Cholent, Ashkephardic, Tori Avery

By [e-mail]

Taken from the website at toriavery.com and slightly modified

Ingredients

• You will also need:
• 1 cup dried beans (lima, pinto, kidney, chickpeas, or a mixture)
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 1/2 lbs beef stew meat cut into chunks
• 2 onions, chopped
• 6 eggs (optional)
• 2 1/2 lbs large red potatoes, peeled and halved
• 2-4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/3 Cup Cranberries (optional)
• 2 garlic cloves (optional)
• 1/2 cup pearl barley (very optional)
• 2 marrow bones (very optional)
• A large heavy pot (a 7 or 8 qt. heavy Dutch or French Oven works best) or a crock-pot.

Details

Servings 8
Preparation time 45mins
Cooking time 1045mins
Adapted from toriavey.com

Preparation

Step 1

In the morning on the first day of cooking, cover beans with 3 inches of cold water. Let the beans soak soak all day until you are ready to cook the cholent. Drain and rinse.

Heat the olive oil over medium in your large pot. Rinse the meat, then add it to the pot. Brown the meat on all sides. Remove meat from pot, leave the fat in. Saute the onions in the fat until brown and caramelized. Add meat back into the pot and stir. Add the soaked beans and stir again.

Place the marrow bones in the meat.

Put a layer of potatoes on top of the meat.

Cover all ingredients with water and bring to a slow boil. Skim the foam that rises to the top.

Add seasonings to the pot and stir the water gently. Stir enough to disperse the spices in the liquid.

If adding barley, sprinkle it evenly across the top of the broth; it will trickle down and settle amid the other ingredients. Let the mixture simmer slowly.

After 15 minutes, taste the broth and add additional kosher salt and pepper, if desired. Add kosher salt carefully, there's nothing worse than over-salted cholent!

While it's the ingredients are simmering, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.

If you are using a crock-pot transfer all ingredients to the crock-pot

Rinse the eggs clean, then nestle them within the meat, evenly spaced.

Cover the pot tightly.

If not using a crock-pot place the pot in the oven.

Let the cholent cook overnight for 12 to 15 hours, on low in the crock-pot or at 200 degrees in the oven.

The cholent is done when the potatoes have turned dark brown and the liquid has been reduced by about half. Check the cholent periodically to make sure it's not becoming too dry; don't let the liquid reduce by more than half. If it seems too dry, add hot water to the pot (see note). If towards the end of cooking your cholent seems too soupy, remove the lid for the last hour or so to let the excess liquid evaporate.

Serve each portion of cholent with meat, potatoes, and an egg if desired.



Note: Adding hot liquid to the pot may be considered "cooking" under certain circumstances (cooking and working are forbidden on Shabbat), so if you're a strictly observant Jew it's best to check with your Rabbi or another halachic authority about the proper method of adding liquid to your cholent pot.