George Markward from the Pastrami Project Food Truck offered a course on cooking holiday foods at the main branch of the Orlando Public Library (101 East Central Boulevard Orlando, FL). You should sign up for these courses in advance, but I dropped in unannounced and was welcomed. The library classroom is set up to offer any kind of cuisine course. The sink and oven were in another room adjacent to the classroom. About a dozen foodies sat in attendance.
George prepared three holiday dishes. He prepared a noodle kugel, potato pancakes and caviar on Blinis. Preparations involved a mad dash of proceeding, stirring, boiling and frying. The great thing is that we all got to taste the finished products and bring the recipes home. I liked the noodle kugel so much that I made it at home the next week. Terry was shocked that I baked something, and it was a hit. Perhaps there is hope that I’ll become a foodie someday. It seemed ironic that the Greek Orthodox Church was feeding the homeless a block away while I was sampling free caviar, sour cream, lox and chives on Blinis. God they were good.
Here is the Noodle Kugel Recipe courtesy of Dave Lieberman.
Total time: 50 minutes.
Preparation time: 5 minutes.
Cooking time: 45 minutes.
Yield: 6-8 servings.
Ingredients.
12 oz wide egg noodles
1/2 stick butter, melted
1 pound cottage cheese
16oz sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
Directions.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Boil the noodles in salted water for about 4 minutes. Strain noodles from the water. In a large mixing bowl, combine noodles with the remaining ingredients and pour into a greased, approximately 9 by 13 inch baking dish. Bake until the custard is set and the top is golden brown, about 30-45 minutes.