Cholent is a traditional Jewish dish that people would prepare for the Sabbath (or Shabbat). Shabbat starts every Friday night and lasts until sundown Saturday, and during this time, Jewish people are not supposed to cook. So, people would prepare cholent in a pot on Friday, let it cook overnight, and then eat hot delicious food all day Saturday. I have had a lot of different cholents (everyone makes it differently), but this is how I make mine:
Ingredients:
-3 to 4 Russet potatoes (peeled and cut into thick chunks approximately 1.5 inches thick)
-1 frozen Kishke (Kishke is traditionally meat product wrapped in intestines, but nowadays, they sell both meat and vegetarian or "Parve" options at Kosher markets. It is in the frozen section and they are covered in wax paper that must be removed before putting into the crock-pot.)
-1 to 2 diced green bell peppers
-1 diced large onion
-1 can of diced tomatoes
-1 cup of pearl barley (approximately 1 cup)
-3 to 4 whole cloves of garlic
-water (enough to cover ingredients)
-Seasonings: Bouillon powder (I typically use non-meat chicken soup bouillon), salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika (Add a lot of seasoning since everything will get watered down.)
Ingredients you may want to add:
-1 can of pinto beans
-eggs (whole, uncooked eggs will hard-boil overnight)
Ingredients you should definitely add if you like spicy:
-diced fresh jalapenos
-dried Thai chili peppers
-chili powder
-chopped chipotles (I added a few once and it came out pretty tasty)
Directions:
-In a large crock-pot, put barley, tomatoes, bell pepper, onion, and garlic. (Optional: add jalapenos, Thai chili peppers, and pinto beans)
-Peel off the Kishke's wax coating and push it down into the center of the ingredients.
-Place potato pieces all the way around the Kishke.
-Add seasoning to taste (Be sure to add A LOT of paprika)
-Fill crock-pot with water until the Kishke and potatoes are covered. (Optional: If you want eggs, place the eggs on top of the potatoes. Be sure they are submerged in water. When you are ready to eat the cholent, take out the eggs and peel them.)
-Cook on low for approximately 24 hours.
-Stir mixture at some point in between and add water if necessary.
As I said, everyone makes cholent differently. Once you have one recipe under your belt, feel free to come up with your own concoction. You may want to add meat such as chicken thighs (on the bone) or minute steak (it falls apart and is super tasty). A lot of people use a mixture of dried beans instead of canned pinto beans (there is a mixture that is actually labeled "Cholent Mix" at the regular market). Some people put in the bagged rice things in the morning (rice does not need to cook overnight, putting it in in the morning is fine). Really, you can put anything you want in cholent.
Cholent is a great dish to make at the beginning of the week because you have a hot meal waiting for you when you get home, and if you separate it out into tupperware, it reheats really well as lunch for the rest of the week. You may also freeze it and microwave it later on whenever you're in the mood for cholent.
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