"Um, What is a Kugel?" When I first asked this question at a Sabbath dinner, it was like I had just stamped the letters "G-E-N-T-I-L-E" on my forehead.

As it turns out, kugels are as common in a Jewish Ashkenazi kitchen as jambalaya is in my Louisiana home. Kugels are baked puddings, usually with egg noodles or potatoes as the base. Their eggs give them a custardy essence and they are usually served as a side dish for Sabbath lunches. Besides those commonalities, no two kugel recipes are alike. They can be savory or sweet; parve or dairy; fruit based or vegetable based. Over the next few weeks I'll be rolling out my various kugel recipes but feel free to search the vast array of kugel recipes there are out there.

Ingredients
1 pound flat egg noodles
8 tblsp unsalted butter, melted
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 ½ cups sugar
5 eggs
2 cups sour cream
1 ½ cups milk
2 cups cottage cheese
1 tblsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp salt
1 cup of dried fruit (optional)
2 cups cornflakes, crushed
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions
1) Preheat oven to 350. Grease 9×13 baking pan (or even slightly larger).
2) Cook the egg noodles in salted boiling water until they are al dente. Toss noodles in 4 tblsp butter.
3) With an electric mixer, beat on low the cream cheese, sugar, and 4 tblsp but

Chicken Soup is one dish that has reached mythical status in Jewish culture. Known as the "Jewish Penicillin," chicken soup is offered to nurse colds, eliminate headaches, and even comfort broken hearts. There is almost nothing chicken soup is not purported to cure. This idea dates back to at least the 12th century when Maimonides, a famous Jewish theologian and physician, prescribed chicken soup to "neutralize body constitution." Maimonides believed the golden broth would cure disease as serious as leprosy or chronic as asthma.

Ingredients
4-5 pound whole chicken
1 pound chicken wings
2 large white onions, peeled and quartered
1 large purple onion, peeled and quartered
2 parsnips, quartered
3 celery stalks including leaves, halved
5 carrots, halved
3 garlic cloves
6 parsley sprigs
¾ tsp dried thyme
4 quarts water
salt and pepper to taste

Optional add-ins: matzo balls, rice, egg noodles, fresh dill and/or vermicelli

Directions
1) Trim visible fat and extra skin from the whole chicken. Empty the cavity of the chicken and discard giblets. Wash the chicken and wings thoroughly.
2) Place chicken and wings in large stockpot. Pour in 4 quarts of water. Turn the heat to medium and bring soup to a simmer. Never let the soup boil.
3) Add to the stockpot the onions, parsnips, celery, carrots, garlic, parsley, thyme, 2 tsp salt,

Kibbeh is a popular appetizer in Israel. Made out of bulgur and minced meat, kibbeh is fried and oblong-shaped. The first time I tasted kibbeh it reminded me of the fried boudin balls I grew up eating at the local gas station in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In its own weird way, eating kibbeh in Beer Sheva was like tasting a little piece of home when I needed some familiar comfort food. *This recipe makes a very large batch of kibbeh. I fry half of the balls and the other half I freeze. When they are defrosted they still fry nicely.

Ingredients
3 lbs ground beef or lamb, finely ground and divided
1 cup fine bulgur wheat
2 cups onion, finely chopped and divided
2 basil leaves, chopped (optional)
1 ½ tbsp salt, divided
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp allspice
½ cup toasted pine nuts
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
¼ tsp cinnamon
vegetable oil for frying

Directions
1) For the kibbeh shell, rinse the bulgur wheat in cold water. Leave the bulgur in a bowl of cold water (just enough to cover) for 1 hour. Drain well. Remove excess water from bulgur with a paper towel or cheesecloth.
2) Mix the bulgur with 2 lbs of the meat in a food processor. Set aside.
3) Next in the food processor blend 1 cup of

*Bedouins are well-known in the Middle East for their hospitality. If you've ever had the good fortune to be invited into a Bedouin tent than you have most certainly had a cup of their tea. Bedouin have their own blends of teas that they make from the dried leaves of desert plants (habuck and marmaraya). In the US, dried thyme or sage can be substituted for the desert herbs for a similar flavor. I like to imagine the nomadic Abraham serving this kind of tea to his angelic guests...

Ingredients
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp dried sage
2 cardamon pods
1 cinnamon stick
4 teaspoons loose black tea
Sugar

Directions
1) Heat 4 ½ cups of water with the thyme, sage, cardamom, cinnamon, and black tea.
2) Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and seep for 5 minutes.
3) Strain tea and serve with sugar. Bedouin usually pour the tea directly over the sugar in the cup.

*Recipe by Shelley Neese, vice president of The Jerusalem Connection. Click here for her articles and videos.