anita’s noodle kugel

If you like cheesecake, you’ll die for this meal.

This was the #1 Mom Meal my friends in high school would ask for when they came over. It’s everything. Savory, sweet, filling. This is one of the last things I cooked before The Health Problem happened – and one of the FIRST things I will cook once the doctor says I’m allowed to eat dairy and nutmeg and lemon again!

If noodle kugel sounds weird to you, imagine it as a white lasagna.

Infinitely adaptable – cut the sugar for a hearty lunch, or bump up the sugar for an easy cheesecake-like dessert.

Every version online seems to call for cottage cheese. My mom makes hers with ricotta instead, which cuts the sodium. I’ll include both my version and my mom’s.

FRIEDSIG’S NOODLE KUGEL:

1 lbs. ricotta
3 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
3 beaten eggs
juice of one lemon + a bit of zest
1/4 c. sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1/2 t. cinnamon
2 pinches of nutmeg
2 pinches of ginger powder
1/2 pint sour cream (more if you like it custardy)
8 oz. medium or small egg noodles, raw, crushed

preheat oven to 325
mix everything except noodles in large bowl
add noodles and coat

Pour into a small, heavily greased (butter is best) baking dish
Push down on top with spatula or hands to submerge as many as possible
DO NOT overbake! May take as few as thirty minutes or up to an hour, depending on the size of your baking dish. Bake until just set so that reheated kugel is not leathery.

Eat hot, fresh out of the oven or reheated, topped with sour cream.

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ANITA’S NOODLE KUGEL:

1 pound ricotta
3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
3 beaten eggs
juice of one lemon
3/4 c sugar or sub 1/4 the sugar with honey
1 t vanilla extract
1/2 t cinnamon (sub nutmeg for some cinnamon, but don’t replace all the cinnamon w nutmeg)
1/2 pint sour cream, and more to top
1 c raisins or cranberries or apricots
8 oz medium or small egg noods, slightly crushed, raw

preheat oven to 325
mix everything except noodles
add noodles and coat
pour into 9×13 baking dish (note: this will create a weird thin layer of kugel. use a smaller dish.)

push noodles on top and submerge as many as possible
bake til set maybe 30 min, 45, maybe up to an hour

top with sour cream

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I have only made this a handful of times, and I have to admit that my mom’s, with such a ridiculous amount of sugar, is better than mine in both texture and flavor. I would like it even more custardy (custardier?), and ricotta is VERY expensive here, so I will experiment with different ingredients, like adding more eggs, maybe some whole milk, and update accordingly.

Noodle kugel isn’t the only kugel game in town, either… if you have a recipe for a savory potato kugel, drop it in the comments!

Got a wintertime heavy dairy craving? Go sweet with a homemade banana cream pie or easy Vietnamese creamy soda – or go savory with a creamy mushroom soup or homemade pizza with caramelized onions and lemon cream sauce.

mulled apple cider and red wine (Glühwein)

Nostalgia! The smell of Glühwein simmering on a stove reminds me of the holidays. If your family made you hot apple cider after you shoveled their steps, the smell of this mulled red wine will bring you back. This recipe has everything you want from a hot winter drink – it’s full of warming spices, and sweet but not too sweet. You’ll get an extra burst of warmth from the wine, but of course, you can leave it out if you don’t drink.

I read Paige Bennett’s attempt at three different mulled wine recipes. She preferred the simplest, most affordable recipe – a classic from Ina Garten. If you’ve already got whole spices and a bottle of red wine, you’ll just need apple cider and an orange to make this.

Is this a holiday recipe? Sure, but only if you make it on a holiday.

I’m not big on wine, but I AM big on apple cider, and this is really, really good.

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4 cups apple cider (can also use OJ)
1 (750-ml) bottle of cheap Cabernet Sauvignon
1/4 cup honey
2 cinnamon sticks
1 orange, zested and juiced
4 whole cloves
3 star anise
4 oranges, peeled, for garnish
optional: a few black peppercorns, juniper berries, or allspice berries

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat until delicious. Pour into mugs. That’s it!

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recipe adapted by friedsig from an Ina Garten recipe

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Friends, this is really, really good. My family’s recipe does not call for apple cider, and this hot apple cider / mulled wine hybrid is by far my favorite. Apple cider, oranges, and cab are dirt cheap at Aldi – I paid under $5 for all 3. No use in splurging on fancy wine – much of the flavor comes from the apple cider and spices.

She says it’s ready in 10 minutes, but keep it going longer if you can. The spice flavor will only intensify the longer it simmers.

Honey is totally unnecessary if you’re using sweet apple cider, but go ahead and add some honey, sugar, or sweetener of your choice if you like it sweeter. You can also add more fresh squeezed orange juice.

For more autumnal/winter red wine recipes, check out this currant and clove pan sauce that goes with anything from roasted chicken to veggies, my family recipe for German sweet and sour cabbage, and my all-time favorite thing to do with red wine – sauerbraten!

bauernbrot (healthy buckwheat rye bread)

It’s…. healthy. Really interesting recipe:

bauernbrot – Austrian buckwheat and rye loaf – @ friedsig

RYE STARTER (sauerteig):

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
4 cups rye flour
3.5 c warm water
2 packages dry yeast
1 T caraway

wrap onion pieces in cheesecloth. combine other ingredients and push the onion-bag into the goo like some kind of weird onion tea.

leave overnight at room temperature, no more than 24 hours. scrape the sour off the cheesecloth. discard onions. good luck getting the onion smell out of your cheesecloth. refrigerate the rest and use for future breads. make sure to feed it like any starter, by removing some, and replacing it with flour and water.

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BAUERNBROT RECIPE:

1 cup rye sour starter (recipe above)
4 cups buckwheat flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 package dry yeast
1.5 c warm water
2 t salt
1 T caraway seed (or less, to taste)
1/4 molasses, dark preferred

1 T salt mixed with 1/4 c water (to brush)

in a large bowl, blend buckwheat and all-purpose flours and set aside.

in another large bowl, dissolve yeast in 1.5 c warm water and add 2 cups of the buckwheat-apf mix. beat with a wooden spoon or mixer until smooth and porridge-like.

cover bowl and let stand 1.5 hours at room temperature.

stir down dough and add starter, 2 t salt, caraway, and molasses. add remaining flour til dough pulls away from the bowl. don’t add too much flour. this bread is dense enough!

knead 8 mins.

divide into two loaves. set them on a cookie sheet. brush tops with water and let sit 40 mins.

preheat oven to 350.

brush loaves with saltwater, put in oven. brush loaves every 10 mins with saltwater.

bake about 40 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the loaves comes out clean.

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from Bernard Clayton’s New Complete Book of Breads by Bernard Clayton

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wow! what a healthy tasting bread! dense and dark! the salt crust is like a pretzel party on the outside! this is not a loaf for the faint of heart. give this a shot if you like hearty, healthy, winter-y, peasant-loaf-type breads. it reminds me a bit of those wildly dense “fitness breads” in the german and polish markets. it’s a little much for me. if you love sweet, soft white breads, you might find yourself trying to give away the second loaf. but if you love heavy, hearty breads, trying to get more whole grains into your diet, wanting to stay fuller longer (seriously! one slice and i’m full,) or looking for something really different, this is the bread for you!

best of all, buckwheat is gluten-free (although the bread calls for all-purpose flour too and therefore the bread itself contains gluten). buckwheat is high in fiber and low to medium on the glycemic index, which makes it suitable for some people who cannot eat white bread. it’s also high in magnesium, manganese, thiamin, B6, and many other vitamins and minerals.

good with a strong sandwich spread, like a creamy balsamic, with tomatoes.
good with strong cheese.
good for teatime sandwiches with butter and radish, or ham and cheese.
and strangely good for dessert with a simple homemade compound butter of sweetened sorghum molasses and a pinch of cinnamon mixed into unsalted butter.

black forest sweet and sour red cabbage

My mom and Oma were born in the southwestern part of Germany, near the Black Forest. You can find other Schwäbische Rezepte if you click here. Just realized I never put this recipe on here – wild, because it’s one of the only cabbage recipes I love. Cabbage is not my favorite vegetable, but the acidity in this recipe cooks out the farty taste.

Heat oil or fat in a pot or Dutch oven. If you’re vegan, try coconut oil. I like using leftover chicken fat or lard.

Dice an onion and a sour apple, like a Granny Smith. Finely chop a small head of red cabbage.

Caramelize the onion in a pot or Dutch oven. When almost done, add the cabbage. Saute together for a few minutes.

Add stock (I like vegetable or chicken stock,) the diced apple, a few juniper berries if you have them, a bay leaf, maybe a whole clove or two, and a healthy amount of red wine. (If you can’t have wine, try apple cider vinegar mixed with vegetable stock.) I like a pinch of brown sugar in this, but it’s optional.

You want to braise it in the liquid, so you may have to add liquid as it evaporates. Simmer, stirring regularly, until the cabbage looks cooked and has lost its crunch.

You can also do this in a crock-pot or instant pot. Just caramelize the onions on the stove top for flavor.

It’s great in its vegan form. You can also start with bacon, and caramelize the onions in the bacon grease. Just add the cooked bacon back in at the end.

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recipe by my oma and mom

choucroute garnie (sauerkraut and smoked sausage stew)

maybe my favorite hearty stew ever? it’s great to have a hearty stew in the wintertime. i love my friend eli’s version of kapusta. but my new favorite pork and sauerkraut wintertime stew is choucroute. this stew is eaten in the eastern part of france, on the germany border, and also on the western part of germany, where my family is from. thanks for the recipe, mom!

here’s my version – a small-ish version. i’ll also include the version you’ll want to make for a crowd.

friedsig’s choucroute

– 1 lb smoked sausage or other smoked meats like smoked pork chop, plus whatever leftover bacon or other meat you have in the house
– 1 large red onion
– 2 sweet red apples
– half a small jar of sauerkraut, homemade or store-bought
– half a small head of red cabbage, mince
– handful of little potatoes

– cup or two of white wine, like Riesling
– cup or two of chicken stock, veg stock, or pork stock

in a tea ball or cheesecloth:
– 0.5 t each of juniper berries and whole peppercorns
– 1.5 bay leaves
– pinch of caraway seeds
– 2 cloves
– 2 smashed cloves of garlic

1. (optional) in a large pot or dutch oven, pre-cook the meat, depending on what you use. if using bacon, cook that. if using smoked sausage or pork chops, brown them. no matter which meat you use, remove meat and set aside.
2. in that same large pot or dutch oven, saute your onion in lard, bacon grease, or some neutral oil like canola. when soft, add the whole spices and apple and raw cabbage. after a few minutes, add all the rest of the ingredients, including the meat. simmer for hours.
3. separately, boil up some potatoes. serve choucroute with boiled potatoes and whole-grain mustard.

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you can add any meat from short ribs to hot dogs. try varying the meats, adding a pound or two of each kind. check out the epicurious choucroute garnie for a crowd with six pounds of meat:

1 3/4 pounds smoked meaty ham hocks
1 pound fully cooked bratwurst
8 ounces thick-sliced bacon strips, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
2 large onions, chopped
1 teaspoon juniper berries (optional)
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
10 whole cloves
8 whole allspice
3 bay leaves
3 Red Delicious apples, unpeeled, cored, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 2-pound jars sauerkraut, squeezed dry
2 pounds fully cooked kielbasa, cut diagonally into 1-inch pieces
1 pound fully cooked knockwurst
2 cups Alsatian Pinot Blanc or other dry white wine
2 pounds small red-skinned potatoes
2/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
Assorted mustards
Prepared white horseradish

you can also try serious eats‘ version, which calls for 7 pounds of meat, or jacques pepin‘s version with 8 lbs of meat, including hot dogs.

no matter what meat ends up in your choucroute, it’s great served with potatoes, or crusty bread and mustard, or even plain pasta or couscous or rice.

Apfelwein

in case you were wondering what i’m doing today:
detoxing from last night by drinking tea and eating locally grown fruit, picking up the prize for the writing contest i won, and spending the money on a carboy, airlock, and gallons of juice.

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EdWort’s Award Winning Apfelwein Recipe (German Hard Cider) Apple Wine Recipe

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Placed 1st in the Cider & Apple Wine category at the BJCP sanctioned Alamo Cerveza fest (out of 11 entries) and took 2nd place for Best of Show for the main category of Meads & Ciders (out of 50 entries).

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5 Gallons 100% Apple Juice (no preservatives or additives)
2 pounds of dextrose (corn sugar)
1 five gram packet of Montrachet Wine Yeast

5 Gallon Carboy (I use a Better Bottle)
Carboy Cap or Stopper with Airlock
Funnel
Sanitizer

First sanitize the carboy, airlock, funnel, stopper or carboy cap.
Open one gallon bottle of apple juice and pour half of it into the carboy using the funnel.
Open one bag of Dextrose and carefully add it to the now half full bottle of apple juice. Shake well.
Repeat Steps 2 and 3, then go to step 5.
Pour in the mixture of Apple Juice and Dextrose from both bottles into the carboy.
Add all but 1 quart of remaining 3 gallons of apple juice to the carboy.
Open the packet of Montrachet Yeast and pour it into the neck of the funnel.
Use the remaining quart of juice to wash down any yeast that sticks. I am able to fit all but 3 ounces of apple juice into a 5 gallon Better Bottle. You may need to be patient to let the foam die down from all shaking and pouring.
Put your stopper or carboy cap on with an airlock and fill the airlock with cheap vodka. No bacteria will live in vodka and if you get suckback, you just boosted the abv.

There’s no need to worry about filling up a carboy so full when you use Montrachet wine yeast. There is no Kreuzen, just a thin layer of bubbles. I’m able to fit all but 4 oz. of my five gallons in the bottle. Ferment at room temperature.

It will become cloudy in a couple of days and remain so for a few weeks. In the 4th week, the yeast will begin to drop out and it will become clear. After at least 4 weeks, you can keg or bottle, but it is ok to leave it in the carboy for another month or so. Racking to a secondary is not necessary. It ferments out very dry (less than 0.999, see here)

Apfelwein really improves with age, so if you can please let it sit in a carboy for up to 3 months before bottling or kegging, then let it sit even longer.

Six months and it hits its stride. Eight months and it’ll blow your mind.

If you want to bottle and carbonate, ¾ cup of corn sugar will work fine. Use as you would carbonate a batch of beer.

DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND START ANOTHER BATCH 2 WEEKS AFTER YOU START THIS ONE.
YOU WILL THANK ME LATER!

GENERAL QUESTIONS

How does it taste?
It ferments quite dry. Some people have tried different yeasts in order to achieve a sweeter taste. It may take you a few glasses to get a feel for the flavor. It is very reminiscent of a sort of apfelwein produced locally in Germany. There really is no comparable product in the United States. It’s drier and less sweet than commercial hard ciders. It gets better with age and at 6+ months, the apple flavor really comes out.

How do you sweeten it?
Many folks back sweeten it with Wine Conditioner. Wine Conditioner is a blend of sucrose and sorbic acid. The addition of 2-4 oz. per gallon adds sweetness and prevents renewed fermentation. It can be purchased as any LHBS that caters to wine makers. Others will use Splenda or lactose (other non-fermentable sugars). Germans who prefer it sweet (or Suß as they say) will add a splash of Sprite or 7up to a glass. This is the easiest method as you don’t have to make a whole “sweet” batch that way.

What is the difference between Apfelwein and hard cider?
EdWort says, “Most ciders are a bit sweeter. Ciders and Apfelwein are about 6% abv, but I like the little boost I give it with 2 pounds of Dextrose. It adds no body or flavor and still tastes like Possmann’s Apfelwein, only it will kick your butt much quicker.”

Is this like Apfelmost / Apfel Korn?
No. Apfel Korn is a german liqeur made from wheat spirits. Apfelmost is spontaneously fermented with fresh-pressed apples or apple juice. It is probably similar, but the results may vary as a result of the spontaneous fermentation. Either way, Apfelmost is most certainly has a lower alcohol content since the initial gravity is not increased by the use of concentrate or corn sugar.

What’s the difference between apple juice and cider?
Cider is made by pressing apples. Juice is then filtered to remove all of the stuff that makes it cloudy.

Can I use apple cider instead?
Sure! You can use whatever you want. However, there is not enough information in this thread to give you any better details as to how it will turn out. I recommend starting a new thread or ask more experienced cider-makers.

What kind of Apple Juice should I use?
Ideally, you want to use 100% natural apple juice with no preservatives. The only acceptable preservative is ascorbic acid, which is a source of vitamin C and does not affect fermentation. Pasteurized juice is preferred, since it will have less bacteria.

How much will this recipe cost me?
5 gallons of Apfelwein can be made for between 20 and 25 dollars.

What else can you do with this recipe?
Makes a great Grog in the winter time. Take a quart in a sauce pan, add some rum, turbinado sugar, and float a cinnamon stick in it and simmer for a while. Serve hot in mugs. It’ll warm you right up.

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brew diary:

8/21

leberknoedel (liver dumpling soup)

something to make with your stale bread!!

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4 chopped, stale hard rolls
200ml warm milk
1 onion, finely chopped
150g liver, minced
a little scraped spleen (optional, acts as a thickener)
2 tbsp marjoram, chopped (this seems like a lot)
1 egg
115ml milk
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
1 small bunch or parsley, chopped
2 tsp freshly-grated lemon zest
a little butter for frying
600ml beef stock

Roughly tear the rolls and soak in the lukewarm milk. In the meantime, melt the butter in a pan and use to fry the onion and parsley until soft. Drain the rolls and wring dry then add to a bowl and mix in the onions. Combine with a fork until you have a firm mass (if the mixture is too loose add a some fresh breadcrumbs, if too firm add a little of the soaking milk. Stir in all remaining ingredients (again, add more breadcrumbs if too loose). Take small amounts of the mixture and shape into dumplings. Meanwhile, bring a pan of water just to boiling point. Add the dumplings and simmer for about 25 minutes, until cooked through. Transfer the beef stock, bring to a simmer, then ladle into soup bowls and serve.

adapted from celtnet

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edit:

dumplings didn’t stick together. hmm. not sure what went wrong.

making of spaetzle

<3 <3 <3 this is amazing – i just showed my mom and she told me this is exactly how my oma made them. my mom was delighted by this woman’s ultra-thick schwabisch accent.

diy juniper bitters

JUNIPER BITTERS!

i have infused vodkas before, but never with JUNIPER! this sounds AWESOME!!

2 tbs fresh juniper berries

2-4” rosemary branches

2-4” thyme branches

2 tsp black peppercorns

1 pint vodka

1/4c dried juniper berries

Combine all the ingredients, except dried juniper berries, in a pint glass jar with a lid. Store is a cool dark place for one month. After one month, strain the vodka, discard herbs, then add the dried juniper berries for a double extract. After two months, strain again and you’re ready for cocktails!

see her post and photos here

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1-21-12—
today i added 3/4 pint of vodka to a jar with many fresh and dried juniper berries, a teaspoonful of smoked black peppercorns, a giant pinch of dried rosemary, a sprig of dried basil from the garden, and a sprig of dried mint from the garden. i’ll be tasting this often – just to make sure it’s going ok…
1-22-12—
added a pinch of thyme.
1-21-12
my favorite infusion by far. even better than apple-strawberry-allspice vodka. left in for a few days, it’s an infusion. left in for a month, it’s bitters. a few drops will do. gin-like. wonderful!
4-12-12
forgot to mention that i temporarily gave up infusing vodka with things other than this, because this is so good.

maultaschen – black forest ravioli

this recipe is from black forest cuisine by walter staib.

he says this, accompanied by a gorgeous photo of them:
“whenever i think about maultaschen, i am home again. to me, this is the ultimate comfort food. this is my soul food. my mother would make piles of these ravioli in a single disciplined session, taking time and care with the dough and cutting it in various sizes to stuff with the meat filling. maultaschen can be large or small, sauteed as i suggest here, simmered in soup, or cut into strips and prepared like hash browns. sometimes my mother would float them in beef bouillon or chicken stock to make a delicious soup. personally, i will eat them anywhere at any time of day. in fact, when i used to travel home, my mother would prepare maultaschen especially for me and send my father to the airport, plate in hand. as soon as my feet hit the ground, i would begin to inhale them, at the same time thanking heaven that i was in the black forest.”

MAULTASCHEN

+dough
4 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
1 T + 1 t veg oil
1 T + 1 t salt

+filling
1 T unsalted butter
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 c soft bread crumbs
6 oz ground pork
6 oz ground beef
3 egg yolks
1 scallion, trimmed and finely chopped
1 T chopped fresh parsley
salt
pepper

+assembly
1 egg
2 T water
4 T unsalted butter

+process

1. MAKE THE DOUGH: pour flour into medium bowl and mix in egg yolks, eggs, oil, and salt. knead dough with hands until it comes together and can form stiff ball. rest dough in plastic wrap for 1 hour at room temperature.

2. MAKE THE FILLING: melt butter in frying pan, fry onions until translucent, set aside.

3. combine onion, bread crumbs, meat, egg yolks, scallion, and parsley, and season with salt and pepper.

4. ASSEMBLE MAULTASCHEN: bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. whisk together egg and water to make an egg wash. roll noodle dough on a lightly floured surface VERY thin (1/16 in) and cut into 12 6-in squares. divide filling among squares, brush edges with egg wash, and fold the four corners of each square into the center, pressing the seams firmly to seal.

5. drop the maultaschen, one at a time, into boiling water and cook for approximately five minutes. remove with a slotted spoon to an ice bath to cool. drain and set aside momentarily.

6. melt butter in a frying pan over medium-high heat. fry maultaschen until golden brown.

serve with potato salad

if you like his recipe, check out the book.