In the days of the ancestors, it was decreed that the whole
people should gather in a solemn assembly to celebrate the Lord’s creation, and
to begin the Days of Awe.
And the Lord said to the people, “Thus shall you
celebrate: by preparing a sweet mixture
of eggs, sour cream, sugar, wide egg noodles and dried fruit of the vine. And you shall call this mixture noodle
kugel. From this day forward you and
your children and your children’s children shall partake of this meal.”
And the mother-in-law said to the daughter-in-law: “You shall make my noodle kugel recipe, for there is no other that will please my
son. I have decreed it.”
And the daughter-in-law undertook to do as she was
instructed to do. She approached this
task with joy, saying, “At last, a Jewish recipe that does not involve chopping
everything into little bits or cooking a hunk of meat for hours.” But lo, her mother-in-law’s recipe for noodle
kugel listed not all of the ingredients. It was not clear if it required ½ an ephah or
¼ an ephah of sugar. It gave not the
baking temperature; neither did it tell the type of baking pan to use.
And so the daughter-in-law set out to gather unto her all
manner of noodle kugel recipes. She took
butter of kine, egg of chicken, cream of sour, wide noodles of egg, and brought
forth a fine noodle kugel in a lordly dish.
And she saw that the thing pleased her husband.
As the years passed, the daughter-in-law began to be
horrified at the fat content of the noodle kugel and at the vast quantity the
recipe made. The heart of her husband was not well within him. Seeking to do her husband good, like a
merchant ship she launched forth and communed secretly with Google to find a
healthier and smaller recipe.
And so, at the beginning of this year 5775, the husband
spake unto his wife, saying, “Lo, the high holidays are upon us. It is my fondest wish that we should have
noodle kugel during this time of festive convocations.”
And so she girded her loins with strength, and assembled
lower-fat ingredients; she set to cooking.
Eating not the bread of idleness, while the noodle kugel was baking she
went outside and raked a multitude of leaves to the top of the hill.
Looking well to the ways of her household, she served the
noodle kugel. And lo, her teenaged child
arose up, and called her blessed; her husband also, and he praised her, saying,
“Now this is the only dish which is not made better by adding cream of mushroom
soup. Many daughters-in-law have done virtuously, but thou
excellest them all."
Favor is deceitful,
and beauty is vain: but a woman that maketh a good low-fat noodle kugel, she
shall be praised.
- The Book of Comestibles 31:10-31
Noodle Kugel
Makes one 9x9 square pan.
1 cup cottage cheese (lowfat is fine)
1 ½ cups (12 ounces) sour cream (lowfat is fine)
1 ½ Tablespoons
milk
3 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup raisins, or
chopped apple, optional – I use both
8 ounces wide egg
noodles
cinnamon and
sugar for topping (mix together 1 Tbsp sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon)
¼ cup corn
flakes, crushed
Grease a 9x9 square baking pan. Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cook the egg noodles in a large pot of water till tender.
Drain.
Meanwhile, mix in a very large bowl the first 7 ingredients.
Combine with the cooked noodles, and turn into the baking pan.
Top with some cinnamon and sugar, and also some crushed
cornflakes if you like. Bake in a 350 oven for about 45 – 60 minutes. Cut
into squares to serve.
Makes 12 servings.
(If you use 1% cottage cheese and low-fat sour cream, each
serving is 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus.)
