Friday, March 26, 2010

Kugel Conundrum

"I'm having a kugel cunundrum," I said to Avo last night.

It was already getting late and it was time to go to sleep.

But first I had to check on the kugel or else I wouldn't be able to rest soundly.

I ended up getting a jump-start on things rather than leaving the cooking 'til the last minute as I had planned. I loaded up a cart with about 30 potatoes and a whole lot of onions and carrots. For good measure, I bought the last two boxes of Streit's matzoh meal (not sure I really need that much, but just in case...)

I doubled up the kugel recipe and found that the potato-carrot-onion mix didn't fit in any of my mixing bowls. Then I went through an entire roll of paper towels and a few dish towels trying to sop up the potato "juice." Now all my dish towels smell like potatoes!

In hindsight, I'm not so sure the muffin tins were the way to go. It seemed like a lot of extra effort pouring the kugel mix into the tins. Then, I packed up the kugel muffins in a plastic bag to store them. I checked on them a bit later and the bag had started to fog up. I guess I put the kugel muffins in while they were still hot and humid.

The bottom of the bag was like a shallow pond and a lot of the muffins were soggy sponges. I sorted through the salvageable ones and left them to dry out on the counter.

"Now I'm not sure I'll have enough for everyone," I griped to Avo.

"Maybe you should make more."

"I can't bear it!"

After a day scrubbing potatoes and "slaving" over the food processor, it was hard to imagine doing it yet again.

"Well, it's better to have too much than not enough."

Which brings me back to the kugel cunundrum: "Do I leave the kugel overnight to dry or do I put it in the fridge?"

Avo suggested I set an alarm for 2 a.m. so I could go and check on them.

I nixed that idea and decided to leave them out.

Luckily, Ruby inadvertently came to the rescue by waking up at 3 a.m.

After bringing her a sippy cup, I tended to the kugel.

And now I'm ready to start another batch.

I'll let you know whether they pass muster at the "early bird" Saturday seder.

3 comments:

Kathy N. said...

Hmmmm...sleep interruption is the ultimate sacrifice! You are turning into a cooking devotee for sure!

Undomesticated Me said...

Well, since Ruby already woke me up, I figured I might as well check on my baby kugel!

Bernie Bernstein said...

It's Me, Mom - As for the potato-smelling dish towels, that's what washing machines are for.

As for leaving the kugel out overnight, not a good idea. You wouldn't want to give people food poisoning (especially family at an early bird seder). As a rule you shouldn't leave food out for more than a couple of hours before refrigerating or freezing it. My mouth is watering just thinking about potato kugel. Enjoy and let us know all about the seder in your next blog.