Chicken In A Clay Pot – We Love God!

There is no sin in cremation, that is for sure. And there is no inability on God’s part to raise a cremated body from the dead. But is cremation, a practice most often seen in Eastern religions, the best for the believer in Christ? 1. It is clarifying to note that burial was God’s preferred method of disposing of the body of Moses. God had the power to cremate Moses’ body on the spot, but rather, this gentle and loving phrase is found: '[God] buried him in the valley in the land of Moab' (Deut. 34:6). This fact alone is enough for me. If God chose this method Himself, then it certainly should be my preference also. 2. Burial underground (or in tombs) was the ordained method for the patriarchs, for God's chosen people, and for New Testament believers. There are numerous references to this, from Abraham's burial in the cave of Machpelah to Lazarus’ entombment in a crypt. The bodies of these saints were kept, as much as possible, in their original state, awaiting the resurrection of the body. 3. Consider the death of Christ Himself. He is our example in everything. Christ was in charge of His death. As He said, “No one has taken [my life] away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative” (John 10:18). Certainly His burial was no accident either. The dramatic events God ordained to take place included the tomb as an essential ingredient. It accentuated His resurrection. 4. Christianity is the most materialistic of the religions in this respect. That is, it gives an importance to the body and to all things tangible that other religions do not… Christianity sees the body as useful, rather than evil. It can do much good, if a believer is controlled by the Spirit. It is so valued by God that the very body we are living in will be raised up one day, made new for eternity. For this reason, we symbolize the importance of the body by burying it with love. 5. The burial of Christians was designed by God as the basis for our understanding of baptism. Though baptism does not save, it does picture our death, burial, and resurrection with Christ (cf. Rom. 6:3-4). Such a powerful picture as baptism is dependent for its meaning on the burial of Christ and of believers. 6. We should bury because the grave is such a potent reminder of the future (bodily) resurrection.

Jim Elliff

CATEGORY	CUISINE	TAG	YIELD
Meats, Vegetables	Mexican	Casseroles, Main dish, Mexican, Poultry	6	Servings

INGREDIENTS

11		Garlic cloves, crushed
1	T	Coarse salt
1	t	Freshly ground black pepper
1		Chicken, 3 lbs or so *
2	T	Corn or vegetable oil
20		New potatoes, peeled
3/4	c	Red wine vinegar, **
1/2	c	Olive oil
2	t	Salt
6		Bay leaves
1	T	Dried Thyme
1	T	Dried Marjoram
2		Chiles serranos, optional

INSTRUCTIONS

NB * If the wine vinegar is very acid, use 1/3 vinegar, 1/3 wine & 1/3
water. We make our own and it would have been too acid otherwise. IMH
SC Writes "Hey++just found this one in a Cookbook Digest. It might
work well in the Romertopf. Or the Chinese sandy pots for that matter.
The traditional way to prepare this chicken dish from Michoacan, is  in
a clay casserole dish covered with a sealing layer of ground corn  or
masa. Small bits of the corn mixture break off and add a  thickening
texture to the sauce.  This modern version is much simpler  to
prepare."  We wanted to try this in a Romertopf as SC suggests. But
because a  Romertopf cannot be heated on top of the stove, and must be
put into  a cold oven we cooked the dish as follows.  Mix together the
dry marinade ingredients. The garlic does not need  to be crushed
finely, just smashed with the side of a large heavy  bladed knife.
After jointing the chicken into 7 pieces plus the  carcase into 2 or 4,
roll it in the marinade and leave 2 - 4 hours -  in a refrigerator if
the kitchen is warm.  In a large skillet, heat the corn oil, saute the
chicken (including  the pieces of carcase) briefly and transfer to a
cazuela or large pot  (or romertopf, which you have just rinsed, as
usual). In the same  oil, lightly brown the potatoes, remove, and set
aside. Carefully  pour off any excess oil, making sure any bits stay in
the skillet for  the next stage. Add the vinegar to the skillet and
bring to a boil,  scraping up browned bits from the bottom. Pour the
vinegar through a  strainer over the chicken. Add the olive oil, salt,
bay leaves,  thyme, and marjoram to the chicken in the clay pot
(romertopf).  Cover, and place in a cold oven which you immediately
start heating  to 200C, 400F. After 1/2 hour, remove from the oven,
stir all  together to make sure the chicken is well coated with juices,
cover  again and put back in the oven. Cook a further 1/4 hour then
remove,  uncover, stir in the potatoes and optional chiles, recover and
replace. Cook for a further 45 minutes, without opening the pot.  To
serve. Tip off excess oil, and remove the carcase pieces, which  have
done their job, Cover again and bring to table.  From "Mexico the
Beautiful" (Collins Publishers, $45.) Posted by  Stephen Ceideberg;
October 22 1992. ... D/L from: Sal  Posted to MM-Recipes Digest  by
"Rfm" <Robert-Miles@usa.net> on Nov  08, 98

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Nutrition (calculated from recipe ingredients) ---------------------------------------------- Calories: 239 Calories From Fat: 208 Total Fat: 23.5g Cholesterol: 0mg Sodium: 2370.1mg Potassium: 170mg Carbohydrates: 3.4g Fiber: <1g Sugar: <1g Protein: 3.3g