# Kugelis



## Brianschef (Mar 5, 2006)

This is a Lithuanian dish served or made with sour cream.  My hubby's Gram made it all the time but we have no idea what is in it or how it is made, can anyone help?


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## urmaniac13 (Mar 5, 2006)

Is this what you are looking for? I hope this helps...

what is described as "farina" in the recipe, must be flour I believe...


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## momerlyn (Mar 5, 2006)

The only thing I can think of is kugel, which is a Jewish dish... were there Jews in Lithuania? "Kugel" means pudding, and there are many varieties. The most common is probably the noodle kugel, with wide egg noodles, eggs, sour cream, butter, cream cheese... many variations, most of them high in fat and higher in enjoyment. There are also potato kugels, matzo kugels (for Passover when you can't have flour noodles) and ... um... I'm sure there are others. 

Be interesting to see if anyone comes up with an authentic Lithuanian variety!


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## urmaniac13 (Mar 5, 2006)

Kugels, or anything that is called similarly seem to be quite wide spread, they are also popular in Austria, and alpine region of Italy.   I think they are in general more or less like "dumplings".
There are many German recipes with the name of kugels, but I think it can represent wider variety of recipes, as kugel means "balls" in german.


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## Constance (Mar 5, 2006)

Yes, there were Jews in Lithiuania. 
Here is a kugel I got from Recipe Source...there are many more.

 Title: Noodle Kugel
      Yield: 12 Servings

    500 g  Medium broad egg noodles
    110 g  Sweet butter, softened
    6 lg Eggs, separated
    250 g  Creamed cottage cheese
    250 g  Sour cream
    100 g  Sugar
    4 15/16 ml Cinnamon
    9 7/8 ml Vanilla
    14 3/4 ml Orange peel, grated
    500 g  Apples, peeled, cored,sliced thinly
    59 1/8 ml Sugar mixed with
    14 3/4 ml Ground cinnamon

  Cook noodles in boiling, salted water until just tender, about 10
  minutes.Drain well and transfer to a large mixing bowl.  Add butter
  and mix until the butter is melted.  Set aside.

  In another mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, cottage cheese, sour cream,
  sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, orange peel, apples and raisin.  Add this
  mixture to the noodles and mix thoroughly.

  Quickly beat egg whites until stiff.Fold the whites into the noodle
  mixture thoroughly.Pour the noodle mixture into a greased 2 1/4 liter
  (2 1/2 quart) casserole, suitable for the table.  Sprinkle the
  cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the top.

  Bake in a preheated 205 C (400 F) oven for 45 minutes.

  Serve from the casserole, either hot or at room temperature.  The
  kugel can be rewarmed in a 175 C (350 F) oven for 15 minutes.

Sorry, I don't know who to convert the metrics.


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## kadesma (Mar 5, 2006)

urmaniac13 said:
			
		

> Is this what you are looking for? I hope this helps...
> 
> what is described as "farina" in the recipe, must be flour I believe...


Licia,
If I remember right, Farina, is similar in looks to cream of wheat..I think it is also used for breakfast, like oatmeal or cream of wheat..I could be wrong, but, I do remember my grandmother using it like that. In Italian isn't flour pronounced as farina?

kadesma


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## Aurora (Mar 5, 2006)

Brianschef said:
			
		

> This is a Lithuanian dish served or made with sour cream. My hubby's Gram made it all the time but we have no idea what is in it or how it is made, can anyone help?


 
BriansChef,

I'm 3rd generation Lithuanian in the U.S. and I remember the Kugelis (savory potato pudding) and blinis (potato pancakes) that my grandmother made with such love and devotion. They were oh so tasty but loaded with cholesterol.

Here is the closest to her's that I've found on the Internet. I called my 86 year old father and he had the same recollection of her recipe as being very close to the following:

http://www.milda.us/Kugelis.htm

Her cooking was very basic and I don't recall any garlic, flour, farina or other fancy additions. There are no noodles or sweet ingredients in Lituanian kugelis.

Like the blinis (potato pancakes) which was basically the same recipe only pan fried instead of baked, the kugelis is served with sour cream. The potatoes and onions are grated very fine and mixed with the other ingredients and baked in the oven to make a firm set dense pudding. I suppose you could add a bit of baking soda or powder if you wished to have a lighter kugelis.





Thanks for bringing back the memories by asking.


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## Brianschef (Mar 6, 2006)

Thank you so much everyone you have made a very nice gentleman extremely happy!  He is 89 years old and is in assisted care, his grandaughter wanted to make him his favorite meals for his birthday celebration.  He is going to have kugelis and varitnai, along with a few other things I can't spell correctly!

Again thank you all for your input!


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## buckytom (Mar 6, 2006)

how cool is that!!!!!

thanks first of all for asking brianschef, and for all of the responses. 

my mil made noodle kugel for my wife her whole life, and now my wife makes it as a weekly staple for our son. lol, i cannot stand the stuff, but my boy and wife *love it, *so that's good enough for me.


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## advoca (Mar 25, 2006)

The Farina a brand name that dates back to the turn of the century when The Pillsbury Company introduced this creamy wheat cereal in 1898. U.S. Mills acquired the Farina brand from Holden Foods in 2001. 
 
Farina is made from cereal grains. It is a bland-tasting flour or meal that, when cooked in boiling water, makes a hot breakfast cereal. It is very easily digested and rich in protein. 
 
Farina is also marketed by Novartis in several forms.


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## mish (Mar 25, 2006)

The kugel I recall growing up in NYC, was a noodle casserole my Hungarian grandma made - with cinnamon and raisins. There are many variations, as already mentioned here. If it is close to what you're looking for, send up a flare.  Thanks for the memories. 

Eureka - Just found this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kugelis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kugel


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## mish (Mar 25, 2006)

Constance said:
			
		

> Yes, there were Jews in Lithiuania.
> Here is a kugel I got from Recipe Source...there are many more.
> 
> Title: Noodle Kugel
> ...


 
Looks wonderful.  Copied and saved.  Thank you, Connie.


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## afg2001 (Nov 19, 2007)

*Kuglis Recipe*

I'm first generation, and my family has been making this version since I was a kid:

8 lbs of potatoes (Yukon Gold or Idaho work best)
1 lb of bacon, chopped
1 large onion (yellow) - chop 1/2, cube other 1/2
2 eggs
1/2 can of Evaporated milk (optional)
1/2 Tbsp salt (or more, to taste)
Pepper to taste
2-3 cloves garlic (as desired)

Pre-heat oven to 425F.

Peel & cube potatoes.  Food process (or blender) small batches of potatoes, with half of onion and garlic.  Don't liquify it, but it should look almost like babyfood.  Blend in eggs, salt, pepper & milk.  

Fry up 1/2 lb of bacon and rest of onion.  Drain off most of grease (just a little adds to the yumminess of the kugelis).  Add to above mixture.

Grease 9x13 pan (glass or heavy duty Lecruset type preferred).  Add potato mix.  Spray/spritz with pam/butter spray (forms a nice crust on top).  

Bake at 424F for about 30-40 minutes, then turn temp down to 350F for another 60-75 minutes.  Broil for a couple of minutes if you desire a crispy crust!  Test for readiness with toothpick or knife - when smooth, Kugelis is done!

Fry up the rest of the bacon, add more onion if desired, and garnish, along with sour cream.  Enjoy!


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## afg2001 (Nov 19, 2007)

*Kuglis Recipe*

I'm first generation, and my family has been making this version since I was a kid:

8 lbs of potatoes (Yukon Gold or Idaho work best)
1 lb of bacon, chopped
1 large onion (yellow) - chop 1/2, cube other 1/2
2 eggs
1/2 can of Evaporated milk (optional)
1/2 Tbsp salt (or more, to taste)
Pepper to taste
2-3 cloves garlic (as desired)

Pre-heat oven to 425F.

Peel & cube potatoes. Food process (or blender) small batches of potatoes, with half of onion and garlic. Don't liquify it, but it should look almost like babyfood. Blend in eggs, salt, pepper & milk. 

Fry up 1/2 lb of bacon and rest of onion. Drain off most of grease (just a little adds to the yumminess of the kugelis). Add to above mixture.

Grease 9x13 pan (glass or heavy duty Lecruset type preferred). Add potato mix. Spray/spritz with pam/butter spray (forms a nice crust on top). 

Bake at 424F for about 30-40 minutes, then turn temp down to 350F for another 60-75 minutes. Broil for a couple of minutes if you desire a crispy crust! Test for readiness with toothpick or knife - when smooth, Kugelis is done!

Fry up the rest of the bacon, add more onion if desired, and garnish, along with sour cream. Enjoy!


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## CharlieD (Nov 19, 2007)

Here is a very simple version of Pan fried noodle kugel.
Boil noodles, any kind, any amount (depending on your frying pan that you will use for frying), till done per box instructions. 
Drain, rinse, add eggs, just enough to hold it together. Say if you are going to use 10" frying pan and have enough noodles to fill it in to the top, you'd probably need 4-5 eggs. Mix together and fry on both sides. Use a lid to flip the kugel from one side onto another. You can also add some fried onions or cooked ground meat, or both into a mix. Very simple and easy to make. Noodles could be precooked couple of day in advance.


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## David Cottrell (Nov 19, 2007)

*>Lithuanina cooking*



Brianschef said:


> This is a Lithuanian dish served or made with sour cream. My hubby's Gram made it all the time but we have no idea what is in it or how it is made, can anyone help?


 
Do yourself a big favor - email this young lady who now lives here and is from Lithuania. She has a delightful cookook with a touch of charming accent and has several Kugelis recipes. My family loves these dishes and my daughter has picked one from Raimonda's cookbook for me to make next. She will get a cookbook to you for sure - very reasonable and very interesting. 
raimute1978@yahoo.com

Raimonda was was 12 when the tiny nation of Lithuania faced down the mighty Soviet Empire and split it apart. Fourteen people died including the teenage girl who was crushed by a Soviet tank. I'm proud of my copy of Raimonda's cookook, "A Taste of Lithuanian Cooking".


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## CharlieD (Nov 19, 2007)

David this thread is year and a half old. I doubt the original poster is going to even look in here. I realised that after I posted.


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