Dear Constant Reader,
I promise I will get back to writing about burlesque. Someday. Soon, I hope.
Last night was the first night of Passover and Scratch and I made a little feast for ourselves. He made the matzo ball soup and charoset, and hunted down the elusive gefilte fish. I cooked a brisket, potato kugel, and roasted asparagus.
A friend, seeing my pictures on social media, asked for the kugel recipe, so I’ll share. (*whisper* It’s easy…)
For those unfamiliar, what is kugel? It’s translated as “pudding”, but before you have visions of a custardy sweet, think casserole. The most common kugels are potato and noodle, with the ingredients held together with egg and then baked and served as a side dish.
I’ve loved potato kugel since I was small. My grandmother had all our festive meals catered by Kartzman’s Deli and their’s was the first I had. I still haven’t managed to replicate it. I wasn’t as big a fan of the noodle kugel, which was the sweet kind, with raisins. (I much prefer savory noodle kugel.)
You don’t even really need a recipe and I generally kind of wing it, but I’ll give you the amounts I used last night.
Potato Kugel
2 large baking potatoes (about a pound and a half)
1 large onion
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup fat, divided (I used goose fat, since it was a holiday, but use oil, butter, whatever you like).
Peel and grate the potatoes. I use a food processor. I’ve never heard anyone say kugel potatoes must be grated by hand, unlike latke potatoes.
Salt the potato shreds and let them sit for a bit.
Chop the onion, maybe a shallot too if you’ve got it. Sauté the onion in half the fat until softened and a little golden, about 5 minutes.
Squeeze as much liquid out of the potatoes as possible. An easy way to do this is to put the grated potatoes in a dish towel and squeeze it. Or if you don’t feel like doing laundry, like me, just grab handfuls of potato and squeeze them over the sink.
Throw the wrung-out potatoes into a bowl. Mix in the onion and some ground black pepper.
Mix in the beaten eggs.
Heat the rest of the fat in a skillet and add the potato mixture, smoothing the top, but not packing it down. I used an 8″ pan and it was perfect for this amount.
Bake at 400F for about 50 minutes. The top should be brown and the edges crispy and sizzling. If it’s not brown enough, you could brush the top with some melted fat and pop it under the broiler for a couple of minutes.
I sprinkled it with snipped chives before serving. My parsley has barely broken the surface of my garden and I wanted some fresh spring herbs in this meal.
This made enough for 4 people. There are only two of us, so leftovers!
Enjoy!
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Oh, The Glamourous Life! 
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