Cholent

Seeing as how its almost next Hanukkah, I thought I would post my recipe for cholent that I made for friends last Hanukkah.  Cholent is a Jewish stew that is very hearty and is typically made on Shabbos as it can stew in a slow cooker before Shabbos and ready to eat the next day.  I have had this meal at orthodox Jewish homes and I am a huge fan.  There are quite a few ingredients but its fairly simple to make and the result is a very filling, warming meal - perfect for cold nights.  My favorite is the beef in this dish, it is so tender!

I'm going to include my pictures but they don't do this food justice...I was too excited to eat it to worry about taking pictures!

Ingredients:
- 1 large white potato (I used a sweet potato though) chopped
- 2 yellow onions chopped
- 2 lbs of flank steak sliced to fit into the slow cooker
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup barley
- 1 cup red kidney beans (dry)
- 3 teaspoons of chicken or beef stock
- 2 tablespoons of paprika
- 2 tablespoons of honey
- 1 loaf of kishka (you can find these in kosher/jewish markets and even my local publix sells them in the frozen food aisle)
- salt to taste

Directions:
- after chopping onions and potatoes put these inside of the slow cooker/line the bottom of the slow cooker with them
- add barley and kidney beans on top of onions and potatoes
- sprinkle with stock, paprika, honey and salt if you choose to add
- place kishka in the middle of the slow cooker on top of all of the ingredients
- chop flank meat to fit in the slower cooker (large chunks or strips) and sprinkle with ground pepper before putting meat into slow cooker.  Place meat around kishka.
-add water to cover beans and barley (approximately 2-3 cups of water)
- cover and turn slow cooker on low
-cook on low for 5-8 hours

This is what it will look like before you add water:

 

After adding water and covering:

 

After its been cooking for some time:

 

The finished product:

 

So it doesn't look so great but it tastes amazing! Everyone loved it and even the canine partygoers were begging for more:

 

If I had thought about it sooner I would have done something again this year, the holiday just feels so weird this year being so close to Thanksgiving instead of Christmas!  Below are some pictures of the table...my mom made latkes and my roommate made Israeli salad as well...and some pictures of the lighting of the candles and playing dreidel:

 

HOPE EVERYONE HAS A HAPPY HANUKKAH THIS YEAR!!!