Cholent (or "Jew Stew")

When I was younger, I wrote in my journal that the perfect man would be one who knew how to sing and also knew his way around the kitchen. Well, my man doesn't sing and you can count with the fingers on one hand how many times he's been in the kitchen this year (what he considers "grocery shopping" is now a long-running joke amongst my roommates) BUT he plays the accordion—singing along occasionally—and he recently promised (You are now a witness to this, Internet) that if he had his own kitchen, he would make me breakfast every morning.

He also taught me about cholent.

According to Wikipedia/my boyfriend who went to Yeshiva so should really be my authority on all things Jewish, really, cholent is a stew that usually contains meat, beans, potatoes and barley, and is simmered overnight. It is usually prepared the day before the Sabbath so that during Sabbath, when really observant Orthodox Jews aren't allowed to do any work, they can still have a hot meal during lunch. My boyfriend says that every household has it own recipe, but he uses the term recipe loosely; when he was making this cholent, he was really just tossing things haphazardly into the pot, which is what all stews should be about anyway, I think.



So in the pot went three cans of beans, four potatoes, four garlic cloves, a big pack of stewing beef, chopped onions (but not too much because we both don't like them very much), a handful of barley, ketchup, honey and the Colonel's secret blend of seven herbs and spices.



Then you turn the stove on low and you wait.

Initially, the ketchup and honey will act as liquid and the beef and vegetables will release some liquid as it cooks. It's probably advised that you top up some of the liquid by around hour 9, which is when I took the first little bit of cholent out for supper.



I did end up leaving it to simmer overnight and packed it for lunch the next morning (we cheated and made this on a Sunday night--the day of the St. Patrick's day to be exact; I now remember the boy stumbling in drunk and me going in to dish out a bowl of cholent) and took portions out for the rest of the week. Though not the most photogenic dish, it was so good and comforting and hearty, I would totally totally totally sacrifice my hydro bill and make it again.

Cholent

• 3 540 mL (19 oz) cans of beans (two mixed, one kidney), drained and rinsed
• 500 g beef stewing cubes
• 4 potatoes, cubed
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, smashed with the side of a knife because who needs a flippin' garlic press?
• A handful of barley
• Spices and sauces to taste (we used rosemary, garlic salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, chili pepper, paprika, ancho chili pepper, Mrs. Dash Table Blend, black pepper, ketchup and honey

1. Put all ingredients into pot and heat on low, or put all ingredients into slow-cooker and heat on low.
2. Wait, peeking and stirring every few hours,topping up with water as needed.

Next time I'm totally adding carrots; I always seem to have a glut of those!