With Rosh Hashanah just around the corner, I have begun to cook and freeze entrees and side dishes for our annual family festivities. Hosting 25 adults, plus their accompanying children, requires as much preparation in advance as possible. These individual kugels are easy to make, freeze well, and toast up nicely. The individualizing also ensures my husband won’t scoop up more than his share, leaving our guests without the yummy goodness that is savory kugel.
The process of making this dish reminds me of raising my son. It starts with tears. Tears from the joy of his birth and starting our family, and tears from chopping the onions. Cooking the mushrooms slowly, letting the essences develop into a sauce that will flavor the entire dish, is like teaching my son that being a good person will lead him to have a good life. Adding the sour cream adds tangy sweetness to the kugel, as each night’s bed time routine is sweetened with a new book or extra snuggle. And the noodles. The noodles must be well seasoned to balance all the flavors, just as I try to season my son by educating him about other cultures and customs, helping him grow into a well-balanced adult. Without the eggs, what would hold the kugel together? Their protein rich goodness holds everything together as children hold families together. Sure, both kugel and families can be made without this ‘glue,’ but for me, both are essential.
Kugel Kupcakes
Makes approx. 36 individual kugels, or two 9”x13”x2” casseroles
Ingredients
3 large onions, chopped into ½” pieces
24 oz sliced crimini mushrooms
5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 tablespoon truffle oil – optional, but really adds flavor
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
16 oz. sour cream
16 oz. large curd cottage cheese
2 large eggs
Two 16 oz bags of Wide Egg Noodles
More salt as needed
Directions
1. Cook egg noodles according to package directions, but add the tablespoon of salt to the water. After you drain, toss with truffle oil.
2. Heat oven to 400 F.
3. Heat a saute pan over medium with 2 tablespoons of veg. oil, add onions and a sprinkle of salt to get them to sweat. Cook 5-7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until golden brown. Pour into large bowl and set aside.
4. Re-heat the same pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and add 1/3 of the mushrooms and another sprinkle of salt. Saute slowly, turning only once browned. If you try to cook all of the mushrooms at once, there is a good chance they will be too crowded to brown. Add to the onions in the big bowl, and repeat twice with the remaining thirds of the mushrooms.
5. Add the sour cream, cottage cheese, and pepper to the mushroom and onions. Mix well. Add the eggs last to ensure they don’t get scrambled. Now pour in the truffled egg noodles and fold to coat evenly.
6. Use a muffin tin, filling each cup all the way with the mixture. Or pour into two casserole dishes.
7. Bake at 400F for 25 min, or until lightly browned on top.
8. Allow to cool on the counter for 1 hr. Loosen the individual kugels by running a knife along the edge, then place into a tupperwear and head to the freezer. The casseroles can be left in their dishes if they are freezer safe.
9. To reheat, place individual kugels on sheet tray and place in oven preheated to 350 F for 20 min, or until heated through. Casseroles make take up to 40 min to re-heat.
Enjoy!
Written by Ebony Goldsmith, Assistant to Marketing and Communications
Last Edited by Ebby at 11/3/2014
The process of making this dish reminds me of raising my son. It starts with tears. Tears from the joy of his birth and starting our family, and tears from chopping the onions. Cooking the mushrooms slowly, letting the essences develop into a sauce that will flavor the entire dish, is like teaching my son that being a good person will lead him to have a good life. Adding the sour cream adds tangy sweetness to the kugel, as each night’s bed time routine is sweetened with a new book or extra snuggle. And the noodles. The noodles must be well seasoned to balance all the flavors, just as I try to season my son by educating him about other cultures and customs, helping him grow into a well-balanced adult. Without the eggs, what would hold the kugel together? Their protein rich goodness holds everything together as children hold families together. Sure, both kugel and families can be made without this ‘glue,’ but for me, both are essential.
Kugel Kupcakes
Makes approx. 36 individual kugels, or two 9”x13”x2” casseroles
Ingredients
3 large onions, chopped into ½” pieces
24 oz sliced crimini mushrooms
5 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
1 tablespoon truffle oil – optional, but really adds flavor
1 tablespoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
16 oz. sour cream
16 oz. large curd cottage cheese
2 large eggs
Two 16 oz bags of Wide Egg Noodles
More salt as needed
Directions
1. Cook egg noodles according to package directions, but add the tablespoon of salt to the water. After you drain, toss with truffle oil.
2. Heat oven to 400 F.
3. Heat a saute pan over medium with 2 tablespoons of veg. oil, add onions and a sprinkle of salt to get them to sweat. Cook 5-7 minutes, tossing occasionally, until golden brown. Pour into large bowl and set aside.
5. Add the sour cream, cottage cheese, and pepper to the mushroom and onions. Mix well. Add the eggs last to ensure they don’t get scrambled. Now pour in the truffled egg noodles and fold to coat evenly.
6. Use a muffin tin, filling each cup all the way with the mixture. Or pour into two casserole dishes.
7. Bake at 400F for 25 min, or until lightly browned on top.
8. Allow to cool on the counter for 1 hr. Loosen the individual kugels by running a knife along the edge, then place into a tupperwear and head to the freezer. The casseroles can be left in their dishes if they are freezer safe.
9. To reheat, place individual kugels on sheet tray and place in oven preheated to 350 F for 20 min, or until heated through. Casseroles make take up to 40 min to re-heat.
Enjoy!
Written by Ebony Goldsmith, Assistant to Marketing and Communications
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