Today is St. Martha's Day

As I was skimming through my Facebook page, I chanced upon this post on my wall: July 29 - Today is the Feast of Saint Martha, sister of Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, patron of cooks.  And butlers, dietitians, domestic servants, homemakers, hotel-keepers, housemaids, housewives, innkeepers, laundry workers, maids, manservants, servants, servers, single lay women (this is for another story; meanwhile, ignore this), travelers...  And I was, "Wow! I didn't know the entire hotel and restaurant, and culinary industries had a patron saint!  Now, what could I pray and ask her intercession for?"

Should I ask for guidance whenever I prepare a dish?  Should I fervently implore her aid to provide a substitute for a missing ingredient?  Do I pray for the sauce to thicken properly, or the for the bread to rise perfectly?

I did a little research on St. Martha so I could get to know her better and here's what I found out:

1. Martha, like any typical Middle Eastern woman of those days, greatly believed in the importance of hospitality.
2. She is depicted as the more aggressive sister, as illustrated in the resurrection of her brother Lazarus.  She ran out to meet Jesus when she heard He was coming, while Mary waited to be summoned.
3. She is often associated with serving: first when Jesus visited their home and right away Martha gets busy to prepare a meal for the guests while Mary sits by Jesus' feet to listen to His teachings; and second, when Jesus was once again a guest at their home and she is described by only two words, "Martha served."
4. Legend has it that Martha also tamed the monster Tarasque, a beast with a lion's head and tail like a serpent's, which had constantly brought terror to the people.  More from wikipedia and Catholic Online.

She was quite a woman, don't you agree?  And so, in honor of St. Martha, patroness of all those things listed above, I shall share with you a couple of recipes which have become my trademark "make-other-people-happy" food.  I hope they bring you (and your tummies) happiness too.  And when I die, I'd like people to remember me by the same two words scripture used to describe St. Martha: She served.

Basic French Toast

• 1 to 2 tbsp butter
• 2 eggs
• sweetened condensed milk
• stale or leftover bread (Do not use moldy bread!  You can also use fresh bread if you want.)

First, melt butter in a heavy frying pan over low fire.  Swirl the butter around to cover the entire surface of the pan and then transfer in a small bowl.  Do not turn off heat.  Do not let smoke come from the pan.  Just maintain a nice temperature to cook the toast in.

Beat the eggs in a separate bowl.  Add condensed milk, stirring constantly until you get the consistency of maple syrup.  Add the melted butter and stir some more.

Dip both sides of the bread into the egg-milk mixture until slightly soaked but not soggy.

Let excess egg-milk mixture drip from the bread and grill in the hot pan.  Brown one side and turn to brown the other side.

Serve warm.  Perfect with coffee or tea.

Tuna Salpicao

• 100 gm garlic, each clove peeled and cut crosswise into 4 or 5 (like making cross-sections of the garlic clove)
• 1 cup cooking oil cooking oil
• 1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup liquid seasoning
• 500 gm tuna cubes
• water
• sesame oil

Heat cooking oil in a thick pan over medium fire and toast the garlic cloves until brown but not burnt.  Set aside.

Marinate the tuna in the worcestershire sauce-liquid seasoning mixture for about 3 hours.  Overnight is good too.

Put the marinated tuna cubes in a saucepan and add just enough water to cook the fish (about 1/2 cup).  Add the toasted garlic.  Let fish boil in the marinate until done (+/- 20 minutes).

Add a dash of sesame oil just before serving.