Recipe: Noodle Kugel

Years ago when I was working in a local department store shoe department, I worked with two women who were fantastic cooks… Ida and Shirley… well.. Ida and Shirley would bring in Noodle Pudding.. aka Noodle Kugel.. fairly often too… I have no idea how I managed to stay thin back then… Noodle Kugel is positively addicting!

The recipe is fairly simple… there are many variations … but the basic recipe is the one I’m posting today. Some people like it very sweet … others … not so much… some people add fruit… some add raisins. I’ve kept the recipe as close as I could to how I remembered Ida and Shirley’s … that wonderful treat they would bring in to work for us.

TIPS

I used my standing mixer because I think it’s just easier that way… you can use a hand mixer … or mix it by hand.. I like my pudding creamy … some people like to keep the lumps of cottage cheese in there.. it really is up to you and what you prefer.

You can use either small or large curd cottage cheese.

I give a range of sugar amounts… I use ½ cup of sugar.. it’s sweet but not overly sweet… if you prefer your desserts sweet… then use ¾ of a cup.

I recommend you use the real deal when it comes to the ingredients… real butter, 4% fat cottage cheese and regular sour cream… you won’t be sorry… it just makes the pudding so much better.

The easiest way to mix the noodles with the pudding mixture is to dump everything back into the pot you boiled the noodles in… it’s easy and one less bowl to clean.

I sprinkle Cinnamon Sugar over the top… I keep my own blend in a small jar… you can use a commercial blend.. or make your own… making your own is simple and so much cheaper… click the link for my recipe.

I hope you try this wonderful Jewish dessert!






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Recipe: Noodle Kugel

All you need:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) extra wide noodles
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups cottage cheese
2 cups sour cream
½ - ¾ cup sugar *see TIPS
6 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¾ cup raisins
Cinnamon Sugar
Cooking Spray, butter flavor preferred

All you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking oil spray and set it aside.




Boil the noodles for 4 minutes and drain.









In a large mixing bowl, using the wire whisk attachment, beat the eggs lightly.

Add the vanilla, cottage cheese, sour cream, and cinnamon. Mix at low speed until well mixed.

Add the melted butter and continue to mix for a minute.




Add the noodles back into the pot you cooked them in.

Add the raisins and mix well.

Add the pudding mixture and mix well.





Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle the top with the cinnamon Sugar.

Place dish on a foil lined baking sheet (to prevent any spillage from getting into your oven).


Bake at 375 degrees for 35-45 minutes (mine took 45 minutes) or until pudding is set and the top is golden brown.

Recipe: Cheese Blintzes

I love Cheese Blintzes… and have ever since I was a little girl. My Mom would make them periodically for supper with a bowl of soup…. The crisp outside and the warm delicious cheese filling… topped with sour cream… I was in heaven.

My Mom used the frozen variety… and as I got older and ate out with my friends or dates (specifically my husband when we were dating), we’d often go to Jewish delis.

The New York deli is unmatched… I’ve lived in numerous places and traveled enough to sample it elsewhere… but nothing comes close to a New York Jewish deli…. okay.. some have come close… put truth be told… they were usually New York transplants…. (I’m sure I’ll get some reaction from that statement)…

Anyway before I get totally off track here… a lot of these delis would have a restaurant portion of the store… and Blintzes would invariably be on the menu…. and these were not the frozen variety… these blintzes made the frozen type pale in comparison… topped with sour cream… well… just heaven on earth.

So just what are blintzes?… well ….they’re a crepe of sorts with fillings… usually cheese or a fruit type… sometimes potato (those are terrific with applesauce)… the crepe is rolled up and then fried in oil so the crepe becomes a bit crisp.

For a little history....

The English word blintz comes from the Yiddish word blintze, which in turn comes from the word blin which has Slavic origins.

According to Wikipedia…. Blins had a ritual significance for early Slavic people in pre-Christian times since they were a symbol of the sun, due to the round form (mine were never round.. but we’ll continue right along with the history)….They were traditionally prepared at the end of winter to honor the rebirth of the new sun (Butter Week… I like the name of that… Paula Deen are you listening?). This tradition was adopted by the Orthodox church and is carried on to the present day.

Blintzes were made popular in the United States by Jewish immigrants who used them in Jewish cuisine. They are traditionally served on holidays such as Chanukah (when oil played a pivotal role in the miracle of the Chanukah story) and Shavuot (when dairy dishes are traditionally served).

Blintzes are usually topped with butter, sour cream (my personal favorite), jam, honey or applesauce. A caviar filling is popular in Russian style cocktail parties.

My recipe for cheese blintzes is virtually the same as my Cheese Filled Crepes…. except they are rolled up and then fried in a bit of butter or oil until they’re a little crispy. The heat from cooking these also slightly changes the texture of the cheese filling… the filling becomes a bit smoother…

I topped these with a little blueberry pie filling and sour cream… actually… I’ll be honest… I pigged out a little… I had a couple with just sour cream too. Ahhhh… life is good.

TIPS

I made mine using my beloved crepe pan…. but… it tends to be on the large side (about 8 ½ inch)… I usually prefer making my crepes for blintzes a little smaller (about 6 inch)… but these worked fine too….

You can fill blintzes with fruit pie fillings as well…. those are yummy too!

To make the crepes....see my previous posts ….the Crepes recipe and Crepe Making Tips.

They really aren’t hard to make… and you can make the crepes and filling ahead of time and just assemble and fry them when you want to make them.

I hope you try this delicious dish!






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Recipe: Cheese Blintzes

All you need:

Crepes
Oil or butter for frying
Sour cream for topping
Pie filling for topping (optional)

Cheese Filling Ingredients:

1 pkg. (7.5 oz.) Farmer Cheese
¾ cup sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt

All you need to do:

Make your crepes and stack them with waxed paper between each so they won’t stick to each other.

In a medium bowl mix the filling ingredients until well incorporated.




Fill each crepe up the center with about ¼ cup filling (amount will vary with the size of the crepe) leaving a wide border on all sides.







Fold in toward the center, the top and bottom.







Then fold one side over the center.








Then fold the other side toward the center.





Heat enough butter or oil to coat a large skillet over medium high heat.

Carefully place the blintz in the heated skillet and cook over medium high heat until the bottom is browned and crispy.

Carefully flip the blintz over and cook until the other side is browned and crispy.

Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels to get off the excess grease.

Serve hot with toppings.