Noodle Kugel

Noodle Kugel is one of those things that every Jewish family has a recipe for, and although they're most likely similar, there are so many different variations. In general, it's a dish made by baking noodles with some sort of dairy mixture. Some recipes add fruits (like raisins or apples), others are just the noodle. When we were talking with my mother-in-law about Rosh Hashanah dinner, I knew I wanted to make something, so I offered to make a noodle kugel, remembering that I had a recipe for it given to me at my bridal shower (in addition to the regular gifts, guests were asked to fill out recipe cards which were then sorted and the cookbook was presented to me at the end of the day). In my head I thought 'I think I remember it was given to me by my Auntie Barbara". Well, I got home and looked in the book, and it wasn't from my Auntie Barbara, but my husband's Aunt Barbara, who was going to be at Rosh Hashanah dinner! I'm sure there are people out there who will make whatever recipe they have and not care if the originator is there, but I always feel awkward about serving someone their own recipe. Thankfully, I pulled out my copy of The Kosher Palette and found a similar-but-not-too-similar recipe to use.

It wasn't hard to make, just make sure you give yourself a day's notice, as it needs to set overnight (or at least 8 hours, so you could also just make it in the morning).  The original recipe called for 2 sticks of butter PLUS 2 more tablespoons for the topping.  That just sounded crazy, so I used a bit less.  Not that this sounds very heart healthy to begin with, but saving that extra bit of butter made my arteries feel a little better...

Noodle Kugel (slightly adapted from The Kosher Palatte)

Ingredients
8oz medium noodles
3 large eggs, separated
1 cup reduced fat sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup butter, melted
6oz 1/3 les fat cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup corn flake crumbs
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted


Directions
- Prepare noodles according to teh package directions; drain.
- Beat egg whites and sour cream at medium speed with an electric mixer.  Add sugar, butter, and cream cheese; beat until smooth.  Add egg yolks; beat until blended.  Fold in noodles.
- Pour noodle mixture into a lightly greased 13x9 inch baking dish.
- Combine crumbs, sugar, and butter; sprinkle on noodles.  Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.
- Remove from refrigerator and let stand 45 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Bake for 75 minutes.