S'Derot

S'Derot is a community in Israel, located in close proximity to the Gaza Strip. In particular, it is attacked on a daily basis by rockets from Gaza. It really doesn't matter if the rockets are launched by Hamas, people affiliated with Hamas, or just very angry people who'd rather attack Israelis then channel their energy into a productive activity. The attacks are real, the damages are real.

Chabad in S'Derot has set up an online fund to aid the Jewish residents of S'Derot. I would urge you to assist them.

Iron Cholent

Recipes from the Cholent Meister of Chabad of Tyson's Corner, VA (outside of Washington DC). A companion blog to Capitol Chai Life

Cholent is a uniquely Jewish creation...

...while assorted cultures have stews and slow-cooked foods, in Judaism, it is a necessity, since observant Jews are strictly prohibited from cooking on Shabbat, in addition to being severely limited in the use of fire and electricity. While there is some debate about the origin of the word "Cholent" (and for that matter, the term is not universally used -- Ashkenazic Jews [of Eastern European origin] make cholent, while Sephardic Jews [of Western European and North African origin] make Dafina), the origin is reasonably well understood.

Shabbat stews first started to appear around the 4th century CE, but in the 9th century CE, a movement within Judaism arose in the area known as Mesopotamia -- present day Iran and Iraq. These Jews, known as Karaites, believe in a very strict reading of the Torah. In reaction to this group, the Rabbis of the day ordained that their followers have a hot meal as part of their Shabbat observance.

Obviously, this was a challenge, since Jews could not tend a fire, nor cook food. The meal would have to be prepared and mostly cooked by the time Shabbat came in on Friday night, and then have to sit on a pile of coals for sixteen to twenty hours, until it was eaten for lunch on Saturday.

Given these conditions, cholents are generally heavy on beans, root vegetables, grains, and red meat. This simplest cholents are in fact just that -- beans, beef, and onion. Still, cholents have acquired some variation in the past 1700 years or so, and for that matter, some slow-cooked dishes are perfectly fine for cholent. Chili anyone?

Thursday, February 7, 2008

L'Chaim France! (Terumah / 3 Adar I 5768)

Thursday late night, 7 Feb 08 / 1 Adar I 5768

Below, I noted that at least one of the kids last Shabbat had a simple piece of feedback abouit Dafina -- MORE MEAT!

Now I don't take this as an indicator that there was not enough meat in the Dafina (I think I used about 3½ pounds of chuck roast when all was said and done), but rather Kids Like Meat. They don't want vegetables, potatoes, and other fillers, they want beef (It's whats for dinner you know. Or lunch in this case.) Serendipitously, I had planned to make Boeuf Bourguinon this Shabbat (also known as Beef Burgundy in English).

Now classic Beef Burgundy is out of the question, as it relies on prohibited foods (a small amount of bacon), so I've made some minor changes -- the use of "beef fry" (very fatty pastrami) and the rendered fat from the chuck itself. I made a test batch earlier this week, and I would expect the kids to be Happy Campers this Shabbat. See for yourself.



For what it's worth, those are red pearl onions, carrot slices, and celery that are on top. Everything below is Beef.

Update Saturday night, 9 Feb 08 / 3 Adar I 5768

Once more, another hit with the cholent, although my young friend who wanted an all beef cholent may have discovered that he should be careful what he asks for, he WILL get it!

In fairness though, I think I made a pretty dumb error -- I can't remember adding salt to the dish!

Also, I need not have bothered with red pearl onions. They look nice above, but after cooking in the cholent, they were pretty much brown like everything else. Tasty, but brown.

We may have two cholents this coming Shabbat -- the Rabbi's brother wants to make cholent, but I'm skeptical he will come down from Philadelphia just to do that. I'm thinking about Cincinnati Chili, especially if I can get the Rebbitzin to make spaghetti.
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