Cholent

[abbazw]

I am responsible for making Cholent for my synagogue every week. Actually I make two cholents ever week: a fleshig cholent and a matching parve cholent.

I have made some very interesting cholents including:

- Beef Barley Cholent
- Bean Cholent
- Thanksgiving Turkey Cholent
- Hamim
- Halim
- Lamb
- Death By Cholent (Beer, Beans, Salami, Pastrami, and Corned Beef)

This past week I combined several recipes making a Black Eyed Pea and Garbanzo Bean Lamb Cholent seasoned with Garlic, Tumeric, Cumin, and Whole Corriander Seeds. The Sefardi minyan (we have Ashkenazi and Sefardi minyanim) consensus was the Cholent was a whole new level; an obvious bias to the middle eastern seasoning.

I am interested in hearing from any and all their favorite and/or most interesting Cholent Recipe. Please post your recommendations. And if in Southern California, feel free to join us for Shabbat at Beth Jacob Congregation of Irvine.

[Rlocker]

I have a few good recipes - I just made a vegetarian chulent this week from Moosewood Classics. I also have a good lamb hamin recipe from a friend, and my mom's meat chukent is simply the BEST. Let me know if you want the info about any of them.

[abbazw]

I would love both. Thanks.

[vallevin]

Hi Abba,

I don't have any real advice, but actually a lot of questions?

How much cholent do you make? What size crowd are you serving? And what are your weekly expense for this?

[abbazw]

I make 2 18 Quart Crock Pots of Cholent. One is full with a Fleshig Cholent, and one I fill 1/2 way for a Parve Cholent.

We generally get between 125 and 200 people on a Shabbat for Kiddush. Kiddush is usually 2 salads, Chummus, Guacamole, Pita Chips, Potato Chips, Olives, Pickles, Chicken wings (drumettes), Fruit Salad, Cakes, and usually have either Tuna or Egg Salad (sometimes Herring or whitefish salad) for those who don't eat meat on a separate table.

The cholent itself is not so expensive except for the meat. The meat usually runs approximately $50 a week.

[vallevin]

I know I am being incredibly nosy, but I am doing some fact finding. Does someone cover for you if cannot make the cholent in a given week?

[abbazw]

Are you volunteering?

Yes, there are people who can cover for me if I am unable to be there for a Shabbat. It does happen, but not too often.

Additionally, some people want to make their own Kiddush, and if not the entire Kiddush, at least the Cholent. I invite and encourage people to do so since in further fosters the sense of community we are trying to build. It also provides the community with diversity so they do not have to have the same thing week after week.

That is why I am looking for new and exciting things to do with Cholent.

[emacat]

Would you be willing to share some recipes? Not the amounts necessarily (since most people would be making a much smaller cholent), but the ingredients you put in? Of course, the amounts would be fine too!
Thanks.

[abbazw]

I would be happy to share my recipes. I had started a Cholent Lovers Group on Facebook a while ago, but it never really caught on. I will post my recipe of the week there each week.

In addition, if you have any questions about it, I would be happy to share my experience thus far. The list above is was overly simplified for brievity in the forum; however, I have done some very avant garde things. For example, this year for Thanksgiving, I put a whole turkey in a pot with Long Grain and Wild Rice, Osem Chicken Consomme mix, and whole cranberries. The cholent came out was very different and most people liked it; especially the cranberries which gave it an unusual tartness.

I will post a full list of ingredients of this weeks cholent on the Cholent Lover's Facebook group.

I look forward to sharing recipes.

[GilaB]

We've had a long thread over the past 1.5 years about one-pot slow-cooker meals. Not everything in there is a chulent per se, but you might find some interesting ideas: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/666533

[abbazw]

Thanks GilaB. And I made a mistake, my Facebook Cholent Forum is the Shabbat Cholent Connection. I posted my ingredients for the past week's Cholent on that site.