Shabbos day alternative to cholent

Chickpea

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 7:53 am

watergirl wrote:

I may be outing myself but ok, I’ll tell.
We make a chicken stew and, wait for it - before shabbos I made matza ball batter and drop in raw matza balls into the stew. Shabbos day, you have a chicken stew with glorious matza balls. Guests are astounded and omg they are so good.

For the stew - take dark meat on the bone (dont use white meat or you’ll be sad). Add tons of mushrooms, whole. 2 onions (quarter them), about a pound of sliced carrots, potatos, some sweet potatos if you want, a jar of your favorite marinara sauce, some onion soup for good measure (you can leave it out) and fill with water. This wont fit in a crock pot. Bring to boil, lower to simmer, drop in matza balls (raw) and cook for a bit. Cover tightly and put it on the blech. Serve on a platter with the matza balls on the periphery.

This recipe sounds outstanding! I have a few questions: Do you sauté the mushrooms before adding? At what point do you add the mushrooms? Do you use matzo balls from a mix or do you use your own recipe?

watergirl

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 8:10 am

Chickpea wrote:

I just clean the mushrooms, remove the stem, and throw them in. They cook for so long, there is no need to saute the onions or mushrooms, esp because they cook so fast as it is. I add them in in the beginning - its a "dump and put" recipe. Dump it all in and put it on the stove. The only reason I add the matza balls later is so the stew can come to a boil before they go in. I only let it boil for a minute and then lower to simmer. For matza balls, I never use a mix. I only use manischewitz matza meal (not on pesach), and I follow the recipe on the canister. No other brand will give the same texture. The mixture has to sit in the refrigerator for at least 30 mins but thats really not long enough. I usually mix it the day before. Don't patchke the balls too much. Matza balls from the mix take just as long to mix up and have something weird in them that make them really fluffy, massive, and cook really quickly, which is cool if you like that or are in a hurry, but its not for stew. Its a totally different taste and texture.

And I know I've said it before but its worth repeating - if you serve this to guests, they will think you are a total genius (your kids will go nuts too, triple the recipe - the basic recipe makes only 8.) My mother used to toss a few boiled matza balls into the brisket pan and let them cook with the meat, which is how I came up with this idea.

mlc

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 9:43 am

watergirl wrote:

[b]

That sounds so good!!!

About how much chicken do you put ? And can you also give approximate amounts for the potatoes and onion soup?

Thanks!

watergirl

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 2:31 pm

mlc wrote:

[b]

That sounds so good!!!

About how much chicken do you put ? And can you also give approximate amounts for the potatoes and onion soup?

Thanks!

I just put enough chicken and potatos for each person. Usually a piece per person and an extra piece or two for good measure. As many potatos as you’d like and about 3-4 tbsp onion soup.

Chickpea

Thu, Jan 31 2019, 7:29 pm

watergirl wrote:

Watergirl, thank you so much for this recipe. I will most definately try it. Have a wonderful Shabbos!