"ATW80DS" .... kugel

Yesterday, our son was watching the cooking show and all of a sudden he said, "What is THAT?" I was stumped... I didn't know! We had to look it up and after doing so we both decided it would make a great dish for our travels.

Kugel's history starts out a little vague.  The name of the dish comes from the Middle High German kugel meaning "sphere, globe, ball", but the word kugel first appeared in Webster’s Dictionary in the early twentieth century, it was defined as “a suet pudding,” a characterization derived from similarities between kugel and British steamed puddings. During the Middle Ages, most foods were cooked on the hearth over an open fire, only some wealthy families owned a home oven, so this makes it difficult to really figure out where Kugel got started. But now it is simply known as a baked pudding or casserole, similar to a pie, most commonly made from egg noodles (Lokshen kugel) or potato. It is a traditional Ashkenazi Jewish dish, often served on Shabbat and Yom Tov.

 Ingredients

• 12 oz wide egg noodles (great use for leftover noddles)
• 6 large eggs
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 8 oz cottage cheese (1 cup)
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened (1 cup)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Cinnamon and sugar for dusting
• Nonstick cooking oil spray
• 1 cup raisins (optional) - you may substitute other fruits like craisins, dried chopped apricots, or chopped drained pineapple

Directions:

Place a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Cover the raisins with hot water and let them soak to plump while you prepare the other ingredients. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles to the pot, bring back to a boil, and let them cook till tender (not overly soft), about 5 minutes. Drain and return the cooked noodles to the pot.

In a food processor or blender, mix together the eggs, sour cream, cottage cheese, cream cheese, sugar, melted butter, and salt. Pour the egg mixture over the cooked noodles in the pot and stir till well combined. If you are adding any fruits add them now and Stir them into the noodles.

Spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking oil. Pour the noodle mixture into the dish. Top the kugel by sprinkling generously with sugar and lightly with cinnamon. Alternatively, you can use your favorite kugel topping (streusel, crushed graham crackers, cornflakes, etc.).

Bake the kugel for about 60 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking, till the center of the kugel is set and the tips of the noodles turn golden brown. Remove from the oven. Let the kugel rest for 15-20 minutes before slicing. Kugel can be served warm or cold.