Shabbos Cholent really isn’t hard to make.
Open your fridge. Is there food in it? Good. You’re on the right track already.
Put your crockpot on the counter. If you’re really fancy, put a crockpot bag in there to make it easier to clean up.
If you’re not so fancy, you can spray some Pam or other non-stick stuff on the sides if not using a crockpot bag.
If you want a gold star, put your crockpot on a timer. Make sure the timer only turns it off, not on.
Let’s begin.
Put in some potatoes. They can be sliced, quartered, or whole. Whatever floats your boat.
Put in any other veggies you want to include.
Beans are usually a good idea.
Throw in some barley because only the best cholents have barley. (Quinoa is an acceptable alternative.)
Then, the piece de resistance: the meat. Vegetarian cholent is just vegetarian chili. Pick the meat of your choice or multiple meats. Kishka is popular, but don’t ask what it’s made of.
Once this is all taken care of, throw in everything in your fridge. A little mustard, a little ketchup, some hot sauce, fruit preserves, duck sauce, soy sauce, Italian dressing, tomato sauce, whatever. It will be delicious no matter what you do.
For good measure, add a lot of spices. Cinnamon, cajun spices, paprika, onion powder, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, curry powder, garlic, whatever you can find.
Voila! Cholent!
Bonus points if you put an egg on top. You’ll be an honorary Sephardi, and the egg will turn interesting colors!
You forgot to mention water! 🙂
And I also love to put marrow bones in my chulent.
I make a mean vegan cholent, but that's just how our house rolls. It's basically any vegetable (root veggies get extra points) thrown into the crockpot with some beans, veggie broth, spices, and a grain (barley, rice, quinoa…whatever). Then, just let it cook. 🙂
Of course, almost anything tastes good if you have good challah to mop it up with!
The other only cholent recipe you'll ever need. Although honestly, I love different cholent recipes. Consider the 'Cholent Trilogy':
Come for Cholent
Come for Cholent…Again: Cholent Stories and More Recipes and
Come for Everything but Cholent!. The third book does contain cholent recipes as well.
The Curmudgeonly Israeli Giyoret says:
How can you people even *talk* about cholent when the weather is so hot? You're right about vegetarian cholent being identical to veg chili. I know someone who used to refer to her "Mexican Cholent". I think we can all figure out what that really was!
I talk about summer time cholents because the kitchen is a lot cooler if I just have a crock pot on and not a stove or oven. I also use 'lighter' cholent recipes during the summer – chicken and mango cholent for example.
Not water — beer!
Originally posted: August 25, 2011 at 7:34 PM
I've found that I don't need to add water if I use canned veggies, even if I drain the cans.