When priests love to cook, and even hold cooking classes for parishioners, you can bet they not only understand recipes, but they also have a devoted following. That characterizes Father Joseph Yokum at his former pastoral assignment, the Scioto Catholic Community in Portsmouth, Ohio. He and his Director of Sacred Music, Jordan Werring, started the program during the pandemic and called it “Covid Cooking with Father Joe and Jordan.” 

The first event, he said, was to be a fundraiser to help their local Catholic Social Services Center and in one hour they had received pledges for more than $37,000 for food for the food pantry. But, said Father Yokum, they also worked as a way to communicate with the parish during the COVID-19 closures. They selected recipes from parishioners and Jordan, and his family favorites as well as from the cookbook, Cooking with the Saints. “We would also do bakeoffs and find our own cookie recipes and have the parishioners judge them,” he said.

Born and raised in London, Ohio, Father Yokum grew up in a small farming community and was the oldest of five children. He said that his mother was a devout Catholic and established a very Catholic home environment. His father, whom he baptized Catholic once he himself became a priest, is still very religious and attends Mass regularly.

Father Yokum noted that becoming a priest was in his heart and mind as early as the second grade. For the first years of his life, he was adopted by his aunt and uncle.

“It was then,” he said, “my teacher at St. Patrick's School, Sister Mary Pat, and pastor, Father Romano Ciotola, really influenced my life. And I knew I wanted to be a priest so I could give back to my family the way and the love I had gotten.”

He said it took him a long time to make that decision, but fate played a role: the girl he was dating in college was Catholic and they often went to Mass together.

“The Lord spoke to me,” he said, “saying ‘I am still calling you to be a priest.’ This was right at Mass. I was torn on the inside about the decision, but on my first day in seminary (Mount St. Mary in Emmitsburg, Maryland) I knew I was in the right place.”

His cooking passion started about the same time he wanted to become a priest. He began cooking when he was a youngster by watching his grandmother cook, and as an Eagle Scout, he used to cook over a campfire. His father, who taught himself to cook by watching shows on PBS, also prompted his son to take up the spatula.

Some of his favorite recipes? The potato soup from the Frugal Gourmet cookbook (see below) and his grandmother’s oatmeal raisin cookies. “We all get them for Christmas,” he said. “In my first parish, I used to go home to eat lunch and then back to the parish. In my new assignment, I am 20 minutes from my parents and close to all family members. I know how blessed I am.”

When he is the chef, he enjoys cooking wild game. “I am a hunter, and I cook things that I have hunted and use them for a meal, like a venison tenderloin cooked in tarragon cream sauce,” he said. “It is yummy and the best way to do venison because the tarragon cream takes away some of the gaminess.”

“I am on an Italian meatball kick,” he added, “and I am using different meats and my favorite recipe was the Florentine one, and I am trying to replicate the sauce and the meatballs, using ground lamb and pork. ... I still have not perfected the Florentine sauce.”

Now the pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Grove City, Ohio, Father Yokum is considering a way to teach the faith through food, and his parishioners are very excited about that. “We are putting together a format,” he said, “as a new way to reach parishioners.”

He added, “My dogs, Finbar and Kolbe, love the parish as well.”

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Potato Soup with Rivels

One of the Yokum Family’s Favorite Recipes

This is a potato-dumpling soup, and it sounds like a double batch of starch. It is just that. The rivels, which mean "lumps," give the soup a thick richness that is very filling. This is a very healing dish on a cold winter day. Father Joe said home cooks can make their own chicken stock, if desired. He added, “I love lots of pepper in this dish.” Note: from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks American, and one of the Yokum’s family favorite recipes.

• 1 quart canned chicken broth
• 4 large potatoes, diced but not peeled
• 1 tablespoon or more butter
• 1 quart(s) whole milk, or more as needed
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, or more as needed
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped, for garnish
• Chopped parsley for garnish
   

Directions:

Bring the chicken stock to a boil in a 4-quart stockpot. Add the diced potatoes and cook until tender. Add the butter, milk and celery leaves. Bring to a simmer and add salt and pepper to
taste. 

In a small bowl stir the beaten egg into the flour. Stir with a fork until you have a grainy
mixture. Sprinkle small amounts at a time into the soup, stirring all the while with a wooden fork. Cook the rivels in the soup for 15 minutes. Be careful with these rivels, as they will lump up. Serve with the chopped egg and parsley garnish.