Ashkenazi Cholent - Shabbat Overnight Stew

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1. 1Step 1: A few hours before you start cooking, peel the potatoes and leave them in the open air. This step is optional, but produces sweeter potatoes.
2. 2Step 2: Salt and pepper the meat and marrow bones. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, sear meat and bones on all sides for about 8 minutes. Transfer to a platter.
3. 3Step 3: Reduce heat to medium-low and add 2 more tablespoons of oil to the casserole. Add onions and sauté until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Add brown sugar and cook for a few more minutes to caramelize the onions.
4. 4Step 4: While the onions are cooking, prepare the kishka. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add onion and schmaltz and mix again. You can now either form a 2-3 inch thick log of the kishka or use 4 layers of cheesecloth over a medium bowl and put the kishka mixture in. Gather the cheesecloth and tie. Keep aside.
5. 5Step 5: Add the beans to the casserole and mix with the onions. Add 1 tablespoon of salt (this quantity of salt is true for the USA. If you are in Israel or in Europe you may want to use a little less salt) and 1 teaspoon black pepper and mix. Push marrow bones into the bean mixture and put beef on top of the beans. Cover with water at room temperature just to the top of the beef and bring to boil. Skim any foam.
6. 6Step 6: Arrange potatoes and eggs next to the meat. If you're adding kishka, put it now next to the potatoes. Make sure the water covers the potatoes half way (about 1/2-1 inch of the potatoes/eggs can peak from the top.) Bring back to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot and cook for 30 minutes. Turn the oven to 225 F degrees.
7. 7Step 7: Transfer pot to the oven. If the lid is not sealed well enough, cover pot with aluminum foil. Cook overnight.
8. 8Step 8: Check cholent first thing in the morning to see that enough water are left, it should reach about quarter the height of the casserole, no more. You can spoon some of the liquid out or add a little more as needed. Cover again and cook until lunch. Remove from oven, let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving.