The students of Capture are currently working on putting together a cooking show called "Capture Cooking: Home for the Holidays." This is a three-part series featuring Ball State students with strong international connections. I have the pleasure of hosting a segment with a girl named Lina. Her family is from Lithuania.
One of the national dishes of Lithuania is Kugelis, a buttery potato casserole topped with bacon. Sounds deliciously perfect, right?
For our cooking show segments, we've been asking the students to cook the dish for us so that we have a fully prepared version to show off to the camera. Unfortunately, Lina has been sick, so she was unable to cook for us. So, I stepped up to the plate and volunteered to give Kugelis a shot.
Surprisingly, Kugelis is pretty easy to make, it just takes plenty of time and energy. If you aren't the biggest fan of cooking and dred the preparation portion of cooking, this dish might not be for you. But, if you have the time or a few people to help you, this dish is a hit!
Here's what you'll need:
• 10 Potatoes (I used 8 Russet potatoes to fill my 8x8 pan.)
• 1 Pack of bacon (I used half of the pack.)
• 1.5 Sticks of butter
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Tsp. of salt
1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2) Melt a half stick of butter and coat your dish.
3) Peel potatoes and place in pot with water to avoid browning.
4) Grate potatoes with a medium-size grater.
5) Melt remainder of butter, add to grated potatoes.
6) Add eggs, breaking the yoke.
7) Add salt and mix together. (Some people add in diced onions at this point, but Lina's recipe didn't call for onions.)
8) Transfer mixture to baking dish and bake for 1 hour.
9) Dice and cook bacon while your dish is baking.
10) When dish is done baking, top with bacon and serve!
Serve with whatever you like, some people enjoy a side of applesauce or a few dallops of sour cream. Enjoy!