Bread, Wine, Soup

Today is Maundy Thursday.  In the church calendar, we commemorate the Last Supper and Jesus's washing of the disciple's feet.  If you have a phenomenal church community who is very liturgically inclined, you may have a great Maundy Thursday service.  Foot washing, a somber, simple meal of bread, wine and perhaps soup, followed by the stripping of the altar in preparation for the rememberance of Good Friday tomorrow. 

Or, you make do at home - bread, wine and soup, the reading of the gospel sections about the Last Supper, and talking about the significance of foot washing and the various happenings the night before the crucifixion.  I think we'll probably wash feet one day -  what a great picture for our kids - but right now they're just too young to be serious while having their feet in a basin of water.  And that's okay.  But you cannot save all of the somber stuff until they're older.  So, we'll be quiet, have bread and soup and try to give them a picture to make the resurrection celebration in just three days all that more important.

(Of course, we are blessed that we know already that He rose from the dead.  It takes the edge off of the mourning and grief, and by golly, it should.  We don't wail and beat our breasts for our Savior has been crucified.  But, we do humbly remember.  It's a fine line - but worth, like most great things in life - making the effort to strive for the balance.)

There is this soup.  We call it Maundy Thursday soup. And, actually, so do the people who came up with it - the Saints at the Chapel of the Cross in Madison, MS.  I've messed with it a bit.  Shocker, I know.  Of course we have no idea what, if anything, Jesus and the Disciples had at supper with their bread and wine.  It was most likely nothing or something very simple.  So, we try to echo that a bit.

Maundy Thursday Soup, one of my favorites:

1/3 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic, whole
1 T minced, fresh rosemary
2 tomatoes, moisture squeezed out, diced
3-4 cups cooked or canned chick peas (2 cans if canned) 
1/4 cup minced, fresh parsley
4 cups chicken broth

Fresh grated Parmesan or Asiago

Heat olive oil over medium low heat until warmed through.  Throw in garlic, still whole.  Brown the cloves, but be very careful not to burn!
Remove garlic, set aside.
Add rosemary, tomatoes.  Stir and simmer until most of the liquid has been evaporated.  Stir in garbanzos.  Add parsley and broth.
Cook over medium heat 30-45 minutes.

Remove and puree and return some of the beans
OR
Immersion blend the whole garlicky lot.

Serve with cheese and parsley on top.  Along side bread and some of the sauteed garlic.