Basic Sweet Parve Kugel

You asked for a basic kugel recipe.  For years I made Gloria Greene's tofu kugel, but I never got it to be moist enough, much as I loved the idea. I've found a copy online an pasted it at the bottom.  Maybe you can adapt it.
Basically there are 2 type of noodle kugels, parve and dairy.  The dairy ones are usually loaded with sour cream and not very healthy, though I'm sure there are a lot of other varieties.  I've just never been that into them.  For the parve variety, you need them to be moist, so they need a lot of fruit and oil.  Here's a basic version.  SPray the pan well, the crust is great but sticks like crazy.

8 to 10 oz. wide egg noodles
3 eggs, beaten well
½ c. sugar
lots of cinnamon
a dash of lemon juice
4 apples, peeled and chopped (that's what makes kugels a lot of work!)
½ c. margarine or vegetable oil
½ c. raisins
salt

Heat oven to 350°.  Grease a large pyrex pan, like a lasagne shaped pan, or a deep casserole.

Bring a big pot of water to a boil and cook the noodles.  They don't need to cook as long if you're baking them afterwards, usually the directions will be about 10 minutes.

Peel and chop the apples and put some lemon juice on them.

Beat the eggs in a small dish.

Drain the noodles.  You can  mix this all into the pot with the drained noodles - add the oil or margarine (it will melt on the hot noodles), sugar, apples, raisins, cinnamon,  & a little salt.  I always add beaten eggs last so the mixture is cooled and they don't coddle.

Pour into a greased or sprayed pan and bake for an hour or more, till browned.  One challenge with kugels is that the top often burns, so keep an eye on it.

Great for a potluck or shabbat/holiday dinner.


from The Jewish Holiday Cookbook by GLoria Kaufer Greene

Fruity Tofu Lokshen Kugel (Noodle "Pudding") 
8 ounces medium-wide egg noodles
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup orange juice, apple juice, or water
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 pound hard (firm) tofu, well drained and crumbled
1 large apple, finely diced (it is not necessary to peel it)
1 cup dark or light raisins
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)

Cook the noodles as directed on the package, then drain them well.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the eggs, oil, honey, juice, cinnamon, and salt unitl well combined. Mix in the tofu, apple, raisins, and walnuts (if used). Add the noodles and stir until completely mixed in. Turn out the mixture into a greased or non-stick spray-coated 7-by-12-inch or equivalent baking dish. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 45 minutes or until set. Serve warm or at room temperature

Makes about 8 servings.

Frittata with Chard & Sun Dried Tomatoes

This is a recipe from the Inqy - since we have been growing chard, I was happy to try it.  Trick is to make sure your flat large fry pan is oven-safe up to 500°.  It's nice for brunch, or a midweek dinner.
By J.M. Hirsch

Associated Press

It's a complete meal. It's easy. It's fast. It's versatile. A frittata is one of the best choices for a fast weeknight meal. Think of frittatas as scrambled eggs with other ingredients mixed in. And finishing it under the broiler creates a delicious, lightly browned top, especially if you toss a bit of cheese on it before popping it in the oven.

Chard and Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata

Makes 6 servings


6 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes,
plus a bit of oil from the jar
4 ounces sliced white button mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped chard
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese


1. Heat the broiler.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

3. Set a large oven-safe, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, onion, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of the oil the tomatoes are packed in. Saute until the onions are soft and the mushrooms brown, about 5 minutes. Add the chard; cook until just wilted.

4. Spread the vegetables in an even layer over the bottom of the pan. Pour the egg mixture over them, then cook, without stirring, for 4 minutes, or until the bottom has set. Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the frittata.

5. Transfer the pan to the middle oven rack and broil until the frittata is puffed, lightly browned and firm at the center, 2 to 3 minutes.

6. Remove from the oven; cool slightly before slicing.

Per serving:140 calories, 10 grams protein, 7 grams carbohydrates, 8 grams fat, 225 milligrams cholesterol, 340 milligrams sodium, 1 gram dietary fiber.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/food/20111020_Rush_Hour_Gourmet.html#ixzz1hCujlehq
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Maxine's Secret Egg Kichel Recipe

Maxine Liszt had a flair for the dramatic, being a red-headed, large, funny lady with a passion for Picasso.  She painstakingly painted copies of his famous paintings, seriously.  They were hanging all over her house.  Her husband Lawrence owned a ladies dress store, The Mary Elizabeth Shop.  Maxine felt it was her responsibility to be very well-dressed to advertise the store, and she did that with flair.  She was an exceptionally accomplished baker, devoting a lot of time and effort to crafting cookies.  Women had way too much time on their hands in the 50's and 60's, so that's how they spent it.
Maxine's kichel (pl. kichelach, but we never used the plural) were legendary.  In a semi-secret cupboard in her very modern house, which I now realize was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, was a stash of kichel, in a large plastic bin.  They kept a long time.  When friends dropped in, out came the kichel. I don't remember seeing them anywhere but Maxine's kitchen.  I think you had to be on close terms with the Liszts to merit kichel.  It was a big deal when she baked them for our wedding - they couldn't come, but sent a huge box.

On one of my trips home to Fargo in my early married years I talked Maxine into giving me a kichel demo, where I watched and took notes.  I then went back to my parents' house and replicated her technique.  When my dad saw the kichel, he couldn't believe his eyes.  That I had baked kichel that basically was indistinguishable from Maxine's?  A feat!  I don't think anything else I ever did impressed him in quite the same way.

These are an enormous amount of work.   But they are fun, and oh yes, they are incredibly delicious. Just the right sweetness, nice and crunchy, chewy and satisfying.  And pretty.  Maxine always said the burnt ones were the real delicacies.  I baked them for the family b'nei mitzvah.  Helen Koslow Sweig remembers Maxine and her kichel well.  They served them at the party for Aunt Sally and Uncle Rob when they got married in Fargo, 40 years ago!  The Liszts hosted the bridal dinner.  It was Dec 25th and not a restaurant was open in Fargo in those days.

This recipe is actually half of what Maxine baked.  For Jed and Anne's wedding I did the whole dozen eggs and it took FOREVER.

All ready to take these to
Shulamit Zissel's naming!
(this is a double recipe)

6 eggs, at room temperature
2 T. sugar
a dash of salt
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. brandy, sherry, or bourbon
~3 to 4 cups flour - it depends on how much the eggs absorb
+ Extra oil and sugar for the rolled out dough

In a large bowl, beat the eggs.  Beat in the other ingredients.  Add flour until it forms a stiff, stringy dough suitable for rolling out.  Unless you're using a MixMaster you will probably wind up doing this stage by hand.

Heat oven to 425° - though you might want to wait awhile, as the roll-out takes some time.

I tried using our marble counter, flouring the counter first, and it worked perfectly.  Otherwise, flour a large board. It is handy to have some sugar and a dish of flour - your hands will be full of sticky dough.

Divide the dough into thirds or quarters, rolling one out at a time. You need to stretch it by hand as well as roll it, as thin as possible.
Then comes the fun part.  Generously schmear oil over the flat dough plane.  Then pour sugar over it, spreading evenly and generously.  It is what gives the cookie flavor, and it carmelizes, so the surface needs to be nicely covered.

With a sharp knife or pizza wheel (saw that on YouTube!) make parallel cuts about 1.5 inches apart.  Then start cutting in the opposite direction to create diamond shapes.

Spray about 3 large cookie tins with oil.  Using the pizza wheel, lift up diamond and place the kichel on the tins.  You can dip them in sugar first to get more on the cookie surface. No need to worry about stretching them out, they puff up but don't really spread so you can put them pretty close together.


Put one filled tray on a lower rack.  Keep an eye on it while you repeat the roll out and cookie tin process.  When the cookies are puffy and starting to brown, move them to a higher rack, and add the new ones to the bottom.  Watch carefully because some will start to burn before the last ones are browned.

For the final cookie tin full, you can turn off the oven and leave them in another five minutes or so - a larger number of them will caramelize without burning.

PS One of the versions I saw online said you can use a pasta rolling machine to get really thin dough. That would be perfect.