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.

green dill matzoh balls

4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon vegetable oil or chicken schmaltz
1 cup matzo meal
1/4 cup seltzer water
2 tablespoons chopped dill
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more

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mix, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes, and then roll into balls. drop into boiling chicken stock, simmer for 40-45 min, or until tender and puffy.

recipe by Leah Koenig for epicurious

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I loved the dill in these! However, for me personally, these were not my favorite recipe. I have read that seltzer makes matzoh balls tender, but this recipe was more mushy than tender. Definitely edible, perfectly fine matzoh balls. I like a light, delicate “floater”, and I also like a dense and chewy “sinker”. This middle ground mush (a hoverer?) was not my favorite! Not sure if it was due to the proportion of eggs to oil to matzoh, or the seltzer, or what. This was my first time trying plain seltzer in matzah balls, and I am not sold on it.

I invested in a giant mess of discounted matzoh this year, so I will keep trying matzoh ball recipes throughout the winter. I’ll let you know if I find my ideal recipe!

Looking to use a whole mess of dill? Make these matzoh balls, and serve the soup with beet salad with dilled yogurt!

Looking to expand your Jewish cooking repertoire? This spicy melon berry and mint salad is surprising, and this latke recipe is traditional!

latkes

Found my old recipe journal. This one said only, “latkes: 2 eggs, 1 small onion, 1.5 lb. veggies –> 3 potatoes: 1 onion: 1 egg: 2 T. flour”

I’m going to try to interpret that into a recipe here….

1. Grate 3 potatoes (or a combination of beets, carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips.. for a total of 1.5 lbs)
2. Make your least favorite person grate one small onion, or half a large onion, because it will burn their eyes.
3. SQUEEZE the mixture and discard the liquid. This will make a much better texture in your latke.
4. Combine these in a large bowl with an egg, 2 T. flour (all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour mixes are fine,) and a lot of salt and pepper.
5. Heat canola or vegetable oil on medium-high heat. Smash latkes thin in the pan so they cook all the way through. Flip when you notice a little brown crust. If they stick, let them sit longer, or turn the heat up a bit.

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This is my classic, go-to latke recipe. I don’t make them a lot anymore, because they’re more effort than crunchy-top bleu cheese mashed potatoes or kartoffelsalat. But there’s something really special about a good potato pancake. If this is too basic for you, or not fun enough to say, try zachary’s falafelatke, a chickpea and potato pancake with a very fun name.

spicy minted melon and berry salad

found a bunch of recipes from when i first started cooking!

1/3 c sugar
1/4 c whole mint leaves
1 jalapeno, seeded, cut in half
1/2 honeydew melon, seeded (other melons are great, too) and cut into bite-sized pieces or balled (or both)
1 c blueberries or purple grapes, seeded
1 T lime juice
1 T chopped mint leaves

boil 1/2 c water with sugar, whole mint leaves, and pepper. simmer 5 mins. cool.

combine everything.

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from jewish food digest by yaoraha, 1998

simple pasta with krupnik (blood kishke)

kishke is one of my favorites. make sure to try kasha varnishka with kishke so you know the original. this recipe calls for krupnik, a kishke with beef blood, which i learned upon duckduckgoing it is more often used as a name for a spiced vanilla liquor.

this meal is impossible to mess up. the kishke may fall apart on you in the frying pan, but don’t give up. it’ll crumble in the pasta, anyhow. just throw it into the sauce!

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1 package pasta

1 pat lard/butter/coconut oil
1 onion
2 cloves roasted elephant garlic (or 4 cloves of regular-sized garlic)
half a roasted mild-hot pepper
a roasted eggplant
1 can diced tomatoes
1 splash cooking sherry
1 splash balsamic
1 splash acv
1 heavy pinch of fresh herbs (i used oregano, rosemary, and thyme in the sauce)

2 links krupnik sausage (kishke with beef blood)

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in saucepan, fry onions in fat. cook til translucent. add roasted garlic and pepper. stir fry few mins. add eggplant, vinegar, tomatoes, sherry, and herbs. salt and pepper to taste. the sauce is done when it tastes good.

in separate frying pan, cook krupnik until crunchy on the outside and creamy inside.

cook pasta in a separate pot and set aside.

add sauce and cooked sausage

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recipe by me

kasha varnishka with kishke

k. made this amazing meal tonight.

KASHA VARNISHKA

sautee tons of onions and mushrooms
when soft, add kasha*:broth 1:2 with:
balsamic
soy sauce
dill
just a little coriander
salt
black pepper
and a little mustard oil
stir in cooked bowtie pasta

* = some people coat kasha in egg white before cooking to keep it separated. we didn’t, and it did get a bit mushy.

KISHKE

we got some from the local sausage shop. fried slices until they got crunchy.