Use Your Noodle

All this recent talk of holidays and recipes has made me nostalgic and hungry.  So many holiday traditions get typecast, forcing us to limit our thoughts about those foods only around the appropriate holiday.  For example, I love turkey, but I only go through the trouble of roasting one for Thanksgiving.  In truth, it is an affordable and lean protein that keeps on giving for days afterward.  Every Thanksgiving I make a mental note to try buying boneless turkey breasts, allowing us to enjoy the flavors of fresh roasted turkey frequently throughout the year but with considerably less fuss.    Before I get around to doing this, however, it seems that Thanksgiving is once again upon us.

One holiday flavor from my childhood that I love is ‘Lokshen Kugel.”  Kugel means ‘pudding’ in Yiddish, and ‘lokshen kugel’ is a sweet pudding made from flat noodles.  It is a staple of Eastern European Jewish holiday tables, although as it is rich in eggs and dairy, traditionally it would not be served with meat.  Kugel finds its way into everything from observing Shabbat (the Sabbath), breaking the fast of Yom Kippur, and celebration of Shavuot—a holiday following Passover that commemorates the giving of the Torah.  Shabbat and Yom Kippur rely heavily on foods cooked in advance while Shavuot is celebrated traditionally with dairy products.  In our house, Lokshen Kugel makes an appearance year round.

I am surprised that lokshen kugel has not made its way into the culinary mainstream the way bread pudding and French toast (known in Iron Chef circles as “pain perdu”) have.  It uses a similar construction of custard and flavorings tossed and baked with a starch.  Strictly speaking, it is a sweet macaroni and cheese.   The noodles give it a luxurious texture, trapping the sweet essence within their folds.  It works just as well warm or cold.  The stripped down pure version (recipe below) is my favorite, but it could easily be dressed up with everything from raisins and chopped pineapple (traditional, but not good to my taste) to Medjool dates and pistachios.   Imagine a rich bourbon sauce or sweet crème anglais paired with it.  Kugel is not just for dinner anymore!

I make lokshen kugel and hide it in the refrigerator before my kids come home from college.  I don’t say a word; I simply wait for the deep sigh to emerge when it is discovered by hungry scavengers.  It is one of the few delights that will cause my vegan daughter to stray into the land of eggs and dairy.  I use it as reward for a job well done, or as motherly comfort after a tough day.  Even more importantly, it is one of those foods that perpetuates my cultural DNA, connecting me to generations long past and to landsleit dispersed across the globe. 

A brief technical note about the noodles:  You can use any broad, flat noodle, such as a type appropriate to serve with Beef Stroganoff or Goulash.  Pennsylvania Dutch Extra Broad egg noodles are acceptable, however, I find that they have become curlier in recent years.  The variety called “No Yolks,” which is an egg-free product, produces a nice wide noodle with a good taste, despite its missing ingredient.  Sometimes the kosher section of a supermarket will sell a broad egg noodle (Friedman’s is a good brand) that has the ideal width—about ¾ of an inch.  The wider and flatter noodles pack better in the baking dish, making it easier to cut the finished kugel into neat squares with a knife.  I have not yet challenged myself to make homemade egg noodles for my kugel, but hmmm, that's an idea!

Lokshen Kugel

1 lb broad egg noodles

4 eggs, separated, at room temperature

1 cup of butter or margarine, melted and cooled

1 lb. of cottage cheese

1 pint of sour cream

1 cup of sugar

¼ cup of graham cracker crumbs

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13” casserole dish.   

In a large pot of boiling water, cook the noodles to al dente according to package directions.  Drain.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites to stiff peaks and set aside.

Combine the wet ingredients (yolks, cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar) in a large bowl and mix together.  Add the cooked noodles and toss with the wet mixture until thoroughly coated.  Fold in the egg whites.  Do not overmix.

Turn the mixture into the greased baking dish.  Sprinkle the top with graham cracker crumbs.

Bake 45 minutes until the top is golden brown.

May be served warm, at room temperature, or refrigerated.  To serve, cut into squares.