Kugel Calories

It’s Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, and as usual, we gather with Mr TBTAM’s family on the Saturday evening that is nearest to the actual holiday – a little custom I like to call “Celebrating the High Holy Days of Convenience.” It’s not exactly kosher, but it is sensible, and I highly recommend it for families spread between two cities – in our case, those cities being New York and Philadelphia. Everyone is always able to come to dinner, and those who want can still celebrate with their spouses’ families on the proper day so no one feels slighted. The only downside to the custom is that if you do this at Passover, and are not careful, you can end up doing 3 Seders. This I do not recommend, especially if you have small children.

Dinner tonight was a group effort, with everyone making or bringing something. I made mushroom barley soup, Mr TBTAM made cucumber salad, Irene made the desserts and the top rib (didn’t you know top rib is the new brisket?), Mr TBTAM’s sister made the potatoes and the veggies, his cousin brought the Challah, and our niece made the Kugel (with Grandma’s help).

I don’t have time to share all the recipes, so I chose just one. This wonderfully delicious Kugel recipe came to Irene from a friend some years ago, although she has of course modified it. As she says, it is really more of a soufflé than a kugel, with a few noodles thrown in to keep it legit. It is deceptively light, its levity belying the ridiculously high fat content of its ingredients. However, I did a little calculating and was pleasantly surprised to find out that if you cut this recipe into 30 pieces, as we did, then each piece is only 154 calories!

So go on, have a piece (or two). It will give you a little extra fuel for your fast next week on Yom Kippur. For those of you who do not plan to fast, you can head over to Kalyn’s Kitchen for a little South Beach Diet atonement.

Happy New Year!
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KUGEL

8 large eggs
½ lb. cream cheese, room temperature, cut in small pieces
½ lb. melted butter, cooled
2 tsps. vanilla extract
1 pint sour cream
½ tsp. salt
½ cup sugar
3 cups fine egg noodles, cooked (about 2 cups uncooked)
½ cup raisins (optional)

In mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs and beat for 15 minutes. Add sugar, melted butter, sour cream, salt and vanilla extract and continue beating until smooth and well mixed. Fold in the cooked noodles and raisins. Pour into a greased 9 by 13 inch baking pan. Bake in 350 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes until just set. Allow to cool a little before cutting into squares. Check at 45 minutes. Depending on your oven it can get over done, especially if you use a pyrex pan, so watch it carefully.

Category: Food