Mr.-Burns-Noodle-Kugel-Screenshot

Mr. Burns’ Noodle Kugel

The US election is heating up and since today is “Super Tuesday” it seems only fitting to feature one of Springfield’s most prominent Republican’s: Monty Burns. For many years I had envisioned Burns saying “noodle coodle” instead of noodle kugel because I had never heard of kugel before. So what exactly is Mr. Burns’ Noodle Kugel all about? Would you stop saying kugel so much??

Ahem, kugel is a traditional Jewish dish that is served as a part of a main course, even though it is usually sweet. From a political standpoint this is a very interesting item for Monty to bring over to the Simpson family dinner, a meal that is being broadcast across the state. What’s the angle here and what are Mr. Burns’ political advisers trying to say in having him bring a kugel to dinner? Was Monty not polling well with the Jewish population? Dairy farmers? Casserole aficionados? Whatever the reason, it seems likely that no one in the family gets to eat the kugel since Santa’s Little Helper knocks Burns and his dish over before he even walks in the door.

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In researching this recipe I discovered a lot of variations on how to make kugel with the components of the dish being egg and egg noodles, dairy to varying degrees, sweetness of sugar and cinnamon and raisins or apples being optional. In the interest of full disclosure, I took this recipe directly from the Food Network since I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups cooked egg noodles
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/4 stick butter, melted
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 250 grams cottage cheese
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • Handful (about 1/4 cup) raisins

 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Boil the noodles until soft and strain. In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs, butter, sour cream, cottage cheese, sugar, cinnamon and raisins. Pour into a greased baking dish. Bake 30-45 minutes once mixture is set and the noodles on top are browned.

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I haven’t eaten a dish this confusing in a long time. My mind was thinking this was a casserole, breakfast (because of the egg) and a dessert all at once. It probably didn’t help that I ate this without any other food, since this is traditionally served as a side dish. You know what would really help make this dish pop? A big old hunk of pork in there! I mean, who doesn’t love that wonderful, magical animal? Now I’m thinking like a true politician.

Cromulence: 6 Mary Baileys out of 10

Mr. Burns’ Noodle Kugel Recipe From: Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish (The Simpsons Season 2- Episode 04)


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4 Responses to “Mr. Burns’ Noodle Kugel”

  1. ColdFusion Avatar

    I mean, Harry Shearer REALLY sounded like he was saying coodle. he swallowed that G and he could not have OOd that oo more. I thought it was some fanciful housewifey casserole.
    In any case, kugel is good stuff. It helps if you think of it as deconstructed french toast. It’s important to really butter those noodles and submerge them in the casserole so you don’t get dry crunchy bits.

    1. Eats Like A Duck Avatar
      Eats Like A Duck

      Glad I’m not the only one confused by that sequence. As for the kugel, could I just eat French Toast in a casserole dish instead? Because I’m actually pretty good at making that, as opposed to my kugel attempt.

  2. teightytwo Avatar

    This kind of reminds me of how sweet potato casseroles are eaten as a side dish to a ton of savoury, salty food during thanksgiving. I guess the overt sweetness offsets the savouriness?

    I love strange food combinations but I’m finding it a bit puzzling what I would serve noodle kugel as a side dish to…

    1. Eatslikeaduck Avatar

      I am not nearly knowledgeable enough about Jewish cuisine to comment on this. But the internet says it is often served on Shabbat and Yom Tov so there’s that!

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