"Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me"

Week 1 of 52: Peach Noodle Kugel

One of my defining characteristics (a few others being my insane hair, my eccentric accessories and my ability to be both supremely organized and consistently late) is my skill as a baker. My cookies and cakes are always well-received, but the following dish seems to be kryptonite for just about anyone who tries it. Forget anything you read in How to Win Friends and Influence People; this recipe is a pretty much a surefire way to get people like you.

I needed to make dinner to keep with my New Year's resolution about cooking once per week, so I decided to start with something that was already in my cooking arsenal. I've found that many people have never heard of kugel (especially not of the peach-and-noodle variety), but apparently it is a popular Jewish side dish. My family isn't Jewish, but I grew up eating it. Admittedly, if I'd known what was in it as a child I probably would have refused to consume it.

No one ever trusts me when I rave about it, especially once I've explained the recipe to them. Sour cream? With noodles? And sugar? I suppose it's a good thing most people consider it a food adventure, swallow their fear, and swallow it anyway.

This is meant, I think, to be a side dish or a dessert, but I often make it as a main dish (and probably consume more of it than is really healthy to eat in one sitting). So, here we go. With pictures:

Peach Noodle Kugel

Ingredients:

*8 oz cottage cheese (I use fat-free)
*2 eggs, beaten
*1 stick melted margarine
*8 oz sour cream (I use fat-free)
*1 cup sugar
*1 tsp. salt
*1/2 lb. of egg noodles (I usually use the medium size)
*Cinnamon
*1 8 oz. can sliced peaches, drained


Instructions:

1. Boil noodles for 6 minutes and drain.


2. Combine cottage cheese, eggs and margarine in a large bowl.

3. Combine sugar, sour cream and salt in another large bowl.


4. Add noodles to sugar, sour cream and salt mixture. Mix well.

5. Add noodle mixture to cottage cheese, eggs and margarine mixture.




6. Pour into greased 9 x 13 casserole dish.

7. Sprinkle with cinnamon to taste.


8. Arrange peaches on top. (Note: I usually slice the peaches a bit thinner than the way they are sliced in the can so they cover more area and aren't too heavy).


9. Bake at 300 degrees for 90 minutes (1 1/2 hours). Then, EAT!

Another great thing about this recipe (beside the fact that it's ridiculously easy) is that it's fairly cheap. Most of the ingredients are things I always have in my kitchen (eggs, margarine, salt, sugar), and it only cost me about $5 to but the sour cream and cottage cheese. I happened to have egg noodles on hand, but they're fairly cheap and come in 1 lb. packages (which is enough to make kugel TWICE). Plus, if you're making the dish for one or two people, it will probably feed you for a week!

Gratuitous additional photo:

So there you have it. Voila! Delicious, if not all that nutritious. I'm pretty sure next week's menu will include C's Ham Cup with Egg and possibly a Salmon and Sweet Potato Quiche I found a recipe for if I'm feeling adventurous!