BEST CHOLENT EVER

Best Cholent Ever image

This is a full meal in a pot: ground beef, chicken, spaghetti noodles and potatoes swimming in a savory sauce. Thanks to the Yerushalmi caterer Moshe Goldin for this recipe--the only cholent my family is willing to eat! Note to people doubling or halving the recipe: this is meant to be cooked in layers that completely fill the pot, so change your pot size accordingly and make sure you still have nice separate layers in the new pot, and that it is filled to the top.

Provided by GalicioBocharit

Time 16h55m

Yield 4 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

1/2 cup oil
1/2 kg ground beef
8 chicken drumsticks
3 large onions, sliced
4 large potatoes, sliced into 1/2-inch thin disks
180 g spaghetti
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons chicken soup powder
salt & pepper

Steps:

You will need a 5.5 gallon pot you can put in the oven (i.e. no plastic parts). Cook the spaghetti in a different pot with the tumeric (for color).
While it cooks, heat the oil in the pot over a large flame and add the chicken and ground beef. Stir as necessary so they are browned on all sides.
In the meantime, slice the potatoes into 1/2" discs.
When the meat is browned, take out the chicken pieces and the beef, but leave the oil and shmaltz in the pot. Add the onion slices to the pot to form the first layer--the onion layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the potato slices to form the potato layer. Sprinkle with the chicken soup powder and pepper to taste.
Add the chicken drumsticks, squeezing them together to make a nice tight chicken layer. Sprinkle with the paprika and add salt and pepper--you know the drill.
Strain the spaghetti, rinse it off and add it to the pot to form the spaghetti layer, salt and pepper as usual.
Add the ground beef--it will not be a layer, it's just there for flavor.
Cut a cooking bag open so you have a sheet. Place it on top of the layers and add 1 Tbsp of oil and 1/2 c of water. Make sure they stay in the center of the cooking sheet and don't spill over into the cholent--they will fill your hermetically sealed pot with the steam necessary to cook your cholent without it drying out as it waits 16 hours in the oven for you to eat it!
Cover the pot and wrap it on all sides with aluminum foil. Put it in a 180 degree Celsius (medium temperature) oven for 40-60 minutes, then switch the oven over to the hot plate setting, or move it to a hot plate with a box around it to make sure heat is even on all sides. From experience, putting it on a regular hot plate means the bottom layers burn and the top layers are kind of anemic looking, without all the delicious sauce.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 1270.9, Fat 60.2, SaturatedFat 14.7, Cholesterol 203.3, Sodium 234.8, Carbohydrate 114.5, Fiber 12.4, Sugar 9.2, Protein 67