alright. we were playing the game good jew bad jew. now i'll be good jew. i will make a kugel. i will also go israel next week.
swhaaat?!
yes. which means that i'll have to say goodbye to you, and that i don't like.
but alas, it won't be forever and i will miss you and will try to shove lots of falafel balls and maybe a camel in my purse and try to make it through customs.
for now, we can just make some kugel.
sometime kugels are really weird. some can be pretty darn tasty.
i've had way more encounters with the weird ones even though they have so much delicious potential.
i must try and fix this.
do you know about kugel? it's one of those slightly-dessert-but-eaten-with-dinner type dishes.
it's made with noodles. wavy egg noodles. no boyz or spaghetti allowed.
the noodles are suspended in a cheesey sweet custard type situation.
there are tart dried cherries. they rule! throw some of those in there. people don't get annoying about dried sour cherries like they do about raisins.
caramelized apples. YES. yes. put apple pie-ish things into food. things can only get better. so this kugel has a layer of gooey cinnamon apples in the middle. this will heavily increase the chances of it being an awesome kugel instead of a weird one.
wanna know what else is weird? posting about kugel on new years.
but sometimes i make weird decisions and i'm running out of time before i depart and this needs to be shared.
because guess what.
this kugel trumped any kugel i've had. oh sweet success!
i think this could change kugel haters into kugel hoarders.
slap this on your "2012 to make list". make some different funky things.
what things are on your lists?
i want to make tamales and burrata and lots of infused alcohols.
but it's still 2011, let us enjoy this day! i'm going to go put a bow in my hair and make some crazy fudge because we should eat fudgy chocolate things on the last day of this crazy year.
Cream Cheese Noodle Kugel with Caramelized Apples
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
1 pound wide egg noodles
2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 pound (16 oz) creamed cottage cheese (or just small curd)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup salted butter, melted
8 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup dried sour cherries
caramelized apples:
2 apples, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
preheat oven to 350. grease a 9x13 baking dish.
parboil the noodles (5-7 minutes) and drain. in a very large bowl.
make the caramelized apples. melt butter in a skillet over medium-low heat. add the apples and the rest of the ingredients. saute the apples, stirring frequently, until they just turn tender, about 6-8 minutes. remove from heat and set aside.
beat cream cheese til fluffy. add cottage cheese and beat for another minute. scrape bowl down well. add sugar and combine, then melted butter. scrape down the bowl another time. add the eggs, one at a time, beating between additions. add cinnamon, vanilla and mix, then stir in dried cherries. finally, carefully fold in egg noodles.
pour half of the noodle cheese mixture into the prepared dish. top with the apples, spreading them out in an even layer. then pour over the remainder of the noodles. bake for one hour before checking to see if the center is set. it may need up to 30 minutes more. mine was done after about 1 hour and 20 minutes.