Saints, Feast, Family
- Traditions passed down with Cooking, Crafting, & Caring -
May 1
The month of Mary: A Marian Month
Saint of the day:
Prophet Jeremiah
Prophet Jeremiah Story
Jeremiah was born 650 years before Christ in the village of Anathoth near Jerusalem. He began to prophesy at the age of fifteen, during the reign of King Josiah. He preached repentance to the king and noblemen, false prophets and priests. During the reign of King Josiah, Jeremiah barely escaped death at the murderous hands of the enraged nobles. Concerning King Jehoiakim, he prophesied that the king’s burial would be like the burial of an ass, that is, his dead body would be cast outside Jerusalem and dragged along the ground and without benefit of burial. Because of this, Jeremiah was cast into prison. Not being able to write in prison, he sent for Baruch, who stood near a small window of the prison while Jeremiah dictated to him. When this prophecy was read to King Jehoiakim, the enraged king seized the paper and threw it into the fire. Divine providence saved Jeremiah from prison, and the words of the prophet concerning Jehoiakim were fulfilled. Concerning King Jeconiah (son of Jehoiakim), Jeremiah prophesied that he and his entire family would be carried off to Babylon and that he would die there. All of this came about shortly. Under King Zedekiah, Jeremiah placed a yoke around his own neck and walked through Jerusalem, prophesying the fall of Jerusalem and bondage under the yoke of the Babylonians. Jeremiah wrote to the Hebrew captives in Babylon, telling them not to hope for a speedy return to Jerusalem, for they would remain in Babylon for seventy years, which came to pass. Near Jerusalem in the Valley of Tophet, where the Jews sacrificed children to the idols, Jeremiah took a potter’s clay vessel in his hands and shattered it before the people, prophesying the imminent routing of the Jewish Kingdom. The Babylonians shortly captured Jerusalem, slew King Zedekiah, plundered and destroyed the city, and beheaded a great number of Jews in the Valley of Tophet on the same spot where children had been sacrificed to idols and where the Prophet Jeremiah had smashed the potter’s vessel. Jeremiah, with the Levites, removed the Ark of the Covenant from the Temple to Mount Nebo, where Moses had died. There he hid the Ark in a cave. However, he hid the fire from the Temple in a deep well. Jeremiah was forced by some Jews to accompany them to Egypt, where he lived for four years and was then stoned to death by his countrymen. To the Egyptians, Jeremiah prophesied the destruction of their idols and the arrival of the Virgin and Christ-child in Egypt. There is a tradition that states that Alexander the Great visited the tomb of the Prophet Jeremiah. By Alexander’s order, the body of Jeremiah was translated and buried in Alexandria.
https://www.gometropolis.org/orthodox-faith/feast-days/holy-prophet-jeremiah-2/
Verse:
Jeremiah 1:9 Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me,
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.
Prayer:
Recipe
Za’atar Fried Chicken with Spicy Thyme Honey Recipe
Ingredients
For the chicken and brine:
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4 cups soymilk
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juice of 1/2 lemon
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1 peeled, seeded and halved lemon
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1/2 cup honey
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2 cups hot water
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1/3 cup kosher salt
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6 Tbsp za’atar
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6 bay leaves
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3 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
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6 sprigs of thyme
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4 chicken thighs
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4 chicken drumsticks
For the flour mixture:
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3 cups all purpose flour
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2 tsp baking powder
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2 Tbsp za’atar
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3 sprigs thyme
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1 tsp sumac
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1 Tbsp hot paprika
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2 tsp kosher salt
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1 quart canola or vegetable oil, for frying
For the spicy thyme honey:
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1/2 cup honey
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2 Tbsp hot sauce
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2 Tbsp chili oil
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3 sprigs thyme
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a few peppercorns
Directions
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In a large food safe container, add the soymilk and the juice of 1/2 a lemon. Let it sit until it curdles, around 10 minutes. This is your “buttermilk”.
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To the buttermilk, add the peeled, seeded and halved lemon. Crumble in the bay leaves. Add in the za’atar, smashed garlic and thyme.
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Dissolve the salt in the hot water. This is the brine. Dissolve the honey in the brine. Add the brine to the container, along with the buttermilk and spices.
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Add the chicken to the brine. Refrigerate for 1 day.
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The next day, combine the flour, baking powder, za’atar, thyme, sumac and paprika and the salt in large bowl. Mix thoroughly to combine.
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Remove chicken from buttermilk brine, but do not throw away the brine.
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Coat the wet chicken in a thin layer of the flour mixture, and let come to room temperature on drying rack set over paper towels. (Cold chicken in hot oil will cause splatters and lower the temperature of the oil as well.)
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Heat the oil to 370 degrees in large cast iron or heavy bottomed pot. Once chicken is close to room temperature, dip in the reserved buttermilk brine and then in the flour mixture once more, then drop gently into the hot oil.
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Fry 3 pieces at a time. Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown and until instant read thermometer inserted into chicken reaches 165.
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Remove from oil, and sprinkle with fresh thyme. In a small sauce pan, combine the ingredients for the spicy honey. Let come to a boil. Serve drizzled over the hot chicken, immediately.
