The best way to break a fast

Cameron Madden
MSMU Class of 2028

(5/25) About two years ago, I personally got really into cooking; I was fascinated by just anything I could make in the kitchen. I think this came about due to being a picky eater in my childhood, but lucky for me I later on developed actual taste and have been open to enjoying a wider variety of foods. I had realized also that my diet was not the best, and heavily relied upon chicken, beef and other meats as the main source of reason to eat a meal. That is to say, diners would be the same constantly, and in turn, the real highlight of the meal was the meat associated with it.

I wanted to find a way to expand my palate completely, at least for a time, so that I may appreciate the different kinds of foods available and see what I could be influenced to make. It just so happens that as I was thinking about this, my good friend was participating in the Muslim tradition of Ramadan. To keep it short, Ramadan is a tradition of fasting for about a month’s time; you cannot drink or eat anything until the sun sets. So, of course, for my friend it was a time where he would vent about how hard not being able to drink or eat anything really was, and in my efforts to be a kind and supportive friend, I knew that I could not let this be; I couldn’t just let my friend go on about how much he was suffering and feel alone during the process! I realized that there was my own sort of Christian version of Ramadan: lent. While I am not Catholic, I still find lent to be a great and interesting practice! The timing was off though, and when I determined that I wanted to do a 40 day fast, lent was halfway through. That being said, I chose to wait until after Easter. I soon realized just how much different my diet would become, especially because I chose to swear off meat for the 40 days and only eat one meal a day.

It was honestly an incredibly hard experience. I’ve never had anything remotely close to this kind of dedication, and my choice for a lack of meat really threw off the meals that I could have had. It didn’t help that throughout this process, I got a suspiciously increasing amount of food advertisements consisting of a new burger at an establishment, or wings and the like. Even outside of certain establishment meal advertisements, I kept getting videos of personal and homemade recipes, all consisting of good-looking food, which sounds like a great option, yet, of course, they’re all made with meat.

I found however, a sort of motivation to finish this fast by finding something that I dreamt of making the first day I could eat normally again: a recipe for Alfredo Garlic Bread Chicken. Instead of letting it become a temptation, I found a way to turn it into motivation!

According to the video recipe, the meal had to be prepared by cutting up some chicken breasts, and seasoning them with varying amounts of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and garlic and herb seasonings, mixed with oil of course. You cook them on a cast iron skillet with oil for five minutes on each side.

For the Alfredo sauce, it is made using butter, whipping cream, and the same seasonings listed before except without paprika. Once mixed, it should be left in a pot to simmer while throwing in sprinkles of parmesan cheese periodically.

Next, take a couple of large baguettes and split them down the middle to spread garlic butter on top of them. You then add a bit of the Alfredo sauce on it and a layer of cheese including: mozzarella, smoked gouda, and cheddar, followed by the chicken slices. Throw more alfredo sauce on top, some more cheese, and a pinch of parsley on top. Cook this in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. What you are left with is a fresh slice of garlic bread coated in cheeses and chicken, with alfredo sauce not only already a part of the dish, but with the extra that is left, can be dipped into the sauce further, but I suppose that is the preference of the eater!

We served this meal with a side of brussel sprouts as well, which is something me and my father enjoy despite the negative stigmas surrounding brussel sprouts! In all my life, I have not enjoyed a meal as much as that. Sure, I have been to fancy restaurants and had some of the most professionally prepared food I might ever taste, but I think the allure of cooking something (near) completely on my own, while also having done so with such a motivation to make it, made the whole experience much better than anything else I’ve ever had. Perhaps it was also the faces of my family who ate with me and enjoyed it just as much as I did.

I have not cooked the same meal again, and I honestly don’t know of a time when I will. The ability to cook things is slightly limited due to my dorm life, and once I am home for summer, I will presume my time not being able to cook would lead to a lull as to wanting to cook something. I hope that eventually I will find the will to cook something unique, and hopefully it will have some kind of significance, just as the chicken alfredo bread had when I made it some time ago. Perhaps something using a different form of protein; maybe I can make a whole platter or preparation of tacos for people to eat. Now that sounds like a fun endeavor!

If I were to cook the chicken alfredo bread again, which trust me I want to, I would want to a wider variety of different cheeses to see how that flavor impacts it. I would also probably add another garlic bread on top of the food, to make it a sandwich, and then I could possibly fit it with either lettuce and tomatoes, or something more unique, like asparagus! Food is technically an art, and one I can’t wait to try my hand at again!