SUNDAY MAY 28, 2023 l ARTSCAPE WYCHWOOD BARNS l 601 CHRISTIE STREET, TORONTO

50 shades of beige

50 shades of beige

Best potato kugel ever.

 

Not to be confused with a Kegel, a kugel is a staple of Eastern European Jewish cooking. Crispy on the outside and moist on the inside…nobody makes a better potato kugel than my aunt Sheri. It’s thin and dangerously
delicious. You have to act quick when she brings it to the table and stack a few on your plate just in case they disappear. And that’s a good strategy
because I dare you to eat just one piece.

After Lily was diagnosed with celiac, Sheri came up with this gluten-free
version of her classic kugel. Just in time for the Jewish holidays, the queen of kugel is sharing it with us here.

Sheri’s potato kugel

4 medium white potatoes
1 medium cooking onion
3 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp white rice flour
salt and pepper to taste
about 4 tbsp canola oil

Preheat oven to 425°F. Pour oil into a 9 x 13 baking pan to cover bottom (about 4 tbsp). Let oil heat in pan while preparing the other ingredients.

Grate potatoes and onion (I use a Cuisinart). Drain excess liquid.

Add eggs, then blend in flour and seasonings.

Make sure oil is very hot (be careful!). Pour batter into pan—oil will sizzle up around potato mixture.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Reduce heat to 400°F and bake for another 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and cut into squares while hot.

Then hoard as many pieces as you can fit on your plate.

If you’re not serving the kugel right away, you can warm it in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes before serving.

Tip: Sheri told me that she uses white potatoes and white rice flour so the kugel stays white. Apparently, this is the key to successful potato kugel:
keeping the potatoes white. Once you’ve grated the potatoes, you’ve got to rush to put the kugel in the oven before it turns grey. Preheating the oven will also help keep the potatoes white.

 

3 Responses

  1. shoshanna says:

    sounds deelish . almost like 50 shades of grey!!!!

  2. SD says:

    PK can totally be made without ANY additional starchy binders. My tried -and-true recipe calls for potato, onion, eggs, oil and salt. I make it nice and tall, my m-i-l makes her ‘potato-nik’ much thinner, we like them all!

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