{"id":34934,"date":"2020-05-29T03:46:32","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T10:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=34934"},"modified":"2020-05-28T20:50:59","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T03:50:59","slug":"kugel-comforts-during-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2020\/05\/29\/kugel-comforts-during-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"Kugel comforts during COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yerushalmi kugel by Jamie Geller. (photo from jamiegeller.com<\/a>)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If I\u2019d known the world was going to be locked down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I would have stocked up on toilet paper, disinfecting wipes and pasta much sooner. Of course, only one of those is edible.<\/p>\n

Desperate measures call for desperate times and, when so many restaurants have closed, cooking has become mandatory. As has self-isolation. Sure, we could order takeout, but I\u2019m still slightly paranoid about who cooks my food. After all, you\u2019re only as healthy as the last person you were in contact with. I rest my case.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tried to be creative in the kitchen, but, when you\u2019re used to eating sushi at least once a week and shopping for fresh food every day, it gets challenging during a lockdown. Now we eat more pasta. Way more pasta. My husband Harvey loves it. Me, not so much.<\/p>\n

Harvey does a Costco run every so often to stock up, but I\u2019m loathe to send him out into the dangerous spittle-filled world of COVID coughs right now. And the regular stores are often out of the basics, at least until recently. To be completely frank, I\u2019m sick of cooking. So, what\u2019s an accidental balabusta to do?<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll tell you what I did. I handed Harvey my mother\u2019s tattered Jewish Council Cookbook the other day and pronounced: \u201cMake something!\u201d So, what does he choose from all those geshmak recipes? Tuna noodle casserole. You know the one \u2013 it\u2019s composed of Campbell\u2019s cream of mushroom soup, Kraft Dinner and a can or two of tuna. If you want to get really fancy shmancy, you can grate some aged cheddar cheese on top. It\u2019s the quintessential comfort food. Minus the sushi. Or, in Harvey\u2019s case, minus the tuna.<\/p>\n

My first dip of the fork into the ooey-gooey goodness of the tuna noodle casserole elicited a squeal of surprise. It was actually delicious. Processed deliciousness, but nonetheless yummy in the extreme. The tummy wants what the tummy wants. After a few bites, I expressed my perplexity that I didn\u2019t taste the tuna. Harvey said it had probably sunk to the bottom, so I did a deep dive to the base of the casserole dish, and \u2026 bupkis. Harvey had a go at it and, likewise, nada. He humbly walked over to the fridge, opened it, and sheepishly admitted that he\u2019d forgotten to put in the tuna. So, we were eating KD with mushroom soup and a crusty topping of melted cheddar. It was still superb, in a plebian sort of way. Does this count as accidental balabatishness? I didn\u2019t think so. Even if it did, I wasn\u2019t the balabusta who made it.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not proud of what we ate. But I\u2019m sure other people have eaten worse. Much worse. Think fried Spam. Or headcheese (whatever that is). Nobody is going to raise their hand and cop to either of those atrocities, but, trust me, I know where the bodies are buried.<\/p>\n

In the end, a casserole that I thought was going to feed us for two nights lasted three. Kind of like a tuna-based Chanukah miracle \u2013 the \u201cexcess\u201d tuna gave its life for a couple of sandwiches, to boot. The real victory was that I didn\u2019t have to cook for three whole nights.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t think I can\u2019t hear you yelling, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter with you people? Haven\u2019t you ever heard of salads?!\u201d Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I have. And, as much as I love salads, it\u2019s not a mutual admiration alliance. Harvey buys pre-bagged salads for himself as a side dish, but rarely do we eat a jacked-up salad for the main course. It could very well land me in the hospital, and I choose not to take that chance. Digestion issues.<\/p>\n

By rights, I should probably have scurvy by now, but I have thankfully dodged that bullet. To get some colour in my food, I put steamed or roasted carrots in everything. Sometimes, I even eat broccoli. Is my diet restrictive? Sure. Am I relatively healthy, nonetheless? Yes \u2013 the operative word being relatively. My body happens to do well on protein. Lots and lots of protein. Animal protein. I\u2019ll own it: I\u2019m a card-carrying carnivore. Don\u2019t judge me. In case you care, I used to switch things up with more varied restaurant food before COVID-19 came calling. But now that I\u2019m relegated to my own culinary wits, things have gotten kind of serious. And not in a good way.<\/p>\n

I am jonesing pretty bad for some agedashi tofu and salmon sashimi, but I don\u2019t dare eat that now. I heard that, if you get takeout food, the first thing you should do is transfer it to your own dishes and reheat it in the microwave to kill off any viruses or bacteria. That\u2019s fine for cooked food, but I believe that eating sashimi during a COVID-19 pandemic is like sticking a hand grenade in your mouth and hoping to have a pleasant day.<\/p>\n

Desperate for some variety, I dug through my recipes and came across one for Jerusalem kugel. It still counts as pasta, but I view it as a more cultured, genteel pasta. Usually a side dish, I knew I could convince Harvey that it\u2019s a main (especially if I served him enough of it). I figure I\u2019ll follow it up with a roasted carrot\/yam chaser. This particular kugel is satisfyingly savoury and sweet, and the recipe is by Jamie Geller.<\/p>\n

SWEET AND PEPPERY JERUSALEM KUGEL<\/strong><\/p>\n

1 (12 ounce) package thin egg noodles
\n<\/strong>1 cup sugar
\n<\/strong>1\/3 cup oil
\n<\/strong>4 eggs
\n<\/strong>1 tsp salt
\n<\/strong>1\/4 tsp to 1 tsp ground pepper<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Preheat oven to 350\u02daF.<\/li>\n
  2. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Strain and set aside.<\/li>\n
  3. Add the sugar and oil to a large pot on low heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved and a deep golden caramel colour, but not burnt. This can take 20 minutes or more.<\/li>\n
  4. Turn off the heat and add the noodles into the pot of sugar. Immediately stir with a big spoon until the noodles are coated in the caramel. Don\u2019t worry if the sugar hardens into blobs \u2013 it will melt in the oven.<\/li>\n
  5. Allow the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes. Mix in the eggs, salt and pepper. (Make sure it\u2019s cool so the eggs don\u2019t cook.)<\/li>\n
  6. Pour the mixture into a greased springform pan or baking dish. Bake for one hour.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    May this COVID-19 pandemic be over with soon. In the meantime, as Dr. Bonnie Henry says: \u201cBe kind. Be Calm. Stay safe.\u201d As for the Accidental Balabusta, figuring out what to cook every night should be my worst problem. Ever.<\/p>\n

    Shelley Civkin<\/strong>, aka the Accidental Balabusta, is a happily retired librarian and communications officer. For 17 years, she wrote a weekly book review column for the <\/em>Richmond Review. She\u2019s currently a freelance writer and volunteer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Yerushalmi kugel by Jamie Geller. (photo from jamiegeller.com) If I\u2019d known the world was going to be locked down because of the COVID-19 pandemic, I would have stocked up on toilet paper, disinfecting wipes and pasta much sooner. Of course, only one of those is edible. Desperate measures call for desperate times and, when so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[8729,3797,9932,3584,9717,9784,9930,9931],"class_list":["post-34934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-op-ed","tag-accidental-balabusta","tag-baking","tag-comfort-food","tag-cooking","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-jamie-geller","tag-kugel"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}