The Thanksgiving Kugel: Gluten-Free Noodle Kugel with Cranberries

I haven't been inspired by Thanksgiving yet this year, which explains the lack of Thanksgiving mania on this blog. But tonight I think the bug finally bit me, if only mildly.

This past spring I posted my recipe for Savory Gluten-Free Noodle Kugel, a hearty mushroom-flecked kugel made with Manischewitz brand gluten-free Passover egg noodles. I made a point of stocking up last Pesach so I'd have some of these fabulous noodles to last me through the year, and I used up another bag tonight making a sweet lokshen kugel (noodle and egg casserole). I still have two or three left, just enough to get me through to this spring when they are back on the shelves at kosher grocery stores. Though I generally prefer Tinkyada noodles for just about everything, there are a few things that a wide, flat egg noodle is better for - Kugel is one of them. The fact that the Pesach noodles are made from potato starch means that they are all the more absorbent, which is perfect for a kugel.

Our family has two different kugel traditions - My dad's side of the family makes savory noodle kugels. On my mom's side, it's sweet kugel all the way. Since I made savory kugel last time (and boy was it good) this time I tried to sweeten it up without overdoing it on the sugar. What I ended up with was the Thanksgiving Kugel. There are thousands of bubbes rolling over in their graves at the very mention of the words "Thanksgiving" and "kugel" next to each other. I'm usually a little bit of a purist when it comes to ethnic foods. But I think if any of those bubbes would taste this kugel, they would forgive me. The dried cranberries (or "craisins" as marketing gurus seem to have renamed them) really plump up like little sweet-tart gems and make a tasty replacement for the usual raisins.

I lightened the kugel up a little - Trying to make this kind of traditional food low fat is just not something I have the heart to do. But I did trim some fat from where the texture or flavor wouldn't suffer. If you like your sweet kugels really sweet, you'll want to add an additional 1/2 to 3/4 cups of sugar, since I made this to be a side dish more than a dessert. This easy kugel would be a really nice side dish for Thanksgiving, it works well by itself for breakfast, and it should heat up well in a toaster oven or conventional oven.

Eat it in good health!




THANKSGIVING KUGEL
(GLUTEN-FREE CRANBERRY NOODLE KUGEL)

[ Gluten-Free / Soy-Free / Vegetarian / Dairy ]

16 oz wide gluten-free egg noodles*
6 eggs
7 to 8 oz farmers' cheese
2 cups low-fat sour cream
1/2 cup 1% milk
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar or raw sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Butter or margarine for greasing the pan
Optional: Additional pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar for top

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook noodles until tender but not overly soft, remove from heat and drain immediately, rinsing with cold water. Set aside. Grease lasagna pan.

In a blender, combine spices, salt, sugar, milk, eggs, sour cream and farmers' cheese. Pulse until smooth. In a large bowl, pour liquid over the noodles. Add cranberries. Stir until well-combined. Pour entire mixture (including all "extra" liquid) into the greased pan. Dust the top with additional sugar and pumpkin pie spice.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the top is golden-brown and the egg mixture has become slightly firm (will still be somewhat soft - do not overcook!) Allow to cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving warm.

* If you don't have access to gluten-free Passover egg noodles, gluten-free tagliatelle or lasagna noodles (cut in strips after cooking) will work, though the texture won't be quite the same.

Kale & Ricotta Stuffed Giant Shells ... and Absent-Minded Food Bloggers

How do the rest of you food bloggers keep track of the recipes you're creating? I have a terrible habit of writing things down as I cook on the back of an old envelope, a piece of mail, a bill. And then I lose them. I would guess I lose track of half the recipes I write down on those random scraps. This is one of those recipes. It was lost for nearly a month. I have finally found it, only to have forgotten many of the "mental notes" I had made about how to write out the recipe. So here is the reconstructed version, put together from messy incomplete notes, my sad excuse for memory, and my instincts (which I trust more than my notes and my memory put together!)

I'm impressed with the Tinkyada Brown Rice Grand Shells. They hold up pretty darn well and are easy to stuff, though I recommend undercooking them slightly and handling them with a little extra care. They're wholesome and they taste great. You could feed this dish to your friends without anyone guessing it's gluten-free. Casseroles are very much fall and winter foods for me, even if they're not made with squash or sweet potatoes. This one is a winner. This is really a tasty meal, and reheats fabulously well. I like to reheat it with a little extra sauce and/or cheese added to it for extra yums. It's a nice way to get some more vegetables and fiber into your (or your vegetable-hating child's) diet.

COLD, NAKED SHELLS:

ALL DRESSED UP AND NOWHERE TO GO:

KALE & RICOTTA STUFFED BROWN RICE SHELLS

[ Gluten-Free / Vegetarian / Dairy / Soy-Free ]

1 package Tinkyada Gluten-Free Brown Rice Grand Shells

FILLING:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups of finely shredded or chopped kale, uncooked
1 1/2 cups crimini mushrooms, minced
1/2 onion, diced finely
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 ounces reduced fat mozzarella, shredded
15 ounces low-fat ricotta
1-2 Tbsp grated parmesan
1 egg, well beaten
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper

SAUCE & TOPPING:
1 cup marinara sauce for under shells
2 cups marinara sauce for over shells
8 ounces reduced fat mozzarella, shredded
Optional: Additional parmesan

Boil shells according to package directions in lightly salted water until al dente consistency. Remove, drain, gently rinse with cold water and allow to cool.

Preheat oven to 375 F. In a heavy pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Sautee onions until translucent, then add garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sautee until they let off a little bit of liquid. Add shredded kale and sautee until tender. Remove from heat.

In a medium bowl, mash together ricotta, 4 ounces of mozzarella, 1-2 Tbsp of parmesan, spices and egg. When combined, add the sauteed vegetables and mix well.

In the bottom of a baking dish spread one cup of marinara sauce. Stuff each pasta shell gently but generously with the filling (you know it's properly stuffed when some filling should is coming out of the shell) and lay in the baking dish. When you have stuffed all of the shells, pour remaining two cups of sauce evenly over the shells and sprinkle with mozzarella and optional parmesan. Cover with tin foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake for additional 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Reduced Fat Cheesy Baked Ziti for Shavuot and Every Day

The Shavuot dinner table:

The Shavuot cheesy baked ziti:

I'm rushing to write this post before the start of Shavuot. Shavuot, for the uninitiated, is the celebration of the Jewish people receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai. One of the ways we celebrate is eating dairy meals - Cheesecake, cheese blintzes, pizza. Anything cheesy or milky is fair game for Shavuot. What do Torah and dairy products have to do with one another? There are a variety of explanations for why we eat dairy on this holiday. Some say it is because the Hebrews in the desert ate dairy meals when they received the Torah because they had just been given the laws of kashrut (keeping kosher) and didn't yet have the time or resources to cook meat according to these laws, and dairy meals are less work. Others say it is because of King Solomon's words describing the Torah as "honey and milk are under your tongue" in the Song of Songs. Either way, this is probably the holiday that's least friendly towards the lactose intolerant, but the favorite of those who love all things cheesy.

To celebrate I made a reduced fat, reduced cholesterol gluten-free baked ziti for my parents. My mother ate two servings of it, proclaiming its goodness, when I finally admitted that she had just eaten her least favorite food: tofu. Yes, once again I have convinced my mom to unknowingly eat tofu by disguising it as cheese. The combination of garlic powder, salt, nutritional yeast and silken tofu really do create that believable an imitation of ricotta - And of course cut down on the fat and cholesterol, which was the point. I used real cheese too, of course - Shredded parmesan and reduced fat Sorrento mozzarella, which is kosher and is lower fat than regular part-skim mozzarella. Tinkyada noodles were my pick for the ziti, as they stay firm even when baked. The result was a delicious baked ziti that's plenty cheesy without being overwhelmingly rich. Serve this to your friends and smile smugly as you watch them devour it without realizing it's gluten-free and has tofu in it... I mean, if you are evil like me, that is.

Good yontif!

CHEESY REDUCED FAT BAKED ZITI

[Gluten-Free / Vegetarian / Nut-Free / Milchig]

12 oz dry Tinkyada brown rice penne (one package)
One 12.3 oz package of firm silken tofu
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup sliced brown mushrooms (such as crimini mushrooms)
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup shredded parmesan
6 ounces shredded reduced fat mozzarella
16 ounces marinara sauce
Cooking spray or extra olive oil

Bring a pot of water to a boil. When it comes to a boil, add a small amount of salt and all of the noodles. Boil the noodles until al dente - They should not be mushy. Drain and rinse with cold water, set aside.

Preheat oven to 425 F.In a small bowl mash silken tofu with the back of a fork, along with garlic powder, kosher salt and nutritional yeast. In a separate bowl, mix parmesan and mozzarella cheese together. Remove 1/3 of the cheese mixture and add it to the tofu mixture, stirring well to combine.

In a large pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and sautee until golden-brown. Add garlic and sautee for 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms and sautee until fully cooked. Mix in marinara sauce and simmer over low heat until very hot. Remove from heat.

Stir tofu "ricotta" mixture into the pan with the sauce, then carefully stir in noodles. Pour the entire mixture into a medium baking dish that is coated with olive oil or non-stick spray. Cover with remaining cheese. Place in heated oven and bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Place under broiler (not too close to the flame or heating element) for 5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and browned. Serve hot.

A Savory Gluten-Free Noodle Kugel for Passover

Noodle kugels generally aren't associated with Passover, since most noodles aren't kosher for this holiday. Instead we usually focus on potato and vegetable kugels, and save the noodle kugel for the rest of the year. When I saw that the company I was ordering Passover supplies from carried Manischewitz Passover Gold Wide Egg Noodles, which are kosher for Passover and made from potato starch, I got an idea... A gluten-free Passover noodle kugel! I'd heard lots about these non-gebrokts gluten-free egg noodles. They are sold only in the weeks preceding Pesach, and cannot be obtained during the rest of the year. I ordered 5 bags of them without having ever tasted them, just to make sure I had enough to last me for a couple of kugels... And I'm glad that I did.

I hear that Gefen and Flaum also make their own Passover egg noodles, and Frankel's makes a frozen version. Try your local kosher grocery. If you can't find them, you can try making your own. If you're not kosher for Passover or you follow Sephardic kashrut, you can try almost any other brand of wide, flat gluten-free noodle. I imagine that gluten-free tagliatelle or lasagna noodles (cut in strips after cooking) will work, though the texture won't be quite the same.

I based this recipe off of suggestions from my dad, savory kugel recipes online, and a sweet noodle kugel recipe from Mama Leah's Jewish Kitchen (by Lisa Loeb Fischer). Mama Leah, a friend of my family, used to run a chain of Jewish take-out shops in New York City. Her book never lets me down. The result was wonderful - This kugel is peppery, filling, and full of flavor. It gets crisp around the edges but stays moist within, and it reheats quite well in the oven or microwave.

While your kugel is in the oven, read up a bit on the history and cultural significance of this dish:

Kugel Unraveled (New York Times)

Wikipedia on Kugel

Enjoy!

SAVORY PASSOVER NOODLE KUGEL (LUKSHEN KUGEL)

[Non-Gebrokts / Milchig / Gluten-Free]

1 pound wide gluten-free egg noodles (Passover)
2 Tbsp butter or vegetable oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
2 cups brown mushrooms, sliced
6 medium eggs
1 1/2 cup lowfat milk
1 cup lowfat small curd cottage cheese
1 cup lowfat cream cheese or sour cream
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp brown sugar or date sugar
1 tsp paprika
1-2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
Butter for greasing the baking pan

Preheat oven to 350 F. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add noodles and boil until tender (Manischewitz Passover Egg Noodles take about 4 minutes, but time may vary depending on brand). Drain the noodles immediately. Be very careful to not overcook them, they should not be mushy.

In a heavy saucepan, heat butter or vegetable oil on medium heat and sautee onions and 1 teaspoon of sugar until brown and beginning to caramelize. Add garlic and mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat.

Beat eggs in a large bowl, then add milk, sour cream or cream cheese, cottage cheese, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon salt, and ground black pepper. Mix together using a standing mixer, wooden spoon, or electric hand mixer, until combined (some lumps of cheese may remain). Add the noodles and onion-mushroom mixture and stir well to combine all ingredients.

Pour into a buttered 10x14 inch baking pan, and sprinkle lightly with paprika. Bake for 1 hour or until the eggs have set and the entire kugel is firm. The edges and top should be slightly browned. Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Double-Bean Pasta with Tomatoes

On Sundays I cook with weekday lunches in mind, favoring big pots of tasty dishes that reheat well in the microwave at work. This low-fat, whole grain, high-fiber and vegan pasta dish is full of some of my favorite foods - Green beans, chickpeas and pasta. Mmm. Nutritional yeast adds B-12 and other vitamins and a slightly cheesy taste, though folks who love cheese can try parmesan or romano instead. Bob's Red Mill and Red Star brands of nutritional yeast are both gluten-free.

DOUBLE-BEAN PASTA WITH TOMATOES

2 cups gluten-free Tinkyada brown rice spirals
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 Tbsp garlic, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)
1 (16 ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into thirds
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
2 Tbsp parsley flakes
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1-2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sea salt
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Cook pasta in salted water until done, according to package instructions. Drain in a colander and set aside. In the same pot, steam green bean pieces until tender but still crisp. Add to colander with pasta.

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan or deep frying pan over medium heat. Add red pepper flakes, dried parsley and dried basil and shallot. Sautee until the shallot has become translucent. Add bell pepper and garlic and cook until vegetables are soft, stirring often. Add tomatoes and garbanzo beans and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 10 minutes. Stir in pasta and green beans, nutritional yeast, and balsamic vinegar. Garnish with fresh basil and serve.

Cilantro-Lemon Pesto

When I get tired of plain old tomato sauce on my pasta, the next stop is always pesto. I love the green stuff - I've made a million variations, including vegan pesto and kalamata olive pesto. There is no end to the possibilities. It is hard to go wrong with herbs, garlic, nuts and cheese (or a cheese substitute) pureed into a creamy sauce.

Pesto is for far more than pasta, my friends. It is wonderful spread on a filet of salmon before baking. You can also toss it with freshly steamed vegetables. It has a number of delicious applications. This pesto features the zesty combination of cilantro and lemon. It has a bit more zing to it than classic basil pesto, so use it sparingly. The flavors are particularly suited to fish, but are wonderful with pasta as well. This time I paired it with my favorite gluten-free pasta, Tinkyada Spirals (aka brown rice fusilli).

To make this pesto dairy-free and vegan, replace the romano cheese with 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast flakes, some extra salt, and a little bit of tofu.

CILANTRO-LEMON PESTO

1/3 cup pecorino romano cheese, shredded
2 cups fresh cilantro
1/3 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 lemon, juice of
Salt, to taste

Combine ingredients in food processor. Puree until ingredients are fully combined and the pesto has a smooth texture with no significant lumps (may still be just a little gritty). You may add additional olive oil if you like. May be served hot or at room temperature. Leftovers can be frozen in small tupperware containers or ice cube trays and thawed when you're ready to use.

Vietnamese-Style Fresh Spring Rolls with Salmon

[EDITED on 3/09 to add: This recipe unfairly taunts kosher readers, I suppose - I posted this when I was still keeping "ingredient kosher" (i.e. not caring about kosher certification as long as there was no unkosher meat, shellfish, or meat-milk mixtures). Now that I keep a strictly kosher kitchen it's near impossible to make this dish. Only one company that I know of makes kosher-certified rice wrappers, which is Sushi Metsuyan. These are hard to find on the retail market. One alternative is using large lettuce leaves to wrap these spring rolls in, since rice vermicelli are widely available.]

Vietnamese fresh spring rolls with a spicy peanut dipping sauce are up there on my Top 10 Foods list. But most are made with shrimp, which is not kosher, or tofu, which doesn't sit right with my sensitive tummy. So I set about creating a soy-free, gluten-free spring roll without shellfish. I used yesterday's leftover salmon, which happened to be baked with cilantro butter, but you can feel free to use plain salmon or canned salmon. You may notice in the photos that the noodles I used inside the rolls are wider than the rice vermicelli the recipe calls for - Hey, even a food blogger can't always have their pantry fully stocked!

Rushed for time, I mixed a little Sriracha-style hot chili sauce with peanut butter and soy sauce. You can find more authentic Vietnamese dipping sauce recipes online.

FRESH SPRING ROLLS WITH SALMON

5 rice paper wrappers (banh trang) - 8-inch size
1 cup of fresh cilantro or basil sprigs, loosely packed
1 cup of fresh mint leaves, loosely packed
4 large leaves of crisp green lettuce, sliced (remove ribs)
1 large carrot, shredded
2 ounces rice vermicelli noodles
2 ounces cooked or canned salmon, flaked gently into small pieces

Bring a quart of water to boil in a saucepan. Turn off heat and submerge noodles in water. Soak for 3-5 minutes or until tender. Rinse with cold water in colander, and drain.

Fill a pie pan or pot that is wider than 8" in diameter with hot water. Carefully remove one rice paper wrapper from the package and submerge it in this water. Let it soak until it's soft. For easier handling, allow parts of the sheet to remain a little bit stiff (some of the hatch marks that are in the design of most rice papers can still be visible). Remove from water very carefully.

Place the rice paper wrapper on a smooth, dry surface. Surface should be ceramic, plastic or glass - Rice paper wrappers can stick to wooden surfaces. Take 1/5 of noodles and arrange lengthwise 1 inch from the bottom of wrapper. Leave 1-2 inches of the wrapper uncovered on the sides, as well.

Add mint, cilantro or basil, lettuce, and 1/5 of the flaked salmon as separate layers on top of the vermicelli. Pull the bottom edge of the wrapper up to cover the filling. Now fold both sides of the wrapper up to cover the edges. Continue rolling, tucking the filling in towards you with your fingers and roll tightly so that the roll remains firm (but not so tightly that you rip the rice paper!)

Carefully move spring roll to cutting board and cut in half. Repeat steps with the remainder of the ingredients. Serve with spicy peanut dipping sauce.

Makes 5 rolls, which serves 2 to 5 people, depending on how hungry you are!