Noodle Doodle Pudding

There is no real reason for the word doodle to be in the title of this noodle pudding, but I liked the sound of it so it stuck.

The grocery store I use most often has carts and racks set in various places throughout the store for clearance items.  I buy a lot of items at clearance prices that I might not normally purchase if it was full price.  Perhaps it's because it's a higher priced name brand or something that is not ever on my shopping list.  The noodles I'm using in this recipe I got for a steal in one of those bins.  I tried making them as just noodles in chicken broth with a little butter but we didn't really care for them.

Something made me think of a traditional Jewish dish called noodle kugel, also knows as noodle pudding.  I guess I could have called this recipe Noodle Doodle Kugel, too.  That actually has a good ring to it! 

The recipes I could find online didn't really match exactly what I was thinking of wanting this dish to be, so I used ideas from several different places and came up with this deliciousness I share with you now.

NOODLE PUDDING

Ingredients: 
1 pound medium egg noodles
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
6 eggs, well beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
16 ounces sour cream
16 ounces small curd cottage cheese
4 ounces cream cheese
1 sleeve cinnamon graham crackers
 (Printable Recipe)

The noodles I had were in 12 oz. packages so I used my handy-dandy to measure out the 16 oz. needed, and put the rest in a ziptop bag for some other use later on.  I also used the scale to measure out the 1/2 pound of butter since I buy it in a one pound block.  I did the same with the cream cheese to get the 4 oz. from the 8 oz. brick.

Cooking Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Apply spray oil to a 9" x 13" pan and set aside.  In a large pot bring water to a boil then add the noodles and return to a boil and cook for 7 minutes.  Drain and leave in the strainer for a few minutes.

In the now empty pot add the remaining ingredients, expect the graham crackers, and turn on the heat enough to melt.  The order I did it in was the butter and cream cheese first, then the cottage cheese and sour cream.  Then the sugar, vanilla and beaten eggs.  Stir well to combine and turn off the heat.  Add the noodles and continue stirring until they are thoroughly combined.

Pour the noodle mixture into the prepared pan.  Using your spatula move the noodles around so that they get into the corners and they look like they are spread fairly evenly.

Place the pan into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the graham crackers into crumbs.  There are several ways this can be achieved, this is the easiest way I've found to do it.  Take a sleeve of crackers and start pounding on it lightly with a rolling pin.  Don't pound too heavily or it will break open the seals on the package.  Turn the crackers to one  side, pound, turn, pound, and so on until they are nothing but crumbs.

After 30 minutes remove pan from oven and cover the top with the graham cracker crumbs.

  Return to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

 

Note:  This is even more delicious than I thought it might be.  This is going to be my go to dish to take to potlucks.  It's perfect just the way it is, but you could make it lighter by using fat free or reduced fat ingredients, and replace the 6 eggs with 1 1/2 cups egg whites.  Some of the recipes I looked at added raisins, and we wouldn't care for that ourselves, you could add about 1/2 cup of raisins before baking.  

No Knead Pizza Dough Using A Stand Mixer

This recipe for pizza dough is made even easier because you can do all the mixing and kneading with a stand mixer.  I have a KitchenAid brand, but others should work equally well.
This recipe will make enough dough for 3 pizzas.

INGREDIENTS:
- 2 T. of dry yeast
- 2 cup of warm water
- 4 cups of bread flour
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 T of sugar
 (Printable Recipe)

Add the warm water into the mixer bowl, sprinkle the dry yeast and sugar and mix it. Let it rest for about 5 minutes and your mixture will be foamy.

With the hook attachment on start the mixer on slow speed and add olive oil and salt, mix it for about 1 minute and start adding the flour.

Once it is all combined let your mixer do all the work kneading this dough for about 10 minutes (you might need to add a little bit more flour, not too much), this dough will be elastic and a extremely sticky.

Grease a clean bowl with olive oil and pour dough into it.

Cover your bowl with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise for about 30 minutes.

Punch down the dough and it  is ready to be shaped. Oil your pans and your hands very well to keep the dough from coating your skin and so they will come easily off the pans after baking.

TO MAKE INTO PIZZAS:

Preheat oven to 425° F.  Separate the dough onto three well greased pizza pans or baking sheets.

  You can line the pans with foil to save on dirty pans afterwards.  Using your well greased hands, spread the dough out to the thickness you desire.  The dough will thicken some as it bakes.

Bake just the dough for about 7 minutes.  Remove and add the toppings you prefer

and bake for another 10 minutes until the cheese melts and is bubbly.  Slice and enjoy.

Peppered Brown Sugar Bacon

This recipe for bacon with pepper and brown sugar is very easy and the results are amazingly delicious.  Bacon is delicious no matter how it's prepared, but this way somehow makes it extra special.

The ingredients are easy:  bacon, black pepper, and brown sugar.  That's it.  Start by preheating the oven to 325° F.  This temperature is very important.  As the sugar will burn before the bacon is done if the temperature is even 25 degrees higher.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Make sure the baking sheets you use have sides on them as the bacon will make grease and you don't want to start a fire in the bottom of your oven.  Lay the bacon on the paper without overlapping.  If you use a pepper grinder, grind some black pepper all over the bacon, as much as you prefer, otherwise, just shake some on from your pepper shaker.  I'm not really one for adding heat to my food in this manner, so I often aim for light, but in this recipe, I actually prefer a lot of pepper, but use as much as you feel comfortable with.  You can always adjust it the next time you make it.  Lastly, sprinkle each slice with brown sugar.  Be generous with this, also. 

Place in the 325° oven for about half an hour.  Check after 20 minutes and every 5 minutes after that.  Cook until they look like these in the pics.  The amount of time will also depend on how thick the bacon is that you are using.  I've made it with both thin and thick and while it's delicious both thicknesses, we seem to like it more on the thicker side.

Be warned, though.  This amazingly awesome bacon is highly addictive.  You will not be able to eat just one and there will be NO leftovers, at least there never is in my house.  We often don't even make it to the table and just stand around the stove eating it off the baking sheets and burning our tongues like only slightly civilized cave men! 

Peach Scones With Devonshire Cream

PI have been in the mood for scones for the last few days and I find that a little funny.  The first time I ever had a scone it was one I made.  A blueberry one, if I remember correctly, and I followed the recipe exact which is actually unusual for me.  I didn't like it at first.  It just wasn't sweet enough.  But I've made them a few more times over the years and I've really come to love them.

I wanted to use some sort of fruit in them, but wasn't particular so I dug through the freezer to see what I had on hand.  The frozen peaches seemed to jump out to me, so I decided to go with them.  I've tweaked the basic scone recipe that I've used in the past and it smells as good as it tastes.  You won't be disappointed.

PEACH SCONES

2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda *I forgot to put it in the picture
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 butter
2/3 cup butter milk (or 1/4 cup powdered dry milk, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice, and water to make 2/3 cup)
1 teaspoon vanilla, butter, nut flavoring (or plain vanilla)
1 cup diced peaches, fresh or frozen, thawed

Mix the dry ingredients together.  I actually sifted them, but that's not necessary and I only did it because I've been looking for an excuse to use my new sifter.  Add the butter, and blend using a pastry blender.  With a wooden spoon add the fruit and mix to combine.

Turn the dough onto a circle of parchment paper and press down into a circle about an inch thick. 

Cut into wedges and spread the wedges apart slightly. 

Brush with a wash of one egg white and 2 Tablespoons of a milk product.  I used almond mild as it was what I had on hand, but any kind would work.  Sprinkle with sugar.  Move the parchment paper and dough onto the backing pan.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 18-20 minutes.

DEVONSHIRE CREAM

1 package cream cheese (8 oz.)
1/4 cup sour cream
6 Tablespoons powdered sugar

Beat together until smooth and serve with the scones.


This recipe would really work with any fruit you'd like to use.  Berries are another favorite of mine.  Please leave a comment to let me know what you think of this recipe and what your favorite type of scone might be.  Thanks for stopping by!!