Recipes from Susan Jackson-Stein

photo from myrecipe.com

Yet Another Temptation

These are a temptation that canalmost be categorized as sin-ful. The humble kugel, anoodle pudding, is a staple ofJewish cuisine that has found aplace in the melting pot ofAmerican eating. No one isactually sure of its origins, butrecipes came over on the boatfrom Alsace, Poland and Ger-many. Some kugels are sweetdessert varieties, but most aresavory accompaniments to amain meal. American cookshave taken advantage of therichness of available ingredientsto create a myriad of exotic andrich kugels.

Below are two of my favorites.Everyone who has eaten themraves. (Note: Put a drip panunder the kugel to avoid spills.)

Pineapple Kugel 8 oz. Wide noodles, cookedand drained and rinsed4 Tablespoons butter, plusextra to grease baking pan3 eggs beaten slightly12 oz. Container cottagecheese 1-cup sour cream½ cup milk1 small can drained crushedpineapple½ cup sugar(Sugar and cinnamon fortopping, optional)Mix all the ingredients but thenoodles together. Then mix inthe noodles until thoroughlycombined. Put in a well-greased 8-inch baking pan.Cook at 350 degrees for about50 minutes.

Bloom Family SpinachKugel 8 eggs1 package wide noodles,cooked and drained2 packages chopped spinach,cooked, well drained andcooled6 oz. Melted sweet butter1-pint sour cream1 package dry onion soupmix*Ground black pepper1 can fried onions for toppingThoroughly beat the eggs. Mix ith sour cream, black pepperand dried onion soup mix. Addmelted butter a little at a timeso as not to “cook” the eggmixture. Mix in the cooledcooked chopped spinach. Stirthe spinach mixture into thenoodles.Put this into a buttered 13 x 9”Pyrex baking pan. Top with thefried onions. Bake at 350 de-grees for an hour and a half. (Ilightly cover this with foil forabout an hour, and then removeso as not to burn the onion top-ping.)

* There is salt already in thedried soup mix. Don’t add ex-tra until you’ve

Sweet Apple Kugel 1 package wide noodles,cooked and drained4 Tablespoons melted butter4 eggs beaten½ cup sugar1-cup cream cheese1-cup cottage cheese½ pint sour cream5 Granny Smith apples,peeled, cored and diced½ cup raisinsPreheat oven to 350 degrees.Pour the melted butter over thenoodles. Mix. Add the rest ofthe ingredients. Mix well. Putthe mixture into a 9x13”greased pan. Bake about anhour until the crust is golden.  Ilike to serve this at room tem-perature with hard sauce.

Hard Sauce Cream 1/3 cup butter until soft.Gradually add 1-cup confec-tioners’ sugar and 2 Table-spoons rum or cognac. Stir untilsmooth. Chill.