KosherEye.com
This recipe has been passed through generations of the KosherEye family. We have added updates and contemporary tweaks. We no longer hand-sew the helzel or kishke like our Aunt Ruthy and mother did - we use a vegetarian kishke. Instead of a huge steel pot, we use our slow cooker or ovenproof heavy enameled Le Creuset Stew Pot, and we have updated the spices. Enjoy every bite and every memory.*
Ingredients
3-4 potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
2 onions, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 lbs. of flanken with bones or use short ribs
1/2 tablespoon coarse black pepper
1 /2 teaspoon garlic
3/4 cup barley
1 can vegetarian baked beans (16 ounce can)
3 tablespoons chicken consommé mix – or 1 chicken consommé cube
2 Tablespoons paprika
1 vegetarian kishke purchased or home-made** and wrapped in parchment
3 cups water or parve chicken soup like Imagine brand
Directions
Line slow cooker with a slow cooker bag for easy cleanup
Add chunked potatoes and onions
Rinse meat and pat dry. Season with pepper
Layer meat on top of potatoes and onions and place extra meat around sides
Add dry barley and canned beans
Season with consommé mix, paprika, garlic
Place kishke on top.
Pour in water, adding more if necessary, to cover all ingredients except kishke
(Kishke does not have to be completely covered)
Cook on high for 1 hour and then on low heat overnight, or at least 8 hours
Optional: Add cut up carrots along with potatoes and onions
For vegetarian version, simply omit meat and use parve consommé.
Notes
*Cholent in the Shtetl
My mother Rose Schoen Snyder Z"l shared her cholent (Shabbos meat stew) memories with me. She grew up in Szedlce, a small shtetl in Poland, just a horse and wagon ride from Bialystok and Warsaw. On Friday afternoon before sundown, her family and many of the other Jewish families in the village would hand deliver a heavy pot with the uncooked stew, the cholent, to the baker's oven, which was the community oven. It would cook overnight and each family would lovingly, eagerly and carefully retrieve it on Saturday – in time for Shabbos lunch.
** If you would like to make your own vegetarian kishke, try this simple recipe from cooking instructor and "Sifted" columnist Cindy Hodkin.
Recipe: Kosher, meat, family, heirloom