Vadim's Kugel with Streusel Topping: Hannukah Part Two

You may be asking yourself a couple questions: Who is Vadim? And what is kugel?

Vadim Sagalchik is a high school friend of mine and the lucky winner of my awesome (albeit half-assed) Facebook contest to see who would be my 30th official follower on the blog!

His grand prize is a recipe that will forever be named after him, as well as a guest appearance on Cooking for One. Say hi, Vadim.




As for the second question, kugel is a sweet Jewish noodle dish. I have never really understood whether it is a side dish or dessert. Either way, it's delicious and super easy to make.

Though I wish I could give Vadim and his Belarusian heritage credit for this kugel recipe, I'm afraid it's gonna have to go to Emeril Lagasse, of all people. For some reason the guy has tons of Jewish food recipes on Food Network's website. Weird!

Artist's interpretation:




Anyways, kugel is fantastic. Enjoy!


Ingredients:

• 1 lb. wide egg noodles. You can use Manischewitz brand like I did to put you in a Jewy mood.

• 5 eggs

• 4 tbsp. butter. Emeril could give Paula Deen a run for her money.

• 1 lb. cottage cheese

• 2 cups sour cream

• 1 cup milk. COULD THERE BE ANY MORE DAIRY PRODUCTS IN THIS RECIPE?!

• 1/2 cup sugar

• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 big ole handful golden raisins. This is not in Emeril's recipe, but I love kugel with raisins in it! Plus this addition makes me feel less like a loser for putting someone else's recipe on my blog.

Topping:

• 1 cup light brown sugar

• 2 cups pecan pieces

• 1 tsp. cinnamon

Traditional Jewish kugel does not have the streusel topping and you can leave it off if you like, but I think it adds beautiful color and flavor.


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350. Put a big pot of water on the stove to bring up to a boil and beat your eggs in a large bowl.




Whisk in your cottage cheese, sour cream, milk, sugar, vanilla, and raisins. In a separate small bowl, mix together your streusel topping: brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon.




Once your water is boiling, add your egg noodles and cook according to the directions on the bag or box. I would recommend draining the pasta a minute or two before it is completely cooked cause it will cook more in the oven too.

When the noodles are ready, drain them and add them back into the pot. Stir in your butter and let it melt into the noodles. Resist the urge to forget the kugel and simply eat the buttered noodles. Resist!




Once the noodles have cooled down a bit, stir in your dairy mixture.




Butter a 9 X 13 baking dish and spread the noodles into it in an even layer. Sprinkle the streusel topping over it.

Bake in the oven for about an hour or until the whole mixture is set like a custard. The recipe called for an hour, but mine actually took more like an hour and a half, so maybe it depends on your oven? Or maybe my handful of raisins added an extra half hour of cooking time? I don't understand these things.




Spoon a big helping onto your plate and enjoy hot or at room temperature as a side dish or dessert. Choose your own kugel adventure!




Do YOU eat kugel as a side dish or a dessert?