Tauber and Anh Do Mai; pork schnitzel in hunter sauce by Father Richard Brensinger at St. Francis of Assisi, Allentown; hearty slow cooker beef stew by Father George Kochuparambil (Father Johnson) at Most Blessed Trinity, Tremont; roast pork by Father Andy Gehringer at Holy Infancy, Bethlehem; a Ghanaian yam dish by Father Thomas Osei Gyau at St. Joseph, Summit Hill; and Tacos de Calle by Father Juan Rodriguez at St. Margaret, Reading.
There are breakfast dishes – Father Brendon Laroche, St. Ursula, Fountain Hill, makes breakfast casserole with homemade turkey sausage; Father Adam Sedar, Immaculate Conception BVM, Douglassville, makes French toast – and desserts galore, including the whiskey cake whipped up by Monsignor Anthony Mongiello at St. Rocco, Martins Creek; and the healthy orange cake made in a blender, peels and all, by Father Mark Searles at Our Lady of Mercy, Easton.
You can find out how to make homemade sauerkraut (Monsignor David James, St. Peter, Coplay); and Pennsylvania Dutch potato filling (Father Thomas Bortz, St. Ignatius Loyola, Sinking Spring); and you can learn a time-tested family recipe for potato salad (Monsignor William Baver, SS. Simon and Jude, Bethlehem).
For a healthy serving of humor, watch the videos made by Father John Maria, St. Mary, Kutztown (Italian wedding soup); Fathers John Gibbons and David Kozak, Sacred Heart, Allentown (potato pancakes); Father Joseph Kweder, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Whitehall (quiche with eggs purloined from Monsignor Victor Finelli’s chicken coop); and Father Patrick Lamb, Queenship of Mary, Northampton (a cake in the shape of … a lamb).
And finally, if you are wondering how to prepare and host a chicken barbecue for a crowd (Father Stan Moczydlowski, St. Benedict, Mohnton) or whip up a multi-course sit-down meal for 10 (Father Allen Hoffa, Holy Guardian Angels, Reading), there are videos for that too.
“Everyone loves food, and there’s something very human about gathering in the kitchen and sharing a meal,” said Bishop Alfred Schlert. “’Cooks with Collars' gives people a chance to see our priests in a different way – cooking, laughing, and sharing a little bit of who they are. And it has a wonderful purpose: The money raised supports important ministries in our parishes.
“I hope people will enjoy the videos, try some of the recipes, get to know our priests a little better, and join us in supporting the people and ministries we are called to serve.”
(For answers to the questions posed at the beginning of this article, watch these videos: Monsignor Donald Cieniewicz and Father Tyler Loch at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena, Allentown; Father Jeffrey Tomczyk at St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Easton; Father Joji Adagatla at Holy Family, Minersville; and the four-priest potato extravaganza of Fathers Martin Kern and Alex Brown, and Monsignors Edward Coyle and Edward Sacks at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Bethlehem.)
To watch the videos and vote for your favorite priest or parish by making a donation, go to www.CooksWithCollars.com. To find the priest or parish you are looking for, use the search bar or the list on the Leaderboard.
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