Cranberry-Apple Kugel

Kugel is one of those dishes I remember fondly from childhood. My grandmother would make it occasionally and it was always a treat. I took her recipe and changed it up to make it a little more Winter seasonable. The end result is a sweet and tart kugel that is the perfect end to most meals. The bonus of this recipe is that you can fine every ingredient at ALDI. The Fried Apples may be a problem outside of the fall/winter season, but there's workarounds. If you've had kugel before, this is a nice change from the raisin/pineapple you may be used to. If you've never had kugel before, you're in for a treat. As always, notes are in blue.

Cranberry-Apple Kugel

Ingredients

• 1 lb. wide egg noodles
• 4 cups fresh cranberries
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 1 can (14.5 oz) ALDI Fried apples with cinnamon. (this may be tough to find, especially out of season. If you can't find it, use an equal amount of canned apples, or in a pinch, apple pie filling)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 lb. small curd cottage cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F (191C, GasMark 5)
2. Cook noodles 1 less minute than suggested on the package. Drain and set aside.
3. Chop cranberries (if you have a food processor, just save yourself the anguish and pulse them a few times in there) Throw the cranberries in a large bowl. Add sugar and mix. Let that sit for a few minutes.
4. Add the apples, butter, eggs and cheese to the cranberry mixture. Stir to mix it all up. 
5. Add the noodles and toss to make sure everything is evenly incorporated. 
6. Dump it all in a greased 13x9 baking dish. Make sure it's distributed in an even layer.
7. Cook for 40 minutes or until the noodles on top start to get brown and crisp.
8. Remove from oven and let sit at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Good Times!

Cottage Cheese Bread

It's been a long time since I've bought a loaf of bread from the store. Baking fresh bread on a Sunday has become a favorite activity in my house. The Spud loves to help with the dry ingredients and is mystified by the rising of the dough. She is under the impression that if she kisses the dough, that provides the magic to make it rise for baking. No clue where she got that idea. We like to keep a basic loaf available for sandwiches and toast. Normally I used a Dill-Seed bread recipe, and just left out the dill. However, that, and many other of our standard loaf recipes called for whole-wheat flour. If the pandemic lockdown has caused any odd impact, it's that I absolutely can't find whole-wheat flour anywhere in two counties. I wound up altering the recipe and came up with a very serviceable white bread that is great for sandwiches and toasts very well.

Cottage Cheese Bread
adapted from James Beard's Dill-Seed Bread recipe

Ingredients

• 1 package fast-rising yeast
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 cup warm water (100-115F, 38-46C) 
• 1 cup cottage cheese at room temperature
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 cups white flour

Directions

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar. Proof for about 5 minutes.
2. Add cottage cheese and egg to the yeast mix.
3. In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and baking soda.
4. Add flour to wet mix and mix/knead until you get a slightly sticky, but elastic dough (I did this in my Kitchenaid and it took about 4-5 minutes to get the right consistency. By hand it would likely take 10 or more minutes)
5. Put dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let it rise to double in size (about an hour)
6. Punch down dough and place in a greased loaf pan. Cover and allow to rise to double size again (about another hour)
7. With a super sharp knife, run a slit down the center of the loaf.
8. Place in a preheated oven at 375F (190C, Gasmark 5) for 40 minutes.
9. Cool on a wire rack

Good times!

Kugel (Noodle Pudding)

     There are certain things that I always associate with my childhood. Hot Wheels. Saturday morning cartoons. Getting hit in the face with a ball because you've played outside until it's too damned dark to see anymore. If there's a food I connect with my childhood, it's kugel. If you're from a Jewish family, you know what a kugel is. If not, I'll explain. It's basically a baked noodle pudding. They can be sweet or savory, depending on the ingredients. This particular recipe is from my grandmother on my father's side, and is most certainly of the sweet variety. When I was little, she would make kugel most times I came to visit. To this day, it's one of my favorite recipes. It's pretty versatile. I've served at a side, a dessert and occasionally for breakfast. You can serve it hot or cold. As always, notes are in blue.

Kugel

Ingredients

• 1 lb wide egg noodles
• 1 lb small-curd cottage cheese
• 3 medium eggs
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), cut into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons confectioner's sugar (no clue as to why my grandmother used confectioner's sugar. I guess it incorporates easier. There's really nothing stopping you from using regular white sugar. Now that I think of it, brown sugar might be pretty good in this)
• 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, drained (I save the juice in a container in the fridge. It comes in handy for cocktails later!)
• 6 ounces golden raisins
• 1-2 teaspoons cinnamon (I generally just eyeball measure the cinnamon, so that's why there is some range on the measurement. Use more or less depending on how much you like cinnamon)
• Corn Flakes/Frosted Flakes (If you like sweet, give Frosted Flakes a try. I've done it before and it was pretty good. Or you could go crazy and toss a layer of Cinnamon Toast Crunch over the top!)

Directions

1. Cook noodles to just shy of done. 
2. Mix all ingredients except corn flakes in a large bowl.
3. Spread into a greased baking dish (around 15"x10"x2")
4. Cook at 375F until top gets crispy (about 30 minutes, give or take). Sprinkle corn flakes over top and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Good Times!