Go ahead, make your Jewish mother proud!

This past Saturday marked the beginning of the most important period in the Jewish Calendar—the High Holy Days. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is the start of the ten day period of repentance and prayer that concludes on Yom Kippur (the “Day of Atonement”), a holiday that involves fasting, asking for forgiveness, and a plethora of services.

In honor of the holidays, this week’s recipe is for Kugel, a traditional Jewish dish that is frequently served at the end of a fast, but is absolutely delicious anytime! There is a huge variety of Kugel recipes, from sweet to savory, and every Jewish mother is certain she makes the best. But for our purposes, this recipe is for a basic Sweet Noodle Kugel, upon which you can elaborate if you’re feeling adventurous!

What You’ll Need:

• 16 ounces (400 gm) broad egg noodles
• 4 Tbsp. (50 gm) butter, melted
• 1 pound (500 gm) cottage cheese
• 1 pound (500 gm) sour cream or Israeli white cheese
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup crushed cornflakes
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup sugar

Optional (for the adventurous!):

• ½ cup raisins
• 1 tsp. grated lemon peel
• ¼ cup chopped nuts

Instructions after the jump!

What to Do:

1. Pre-heat oven to 350°
2. Cook egg noodles in boiling water, based on packaging directions
3. While the noodles cook, mix the cornflakes, cinnamon, and ¼- ½ cup sugar (as well as the nuts, if you added them) in a bowl
4. Drain the noodles and rinse with cold water
5. In a separate mixing bowl, mix the noodles, butter, cheese, sour cream, eggs, ½ cup sugar, and vanilla (as well as lemon peel and raisins, if you chose to include them)
6. Pour the noodle mixture into a greased 9×13 inch pan, and sprinkle the cornflake mixture evenly on top of it
7. Bake for about 1 hour, then enjoy!

Credit for this holiday recipe belongs to About.com’s Top Ten Kugel Recipes, where you can also find many other variations on how to make this delicious treat, including savory variations!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 at 4:09 pm and is filed under Leisure, Vox Populi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.