How about some cholent?
There’s a ton of recipes for it and hameen that can be adjusted for the crockpot (think 24 hours at 225F or 250F instead of 4 or 5 hours at 350F).
Oops, sorry. Were you looking for Kosher recipes? I missed that.
Would I be the dingbat in the room if I asked why cooking needs to take more than 24 hours for religious reason?
Wait- let me refine that:
Would I be the dingbat in the room because I asked why cooking needs to take more than 24 hours for religious reason?
The Rival crock pot we have switches to “keep warm” mode indefinitely after the set cook time expires, so that might be an option for you.
This isn’t a crock pot recipe, but I’m sure it can be adapted easily enough, so just to give you an option that’s not beef, how about Braised Dark Meat Turkey? Simmering it on the stove-top is a 3-3½ hour recipe, so I bet if you use only the turkey legs (the wings might cook too quickly), and set it on low, it would take at least 8-10 hours to cook through, and then it could sit all day on the “keep warm” setting so you could enjoy it the 2nd evening.
I went back and checked; I had NOT said that up-thread. I just asked for ideas. Maybe it would have helped if I’d said up front, “No pigs please.”
And I didn’t come right out and say “cholent” because the first time I tried cholent, it was so bland I threw it out. My second try used vegetarian baked beans instead of dried beans, so the beans were pre-seasoned; it came out much better. (Also, I’m looking for ideas other than Eastern European bean stews.)
I’ve been going to a Conservadox minyan for a while, and I suspect my level of observance is on the low side there. As far as I can tell, most people at this place closely observe the rules of generally no cooking on a festival, and definitely no cooking on Saturday.
You can cook on a festival, even if you’re Orthodox :), as long as you’re not cooking on the first day of the festival purely as preparation for the second day. (The rules are somewhat different for cooking on a festival for a Sabbath that immediately follows it, like Rosh Hashana (this Thursday/Friday) this year.) You can also carry outside without an eruv, FWIW. If you cook something Thursday morning and eat it for both Thursday lunch and dinner (Thursday night is considered part of Friday, Jewish-ly speaking, and thus the next day), no problem, as the cooking wasn’t purely to prepare for the next day. There are specifics as to how to do things, such as not using electric appliances that you’re turning on and off like blenders or microwaves, or what kind of stovetop you can turn on and off on the holiday - ask here or email me if you have any questions.
Chulents vary very much. Personally, I find most commercial chulent boring and a little unappetizing, although I’ll pick at it if there’s nothing else available. Most of the chulent recipes you’ll see online, like the one linked above, are more starter recipes than something to be taken as gospel - throw in whatever you think would taste good. I make mine with a decent-sized pile of whole spices (a cinnamon stick, star anise, fresh ginger, cardamom pod, cloves, peppercorns, and whatever else I feel like throwing in, tied in cheesecloth), and substituting chicken stock for some of the water. While some people like it and some don’t, bland it ain’t. I have several friends who add so many chili peppers to theirs that I can’t really eat it, I find it so hot. My husband makes his with a ton of barbecue sauce. Another friend swears by a lot of soy sauce, to add that extra umami. Some people throw in hot dogs, which I find makes the whole thing taste of hot dog; that may de-bland it for you, although I don’t like it. A college-boy-phase thing to do is to use beer for your liquid, although be warned that it’ll make your kitchen smell like a brewery. Cooking it with some beef bones helps a lot - I find a boneless chulent lacks a certain depth of flavor. Chicken chulent is also missing something - the chicken itself is good, but the rest of it is a little flat.
Ah, I see.
I did start wondering if it might be possible to put a completely frozen leg or shoulder of lamb into the pot, add the other ingredients, also deeply chilled, and set the cooker on a timer so that it kicks in at about the time the meat will be thawed and then cooks it for 8 or 10 hours.
Probably not a good idea, as some parts of the container will be at room temperature for extended periods, even when the meat is still thawing.
Here’s a book that may interest you. It has a wide variety of braised dishes. Many of the recipes use some out of the ordinary ingredients, but if you have access to ethnic or specialty groceries, it’s worth your time.
When I read this, I said “Man, I’ve gotta try that recipe.” When silenus advocated it in the next post, I put it on my list of lifetime goals. So Stamp, would you mind elaborating a bit - specifically seasonings to use and recommended BBQ sauce?
I had a practical lesson last night in Don’t Let the Food Dry Out:
I made a beef saag, and let it simmer for about an hour and a half. I came back to find that most of the liquid had simmered off, and my whole place smelled of burnt beef and burnt spinach.
So now I understand why all the cholent recipies I’ve seen include a step of “fill the rest of the way up with water.”
Sunday morning I’ll go look for a slow cooker with a time-cook-then-keep-warm mode, drop in a chuck roast, and see if I can make this work a little better than last night turned out. (I just found the local-ish Target, and I just got my monthly 20% coupon ad from Bed Bath & Random Stuff; one of those should have what I want.)
Hat, my local grocery store has a fairly good and under expansion selection of ethnic seasonings. I’ve started buying my salsas from that part of the store instead of the snack food aisle.
I like a 2 1/2 lb or so roast. (That’s just the size that happens to fit well in my slow cooker.) Chuck roast is perfect for this - cheap, flavorful, with enough fat and collagen to stay nice and succulent. Seasonings include:
- the aforementioned onion (I take one large white onion and chop it pretty roughly)
- a big fat pinch of salt
- a lot of ground black pepper (sorry for the vague measurements; that’s how I roll)
- about a teaspoon of garlic powder
- some dry thyme or marjoram
As far as the sauce goes, I like Stubb’s or KC Masterpiece. A couple of Christmases ago, a friend got me a gift pack of Tony Roma’s four signature sauces, and they made outstanding sandwiches for me for most of the following year. 