Ashkenazi cholent with beef, beans and barley

Ingredients

• 1 kg of beef for braising (such as chuck or shin, with bones if possible)
• 8 medium-sized potatoes
• 8 hard-boiled eggs, peeled
• 250 g of dried white beans
• 250 g of pearl barley
• 1 onion
• 1 kishke (stuffed sausage, often sold frozen)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• salt
• black pepper
• oil
• Half a small onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• 60 g of flour
• salt
• black pepper

The day before, soak the beans and barley in cold water overnight. This will soften them and make them easier to digest. Thaw the kishke in the refrigerator.

Chop the onion and sauté it in a large oven-safe casserole dish with a little oil.

Place the whole apples on top of the onion in a single layer, then place the meat on top, and pour in the drained beans and barley. If there are any remaining apples, add a second layer.

Pour, boiling water until it reaches three-quarters of the way up the ingredients. Season with salt, black pepper, and garlic.

Bring to a boil and cook for about 30 minutes. Add the hard-boiled eggs, then gently pierce the kishke with a fork to prevent it from bursting.

Prepare the kugel: finely chop the half-onion, add the crushed garlic, egg, and flour, salt, pepper, and mix well. Depending on the desired texture, add water or flour, mixing until smooth to avoid lumps.

Sprinkle the kugel mixture over the cholent and continue to bake for 10 to 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 150 °C and place the casserole dish in the oven. After 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, check the liquid level: it should reach one-third of the height of the dish. If not, add more boiling water. Taste and adjust the seasoning as needed.

Reduce the oven temperature to 90-100 °C and let it bake overnight.