Jewish Comfort Food: Noodle Kugel

Thanksgiving eats: Kugel's on the right, but where's the turkey? (Photo by Nagisa Kamae)

With appetizers, side dishes and amazing desserts, turkey sometimes seems beside the point at Thanksgiving. This year, our bird was extra large at 22 lbs. for only nine people (plenty of leftovers!). Plates filled quickly with side dishes: cornbread stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans with almonds, cranberry orange nut bread, salad, and noodle kugel--not to mention an amazing apple pie a la mode for dessert (we skipped the pumpkin pie!).

The kugel was my contribution, along with a strange-looking menurkey--a menorah shaped like a turkey--to commemorate Hanukkah arriving on the same day as Thanksgiving, supposedly for the first time since 1888!

Our menurkey! (Photo by Nagisa Kamae)

Kugel, a German word that means "sphere" or "ball," is a pudding-like casserole that is usually made of noodles or potatoes, eggs and dairy products. The noodle versions--called lokshen kugel for the Yiddish word for noodles--can be savory or sweet--and there are many variations, with heated debates erupting, often at the holiday table, over whose kugel is "the best"! I won't weigh in on that. I've tasted amazing kugel--and, like so many recipes, the last one I ate is usually the best.

Depending on the amount of sugar you add, and whether or not you use raisins or other fruit, a kugel can be almost dessert-like or have just a hint of sweetness and work well with a meal. For Jews who keep kosher and don't want to mix milk and meat, it might serve as the focal point of a brunch, along with bagels and lox. At our Thanksgiving, however, it worked just fine as a side. Leftovers, if any, are excellent for breakfast!

Here's the recipe I made, adapted from one I found on the food blog, Tori Avey. It uses ricotta instead of cottage cheese (which some will consider a sacrilege), and includes dried cranberries and raisins. I used only raisins, but you could add cranberries or other dried fruits, such as apricots or apples. I softened the fruit in a mixture of grape juice and water instead of the rum the recipe called for, but feel free to use the alcohol, which will mostly boil off in cooking. For those who prefer a less dessert-like kugel, the fruit is optional, and the amount of sugar can be reduced.

Holiday Kugel

(Adapted from Tori Avey recipe)

About 15 servings

1 cup raisins (optional)

1/2 cup apple or grape juice (optional)

1/2 cup water (optional)

12 oz. wide egg noodles

1 cup cream cheese, softened*

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

6 large eggs

2 cups sour cream*

1 cup ricotta*

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

3/4 cup cornflakes, crushed

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or more, to taste)

1 to 2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup walnuts or pecans (optional)

*You can substitute low-fat versions of any of these, though nonfat isn't recommended.

Directions

1. Preset oven to 350 degrees F. Put dried fruit, juice and water (or rum) in a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 15 minutes. Drain and allow to cool.

2. Cook noodles until soft, taking care not to overcook. Rinse in cool water and drain well.

3. Using a mixer, food processor or blender, mix together (on low to medium speed for mixer, pulsing for food processor or blender) cream cheese and sugars until well combined.

4. Add eggs one at a time, incorporating each before adding the next. Add sour cream, ricotta, butter, vanilla, cinnamon and salt, and mix until smooth.

5. Combine noodles with the liquid mixture. Add raisins, if using. 

6. Spray a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour mixture into the dish making sure to spread it evenly on the dish. At this point, if you're having guests later in the same day or the next, it's possible to cover the uncooked kugel and let it sit overnight, baking the next day. Some kugel recipes actually recommend this step.

7. If you're using the cornflake topping, crush the cereal with a rolling pin. Then add cinnamon, sugar and nuts, if using. Sprinkle evenly on top of the casserole. Some variations call for using crushed graham crackers instead of cornflakes. You can also just use cinnamon and sugar--or no topping at all!

8. Bake for 60 minutes, turning halfway through. The kugel should be golden brown on top and the center should be firm. Let the kugel rest for 15 to 20 minutes before slicing. It can be warmed in a low oven before serving.

If you've got a family recipe for kugel you wish to share, please feel free. I make no claims to making "the best," as undoubtedly the one your mother or grandmother served will trump mine any day! And that's as it should be. 

Thanksgiving Reflections

I have no memory of spending a single Thanksgiving at my parents' house when I was a child or even as an adult. I don't remember my mother ever preparing a turkey, though in a tattered, notebook filled with her handwritten, stained and sometimes unreadable recipes, there are several for turkey, along with side dishes obviously linked to the holiday, such as baked cranberry relish and pumpkin pie; clearly, we always went to someone else's house for this quintessential American holiday.

A well-worn page from my mother's notebook, with recipes for
coffee cake, pineapple tsimmes, stuffed cabbage and a jello mold

My parents were immigrants--my mother from Glasgow, Scotland, and my father from Karlsruhe, Germany--and the holidays that filled our house with food and family were usually the Jewish ones--Hanukkah, Passover and Friday night sabbath. The foods that my mother prepared evoked a mix of Jewish, English and occasionally German or Russian traditions: roast beef, fish and chips, red cabbage and apples, bagels and lox, mandelbrot (a dry almond cookie that's quite similar to a biscotti), rhubarb pie and a constant staple at our house, pound cake with candied ginger. Most of the recipes in the dilapidated notebook carry the names of relatives and friends who shared them with my mother.

A family celebration in my parents' backyard in Palo Alto

Flipping through the pages is like taking a stroll down an echoey hallway hearing voices from a long-vanished past filled with parties, laughter and, always, delicious, bountiful food. At a time of year when it's hard not to wax nostalgic for distant celebrations and loved ones who are no longer with us, my mother remains a constant presence and inspiration in the kitchen, even when I make recipes that were never in her repertoire and prepare to celebrate the coming holidays with another generation of friends and relations. Isn't this what Thanksgiving is all about?

My beautiful mother Flora in 1963

Thanksgivukkah: Rare 2-in-1 Holiday Mash-up

A Thanksgivvukah poster from the people at Modern Tribe,

Last year, Hanukkah arrived about two weeks after Thanksgiving--and for me that was already too soon. We'd just had our traditional family feast at my mother-in-law's house--and before I could take a breath, I was up to my elbows in potato latkes, brisket and rugelach for my annual Hanukkah gathering. This year, the schedule's even more challenging. For the first time in 125 years, the first day of Hanukkah coincides with Thanksgiving. Oy!

Menurkeys are hot right now.
 (Photo credit: New York Times) 

The Web is alive with stories of this rare holiday mash-up. It's even got its own name--Thanksgivukkah--along with Facebook and Twitter accounts and a Wikipedia entry. There are Thanksgivukkah cards, posters, coloring books, even a rap song and Thanksgivukkah-themed nails. A turkey-shaped menorah called a Menurkey, dreamed up by a precocious 9-year-old kid from New York City, is flying off the Internet--not to mention the little ditty that goes along with it ("Thanksgiving and Hanukkah, come light the Menurkey. Once in a lifetime, the candles meet the turkey."). There's even a parody trailer in which the twofer celebration gets extended for eight days, with two families--one Jewish, one gentile--locked together in turkey/latke hell.

 YouTube Video screen shot of Thanksgivukkah gone amok.

Since the two holidays apparently won't coincide again until the year 79811, Thanksgivukkah has become a magnet for media, marketers, comedians and, yes, food bloggers like yours truly. What could be more fun than trying to dream up a menu that combines the flavors of these two food-centric holidays? After all, they're eminently compatible--more, I think, than Christmas and Hanukkah, two holidays that we're used to seeing converge at the end of December. The possibilities are endless, and dozens of recipes are popping up on the Web: Manischewitz-brined turkey, challah chestnut stuffing and pumpkin tsimmes are just a few that caught my attention.

Thanksgivukkah Pumpkin Tsimmes from food writer Jennie Schacht

I haven't yet figured what to bring to my mother-in-law's and whether to tone down my Hanukkah party--or ignore the calendar and delay the celebration until late December--when perhaps we'll toast the usual Chrismukkah mash-up instead. But ultimately, tradition must triumph (in this case, two traditions!), so we will have our latkes and turkey on November 28, perhaps mixing some cranberries into the applesauce and adding a pinch of pumpkin spice. Then later, a post-Hanukkah celebration. We might call it Un-Hanukkah and hold it in the holiday-free pause between Thanksgiving and Christmas. But I'm covering my bets by buying a Menurkey and some candles in varying shades of pumpkin. Oh, yes, and a turkey dreidel!

Gobble tov!