Posted Oct 13, 2009
This week I decided to go ethnic. Cabbage sales started my thinking in that direction.
I married into a Polish-German family many moons ago, so this little Italian girl (at least I was back then) had to learn a few things from the in-laws about making dishes I had never heard of much less eaten — haluski (pronounced ha-loosh-ki) being one. In English, it translates to cabbage and noodles.
All of us should eat more cabbage — this member of the Cruciferae family is rich in nutrition and fiber and is an absolutely phenomenal source of Vitamin C. Even more impressive: Current research indicates it can lower the risk of various forms of cancer.
A study presented at the November 2005 meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research found that Polish women who ate cabbage and sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) four or more times a week were 74 percent less likely to develop breast cancer.
Other studies have found that cabbage may also protect against lung, stomach and colon cancers. The super ingredient seems to be sulforaphane, a phytochemical in cabbage that works by stimulating cells to eliminate cancerous substances.
Don’t ask how I went from thinking about cabbage to my favorite apple recipes to kugel (pronounced koog-uh). It is often unexplainable how the mind leads you certain places. It probably started with the noodles in the haluski.
Kugel is a Jewish dish with a Yiddish origin — it’s a baked casserole resembling a souffle or pudding. I haven’t made kugel for years and years, but Aunt Ida’s recipe below sounds lip-smacking good — and I’m serving it this weekend when I entertain. It’s from a cookbook I recently purchased.
Check my blog for more kugel recipes, and a few others I plan to post — I got carried away looking at apple recipes and trying to choose. I’m posting a Simple Apple Brownie recipe and a Creamy Matzo-Apple Kugel recipe.
Haluski (CabbageandNoodles) 1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine
1 large onion, chopped
1 large head cabbage, quartered — cut into wedges then into 1/4 inchlong slices (like course coleslaw)
1 package egg noodles, cooked al la dente Salt, pepper and garlic powder (optional) to taste Using pot large enough to accommodate all the ingredients, melt the margarine and saute the onion until tender.
Add the cabbage and the noodles and stir to combine. Heat thoroughly. Season to taste. Serves 6-8
Variations:
Start with a few bacon slices, diced and browned in the skillet with the onion for added flavor
Sliced polish sausage can be browned with onion and it becomes a onepot meal.
Aunt Ida’s Apple Cranberry Noodle Pudding
For Pudding 1 — 12 ounce package egg noodles
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
divided 2 teaspoons cinnamon
divided 4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups pineapple juice
1 — 16 ounce can whole cranberry sauce
3/4 Cup toasted walnuts, chopped
For Topping 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1/2 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place oven rack in the middle of the oven. Coat a 9 x 13 inch glass ovenproof baking dish with vegetable spray.
To make the pudding — Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water for 7 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water. Place in a large bowl and add melted butter, 1/4 Cup sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Whisk eggs with pineapple juice and add to noodles — stir to combine. Set aside.
Mix remaining teaspoon of cinnamon with 1/4 cup sugar and toss with apples in another bowl.
Spread 1/2 of the noodles in prepared baking dish. Add all the apples in an even layer. Spoon cranberry sauce over apples then sprinkle with nuts. Layer remaining noodles on top.
Toss melted butter with walnuts and scatter over noodles then sprinkle with brown sugar.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes, or until pudding is bubbling and top is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Store leftovers in refrigerator.
Source: “Heirloom Cooking with the Brass Sisters,” by Marilyn Brass and Sheila Brass
Contact Suzanne Ulbrich — reporter by day and kitchen geek by night — through her food blog. Visit the blog comment, share ideas and get some more great recipes.
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