GRANDPA INDRELUNAS KUGELIS recipe - from the Campbell & Indrelunas Family Cookbook Family Cookbook (2024)

Category:

Category:

Ingredients:

Ingredients:

10 c. grated Yukon Gold potatoes – about 5 pounds (grate at last minute, do other stuff first!)
1 med. onion grated
4 tsp. kosher salt (3 tsp. regular)
¼ tsp. pepper
1 stick butter
1 can evaporated milk
5 eggs, beaten
1 lb. bacon

Directions:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. First let's talk about grating the potatoes. This is the hardest part to get it grated ‘right’. We’ve tried hand graters….OUCH and labor intensive, food processors, blenders. Although my father said ‘Kugelis needs blood” from hand graters, we bought this grater from a church in Chicago and waited a year to get it. Now it is commercially available online. Either use the flat, square grater or the machine.

Peel potatoes and keep in cold water. Peel onion. Cut bacon cross-wise into narrow strips. Fry until crisp.Turn off heat. Add one stick butter to fried bacon to melt. Heat evaporated milk to warm in a little pan. Now quickly grate potatoes and onion – quickly to keep them from discoloring. You can add some vitamin C to retain color. Once grated, add bacon, fat, and butter (oh yes, all of it) over grated potatoes/onion. Stir well. Add warmed milk stirring again. Add well-beaten eggs ‘one at a time’ or approximately one at a time. Add salt and pepper.

Turn into greased (non-stick metal) 13x9 baking dish OR even better go to www.bakersedge.com --- their lasagne pan is PERFECT for a full batch with lots of browned edges. Lithuanians over the globe fight over the crisp corners.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Turn down to 375 degrees and bake 45 minutes longer. Let sit for a little bit to ‘settle’. Best served right after settling. Can be reheated in microwave, or frying pan with butter (best and traditional), or frozen….not so great but good when desperate! Delicious the next day for breakfast with eggs!

Number OfServings:

Number OfServings:

18

PreparationTime:

PreparationTime:

One hour with the special grater

Personal Notes:

Personal Notes:

Grandpa always said, "Kugelis likes grease." He and Gram added an extra stick of butter to the recipe. When I offered to take over the job, the recipe he copied for me never had that extra stick on it! They always said my kugelis was good but not as delicious as his. And they were right! Mine was dry. But I was using his recipe! I was puzzled. So finally one day I watched him and Mom make it one day -- just to see what I was doing 'wrong' and saw them add that extra stick of butter that was not on the recipe. We all laughed! From then on, mine was finally just as good :)