Holiday Apricot Kugel

I came to kugel relatively late in life, introduced to it by my cousin's mother-in-law. It was love at first bite! It seems a stretch to call it a comfort food since it isn't a product of my childhood, but there is something about this lightly sweet, rich dish that wraps me up like a warm blanket, straight from the dryer. This version caught my eye because the creator adds apricot preserves to the mix. It didn't disappoint! My husband, father-in-law, 13yo, and her friend all give it two thumbs up!

HOLIDAY APRICOT KUGEL

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package wide egg noodles
1 (18 ounce) jar apricot preserves
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup melted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 (16 ounce) container cottage cheese
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add egg noodles and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
In a large bowl, stir together the apricot preserves, eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and salt, and mix to thoroughly combine. Fold in the cottage cheese and noodles, and spoon the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
Bake in the preheated oven until the center of the kugel is cooked and set, about 50 minutes. Remove the kugel and top with Cheddar cheese, return to the oven, and bake until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 10 minutes. Let the kugel rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Amazingly, I didn't make any changes to this recipe. Of course, how do you mess with kugel, I ask? I used preserves that had no added sweeteners, but regular apricot preserves would work just as well. I imagine it would be a tad sweeter than my version.

ENJOY!


note: click on the recipe name to link directly to the original recipe

Shrimp and Avocado Salad

I stumbled upon this recipe playing with my Dinner Spinner Pro app on my iPhone. It *sounded* incredibly tasty and with the teens out of the house today it was the perfect opportunity to give a try. Oh. My. Word. This EXCEEDED all of my expectations! The husband was looking for seconds. :)



SHRIMP and AVOCADO SALAD

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups cooked & coarsely chopped shrimp
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs cocktail sauce
salt to taste
2 avocados, halved lengthwise, pitted, and scooped out of the skin
1/2 lemon
Boston lettuce leaves
paprika

Directions
In a bowl, mix the shrimp, chives, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, and cocktail sauce. Season with salt.
Line individual serving plates with one leaf of Boston lettuce and sprinkle with paprika to taste.
Place 1/2 an avocado on each lettuce leaf.
Mound the shrimp mixture into the avocado hollow and sprinkle with fresh squeezed lemon juice.

This recipe is modified from a recipe by the same name I found on AllRecipes. The changes are pretty significant, so I'm not going to list them separately.

Although, I will note that the original recipe seems to serve the avocado IN its skin on top of the lettuce. That seemed a waste of a perfectly yummy looking piece of lettuce, so I scooped the avocado out of the skin in one piece and spooned the shrimp mixture into the hollow. One of the reviewers on AllRecipes suggested lining a rectangular plate with the lettuce leaves sprinkled with paprika, placing the wedges in a line, and spooning the shrimp between the avocado slices.

Also, the original recipe uses bibb lettuce. I substituted Boston lettuce only because it was the better looking of the two at my grocery store.

ENJOY!

I heart Paula Deen OR the best. potroast. ever.

Pot Roast

Ingredients
1 (3 to 4-lb) boneless chuck roast
Seasoning mix **
4 Tbs butter
1 large onion, sliced thinly
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can golden mushroom soup
1/4 cup red wine
2 Tbs Worcestershire
1 scant Tbs Tone's Beef Base
3/4 cup water



Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Rub seasoning into the roast on both sides. Heat butter in a large skillet and brown the roast, searing it on both sides. Place the meat in a roaster pan. Add onions and garlic to skillet for 1 to 2 minutes to absorb leftover roast juice. (I added a little extra butter because the pan was dry.) Place into roaster pan with meat.
Combine the golden mushroom soup, wine, Worcestershire sauce and beef base into a bowl. Pour over the roast. Add water.
Cover pan bake for 3 to 3 1/2 hours or until tender.

** seasoning mix (based on Paula Deen's House Seasoning: 4 parts salt, 1 part white pepper, 1 part granulated garlic

This recipe is modified from Paula Deen's Pot Roast recipe to fit what I had on hand in the pantry. Well, that, and that niggling little character flaw that compels me to change recipes.

The roast was moist, falling apart and incredibly tasty. No need for ketchup with this pot roast! I also peeled and quartered six medium sized potatoes and cooked them on top of the meat and gravy. Can't have gravy without potatoes, right? Although, I think this dish would be just as awesome served over wide egg noodles.

ENJOY!

(And yes, once again I forgot to take a picture, so I borrowed the photo above from pauladeen.com!)