St Francis Xavier - December 3

In honor of St. Francis Xavier, another of the Basque saints, I'm including another traditional Basque chicken recipe. I really would like to add one of the seafood or lamb dishes at some point but am sticking with meats people are more likely to have on hand.

Polla a la Vasca (Basque Chicken with Pimiento)

Sauce
1/4 olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 8 oz. can tomato sauce
1/2 c. little strips of ham
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. chicken broth or white wine
1 4 oz. jar pimientos, chopped (could use red peppers, sauteed - in a pinch)
1/4 c, finely chopped parsley

Heat oil slightly. Add onion and garlic. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, salt, and chicken broth or wine. Stir well and cover. Simmer sauce for about 20 minutes. Add pimiento, ham, and parsley. Keep warm and pour sauce over chicken after it has been browned.

Chicken
3 fryer, cut up
1 glove garlic, bruised
1/4 olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Heat oil and garlic in large frying pan or dutch oven until garlic becomes golden. Discard garlic and fry chicken until it is light golden brown. Add sauce and continue cooking until tender.

Since St. Francis is the patron of foriegn missions and one of the Church's most illustrious missionaries having traveled to and labored in western India, the island of Ceylon, Malacca, Molucca Islands, Island of Mindanao (Philippines), and Japan, another option for dinner on this feast day would be tempura. Tempura is generally regarded as having been introduced to the Japanese culture by the missionaries from the Iberian penninsula (Portuguese most likely) - and being as St. Francis was the most famous missionary to the orient this would be fitting.