"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!

A few thoughts on Gobo

Hi all,

So yesterday I was talking to k during lunch and she told me about her burger. At that point I had to give in. I'd had the gobo itch for a while and that was the alfalfa sprout that broke the weak lentil eating vegan's back. I forced Z to join me for dinner there last night. I called an hour ahead to make reservations and it worked out well enough. We had to push our plans back 15 minutes, but for 7pm on a Friday night in Manhattan that's not to bad.

Now, the dinner menu is far more expensive than the lunch menu, and as K pointed out in her post-there are definitely a few bombshells of mediocrity waiting to be ordered to ruin your experience. Happily I've had significant experience there, so here are a few tips for those who are thinking of going.
1. Never order anything Asian sounding. If it sounds like it would be good at a Thai restaurant, it won't be good here. These are also the things that are on the more affordable side. I think it's a secret ploy to scare away cheapskates.
2. Their beverages are overpriced. Furthermore, their coffee is terrible and their tea isn't loose leaf. You should know what you're getting if you order one, otherwise you might get pissed off at the beverage and it will detract from your dining experience.
3. Although I don't have extensive experience with their desserts, don't bother. If you want a good dessert go to a good dessert place.

As I lusted over the menu I thought to myself ... No, mwr (okay I didn't refer to myself as mwr in my head), you know that these are all good, but you HAVE to try something new. So I did. I got the kale, beet, seaweed salad. It was very well arranged on the plate, so I wish I had had a real camera to take a picture of it. The lighting was too low for my camera phone. There were amazingly toasted walnuts with little sesame seeds on them. They were quite sweet, which was really good since the seaweed was a bit vinegary. It was kind of like a taste war: the nuts were little covered wagons of sweet circling 'round the nasty sour injuns. What I mean to say is, although they complimented one another, the dish didn't 'blend' well. I had to manage my eating so that I would end on a walnut.
The kale was a good kale texture but nothing to blog about and the beet cubes were perfectly soft, but there weren't many of them.

Z got this soy-protein rolatini thing with spinach and mushroom inside. It was the winner of the night. These rested gently atop a mound of mashed taters that were DELICIOUS and had a nice green sauce the nature of which I couldn't identify. There was also a weird succotash-y thing that wasn't so great.

All of these leads me to one conclusion: Gobo does fake meat better than anyone else. If you eat there, order that. It's always more expensive (except the veggie-burger at lunch) but anything else and it's just not going to be as good (with the possible exception of the butternut squash risotto). It won't be bad per se, but it's not what makes gobo rant-worthy.

One last anecdote to drive that point home. I thought seitan was the greatest thing on earth after having it there. I didn't understand why anyone didn't like it. Then I had some at quantum leap and was crestfallen. Seitan isn't the greatest 'fake meat', they just make it perfect at Gobo. My mouth waters just thinking about it.

the best veggie burger i've ever had in my life

today, i experienced lunch ecstasy.

when i am unable to leave work for lunch, i often order off of Seamless Web. you just type in your address, pick a restaurant, and order your meal; all of that without any human contact! it's amazing. what's more amazing still is that the west village gobo is on the list of restaurants.

i've been sort of a casual gobo enjoyer. i've had a couple of mediocre experiences, so i'm usually the one throwing skeptical remarks out when mwr is raving. after today, however, i'll be right there raving with him.

i went out on a limb an ordered the home-made veggie burger, which comes with yam and yucca fries. the website had no description of the toppings, sauces, whathaveyou, but i put my faith in gobo and ordered.

the fries were heavenly. no salt, pepper, or ketchup needed. oh my god. so good. i HAD expected to put ketchup on the burger, until i looked inside...

hummus. there was hummus. hummus, sprouts, avocado (which i took off :( boo made up food allergies!), and tomato, all sitting on this perfect veggie burger patty. there are no words. it was so good. and for $9, it can and will become my lunch staple!

thank you seamless web. thank you gobo. thank you yams. thank you so much.

Why a sweet potato friend?

No, not because we represent the struggle man. Here's why:
http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=64


Also, this is just a really wonderful website about the nutritional content of all kinds of things you might be thinking about eating.

Egg Cup

Photo courtesy of broadwayceramics.com

Hey kids. Here is a handy little idea I picked up from the fam over the holidays. It's a great way to play hostess, and eat eggs!

You put thin slices of deli ham in a muffin tray (as many cups as you would like to make), and then some olive oil and fresh spinach at the bottom. Crack an egg in there, sprinkle on some cheese if you'd like, and pop in the oven. 10-15 minutes should do it, depending on how runny you like your eggs.

And you've got these adorable, individual serving egg cup things! Pretty cool, I think, and allows plenty of room for improvisation. Have fun!

Photos come first

I found this link to another blog courtesy of www.tastespotting.com, one of my favorite daily reads:

http://www.stephanievacher.com/blog/?p=73

I love that someone else finds this crucially important.

Hi Moto

My first meal out this new year, after having spent the past week holed up eating mostly pasta and eggs (which is totally fine), was at Moto in south ass Williamsburg. It just felt right to put on my golden pointy shoes and venture out of my Greenpointy cocoon for my first-time trip to the timeless establishment.

The weather was definitely cold and possibly foreboding, as the forecast called for a chance of sleet. Wandering back and forth beneath the roar of the JMZ; wondering where my date was and what direction to go in, I began to doubt if this outing had been worth my special occasion barrette after all. But soon we found each other and found ourselves underneath the hanging bike on the corner of Broadway and Hooper, suggesting we had arrived (Moto lacks any real signage advertising its modest existence). Finally finding our refuge, it felt as if we had stumbled into a secret; passed through some sort of hidden portal.

The quite cozy space was nearly empty at first as we snuggled into a table by the window (and by the bar and by the kitchen. It's tiny). The JMZ still rumbled overhead, but inside the noise seemed almost comforting, as if the city around us was snoring. While the streets of south Williamsburg aren't the most inviting , looking out the window of Moto they seem old-fashioned instead of discomforting. The decor inside reflects this as well: dimly lit with sepia-toned pictures on exposed brick; classic music playing that you can't quite place.

Soon after we arrived, others seemed to catch on and the place steadily yet unobtrusively filled up. My meal, a prosciutto and brie panini, was utterly delectable, but not quite as mouthwatering as similiar fare of yore. J was somewhat disppointed in his ribs: as a "southern" boy he has high expectations. However, in my opinion, the garlic mashed potatoes served alongside could more than make up for any meaty mistakes. Washed down with their reasonably priced draught beer, the meal was everything we could have hoped for.

After visiting the very neat restroom (downstairs, cool toilet, weird mirror) we knew it was time to face the elements. Back outside, the freezing rain stung our hands and we struggled to hear one another through our hoods and over the train. Yet we were fully sated, having finally re-entered the real world by briefly stepping into another.