Cranberry-Walnut Pareve Pasta

Excellent side dish for the fall season. From the Second Redhead in the Kitchen.

1 lb. angel hair pasta
2 T. olive oil
1 lg. sweet onion, sliced thin
1/2 tsp crushed garlic
1 c. chopped cranberry sauce (soft cranberries with a little liquid)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts

Heat olive oil in large saucepan. Add sliced onions. Saute onions in the olive oil on medium heat until soft. Add garlic and stir for a minute. Add walnuts and allow to saute until hot before adding cranberry sauce. Stir the sauce into the mixture. Continue stirring occasionally until hot. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain. Mix angel hair pasta with sauce.

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood cookbook (2003), Bethesda, MD

Quinoa Pilaf

A nice recipe so Quinoa isn't so bland. From the Second Redhead in the Kitchen.

1/2 c. carrots
1/2 c. green onions
1/4 c. celery
1/4 c. green pepper
1/4 c. sweet red pepper
1/2 c. oil
6 c. quinoa, cooked
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 c. almonds, sliced
1/4 tsp. oregano (optional)
Salt to taste

Dice carrots, green onion, celery and peppers. Saute vegetables in oil until clear, yet crisp. Sit sauteed vegetables into cooked hot quinoa. Saute almonds in skillet until lightly golden. Add almonds, garlic and oregano to mixture. Salt to taste

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood cookbook (2003), Bethesda, MD

Sweet and Buttery Noodle Kugel

Another kugal from the Second Redhead in the Kitchen. There are more kugals that I've made, but this is probably enough for this blog.

7 c. (12-oz. pkg) med. egg noodles, uncooked
1/2 c. (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. sour cream
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
6 eggs
1 c. raisins (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 9 X 13-inch glass baking dish. Cook noodles according to package directions and drain. In large bowl, stir together butter or margarine, ricotta cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and salt. Add eggs, beating after each addition. Stir in cooked noodles and raisins. Pour mixture into baking dish. Sprinkle with additional cinnamon, if desired. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve 10 to 12.

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood cookbook (2003), Bethesda, MD

Apricot Dairy Kugel

From the Second Redhead in the Kitchen. This is unusual, but very tasty.

1 (12-oz) pkg. egg noodles, cooked and drained
4 eggs
4 oz. cream cheese (1/2 cup)
4 oz. melted butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. apricot jam
1 tsp vanilla
8 oz. sour cream

Topping:

1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 c. sugar
2 c. crushed cornflakes
4 oz. butter

Put cooked noodles in a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Combine the rest of the ingredients and mix with the noodles. Mix the cinnamon, sugar and cornflakes and spread on the top, dotting the top with the butter. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Serves 12-15.

Notes: You can use Eggbeaters, light cream cheese and fat-free sour cream and it is still great.

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood cookbook (2003), Bethesda, MD

Reduced-Fat Potato-Zucchini Kugel

Another Kugel recipe from the Second Redhead in the Kitchen. I used a good grater.

6 c. potatoes and zucchini (4 c. potatoes to 2 c. zucchini works well)
1 tsp canola oil
3 egg whites
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 c. matzah meal
Paprika to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a food processor or with a grater, grate 6 cups of potato/zucchini. Add egg white and oil and mix. Mix together the garlic, salt, pepper and baking powder. Sprinkle into potato/zucchini mixture and mix well by hand. Add matzah meal and mix well. Place in a non-stick 9 X 14-inch baking dish (or if not non-stick, oil lightly and dust with matzah meal). Sprinkle top with paprika and bake for 1 hour.

Notes from recipe (paraphrased): Use 3 whole eggs if want not no-fat. You can use on Passover if you eliminate the baking powder or find Kosher for Passover baking product.

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood cookbook (2003), Bethesda, MD

Broccoli and Mushroom Noodle Kugel

Here's another kugal recipe from Second Redhead in the Kitchen. This takes some prep work, but it is very good.

2 stalks fresh broccoli, chopped
1 lb. fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 T. butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c. white wine
3 eggs
3 c. ricotta or cottage cheese
1 c. sour cream
3 c. wide noodles
2 T wheat germ or breadcrumbs
1 c. grated sharp cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute broccoli, mushrooms and onions in butter. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and add wine. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and whisk in ricotta or cottage cheese and sour cream. Cook noodles until just underdone, and drain well. Mix noodles, vegetables and cheese mixture together. Put in greased 9 X 13-inch pan and top with breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, then uncover and continue baking for an additional 15 minutes.

I didn't add the wine (since I just didn't have any), and it still came out very good.

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood cookbook (2003), Bethesda, MD

Applesauce Kugel

This is my first post. I'm Redhead in the Kitchen's sister, and I'm guest blogging my own recipes here. I'm the Second Redhead in the Kitchen. We keep vegetarian at home (no fish, no meat), so all the recipes that I post will have no meat and no fish.

This kugal is easy to make and is very good! More kugals are coming!

1 lb. wide noodles
4 eggs
2 T. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. melted margarine
1/2 c. raisins or dried cranberries
2 c. applesauce (unsweetened)
Cinnamon and sugar to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook noodles until nearly tender and drain. Beat eggs and add the sugar, vanilla, margarine, raisins (or dried cranberries), applesauce and noodles, mixing well. Pour into a large greased baking dish. Combine some cinnamon and sugar and sprinkle on top. Bake 1 hour until the top is browned.
(Top with small spoonfuls of orange marmalade - optional)

Congregation Beth El Sisterhood cookbook (2003), Bethesda, MD

Sandman Slim

Just finished this little quickie, working hard on a formal-ish review. i thought i got a recommendation for this book off boingboing. Cory Doctorow, was that you? if yes, shame on you young man. after a spell of reading this book, I don't know which i want more - a trip to my happy place that's full of rainbows and unicorns, or nice a bath in bleach. review to come.

telling?

well, i must have liked something about Stephenson's Quicksilver, since I just bought The Confusion, the second book in the series. but i will admit, it was on the clearance rack at Books a Million. How telling is that?

When did autumn get here???

I've been terrible with timely posts this fall, I know. Been busy, been travelling, been playing Fable 2. I'm over it.

The summer of one bowl big salads has morphed into the autumn of one pot hearty stews. We've already had one chili and a pasta/tomato/peas/salami thing. I'd give you the recipe, but the chili is a family secret, and the other I don't know what all I put in there. Incidentally, I read that cayenne is good for staving off colds, so I made sure it was a super hot chili. My throat was burning off, and it's a good thing!

Newsflash! I did finally finish Stephenson's Quicksilver! it was both one of the best and one of the worst books I've read recently. If that makes no sense, scroll down for further discussion of what I was going through while I was reading it.

On a better note, Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose is both eminently readable and subtly satirecle, two of my favorite things. Even funnier, I just watched the “Monk” episode of Terry Jones's Medieval Lives, and while watching it I could say “those people are in my book!” it was delicious nerdy fun that even Yomiko Readman would be proud of.

Been reading buckets of Steven Brust lately, just can't get enough. Bought Orca (part of the Vlad Taltos series) and The Phoenix Guards (sorta kinda a prequel series to the Vlad books), and zipped through Orca in about 2 days. Vlad Taltos is becoming one of my favorite fictional characters. Smart, sarcastic, scrawny and a smart-ass, sometimes he beats people up, sometimes he pays people to beat other people up, and sometimes he gets the shit kicked out of him. When I first met Vlad many volumes ago, he was young, brash, and an assassin for hire, mostly working for the corrupt Jhereg, a royal house in the Draegeran Empire. Always the misfit, he's too human to ever truly fit in in the Empire, and too Draegeran to ever fit in back in the east, where the humans live. These days, he's semi retired, semi forcefully. Having done something horribly wrong (if someone knows what book this occurs in, and what happens, please tell me the book!), he is now on the run form the Jhereg, who would love to give him an unrevivafiable death sandwich. Hiding out in the east, and venturing back into the Empire when duty calls and to sneak a visit with his ex-wife and son, Vlad spends his days as part muckraker, part witch for hire, and part punching bag. Having a telepathic familiar and being on a first name basis with the Empress doesn't hurt either.

These books are filled with action, sarcasm, wit, sarcasm, intruigue, action, and a little more sarcasm, and a surprising amount of romanticism. Not romance, with kissy stuff, but romanticism. Think of it what you will.

Some fans have voiced some angst about Brust never giving a real physical description of the Draegerans, other than that they are tall and live a really, really, really long time. Humans call them Elves, in a derogatory fashion. But not having a physical description of them? It's never bothered me. To me, the Draegerans are just tall humans who seem not to age. They seem to accept Vlad and his family pretty readily, allowing humans to live in the vicinity, and even meet with the body politic. So not knowing everything there is to know about the Draegerans? Not a problem, not one bit.