Things were easier in the old days. Religious Jews could not cook on the Sabbath, although previously cooked dishes could be kept hot on that day. So enterprising wives in Central Europe took dishes of dried lima beans to the bakers. These banked their fires for the Sabbath, but the ovens remained hot. The beans cooked slowly in the ovens, and after synagogue a meal was ready without further preparation.

To try cholent, I used a crock pot instead of the slow oven. I seldom use this device, but brought it out of the cellar for the occasion. I was well rewarded, eventually developing the simple but tasty recipe below.

Beans cooked in this way have a distinctive flavor. By taste, it seems that all kinds of seasonings must be present, but there are only the long-cooked limas, tomato paste, and onions. These beans make a hearty accompaniment to steak, or roasts of any kind. Together with ham, beef, or other meat, they make a one-dish meal.

This is a lengthy process, although largely unattended. Beans are soaked overnight, then cooked over one or (more probably) two days.

The beans may be mashed for a dip or sandwich. They may be refrigerated or frozen.

Adapted from Crock Pot Instructions (Rival Manufacturing Company, Kansas City).

Use the baby limas, if at all possible, as they will swell considerably. Soak the beans in water overnight, or use the quick soak method (see index).

Drain beans and place them in the pot. Add chopped onions. These will seem like a lot, but will cook down. Add tomato paste (there is no need to dilute, just stir in during cooking).

Add a little water, perhaps ¼ inch, to the bottom. Too much liquid will prolong the cooking time, and will not be absorbed by the beans. You can always add more later.

Cover pot and turn heat to low setting (my pot has two settings, 120 or-210 watts). Cook until the beans are soft, perhaps 7 to 10 hours. Beans must be soft, never al dente.

During cooking: When the beans warm, stir in the softened tomato paste. Check the liquid. Stir from time to time. At the end, you want all liquid to be absorbed. If liquid disappears while beans are still hard, add more water accordingly.

Variations

Add chopped green pepper, and/ or bacon.

Why not white beans? Jennie Grossinger’s various recipes invariably use lima beans. Part of the answer, at least, seems clear: white beans take too long. My crock pot instructions say to pre-cook white beans half an hour. Maybe I will try these someday.

Meat seems to me questionable. I  cooked a pot roast in the crock pot without beans, but it seemed to me no improvement over stove or oven methods.