In The Kitchen With Michael Leifer and Andrea Heinly

Potato kugel is a dish tucked into the family history of Jimmie Kramer’s The Peanut Bar Restaurant in Reading. President and CEO Michael Leifer’s mother Beatrice penned the recipe.

“The adults always liked the crispy outside, while the kids liked the soft inside,” Leifer says.

“I love the fact that it’s written on an old postcard from many years ago,” says Executive Chef Andrea Heinly of Hell’s Kitchen fame; her own grandmother Jean Dengler worked in the restaurant’s kitchen decades ago.

POTATO KUGEL

INGREDIENTS

• • 3 medium potatoes

• • 2 eggs

• • 1 small grated onion

• • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

• • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• • 1 Grate or shred potatoes and put in colander.

• • 2 Let water from drainage of potatoes sit for a few minutes. (The drainage of water will separate with water forming a layer over the remaining starch from the potatoes.)

• • 3 Skim the water from the bowl that the potatoes drained into, reserving the starch.

• • 4 Put potatoes (cover) in a bowl with starch, 2 eggs, salt, pepper and grated onion.

• • 5 Grease 1 qt. pan well with oil; put well mixed ingredients in pan.

• • 6 Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until crust is crisp on top.

Potato kugel is a dish tucked into the family history of Jimmie Kramer’s The Peanut Bar Restaurant in Reading. President and CEO Michael Leifer’s mother Beatrice penned the recipe.

“The adults always liked the crispy outside, while the kids liked the soft inside,” Leifer says.

“I love the fact that it’s written on an old postcard from many years ago,” says Executive Chef Andrea Heinly of Hell’s Kitchen fame; her own grandmother Jean Dengler worked in the restaurant’s kitchen decades ago.

POTATO KUGEL

INGREDIENTS

• • 3 medium potatoes

• • 2 eggs

• • 1 small grated onion

• • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil

• • salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

• • 1 Grate or shred potatoes and put in colander.

• • 2 Let water from drainage of potatoes sit for a few minutes. (The drainage of water will separate with water forming a layer over the remaining starch from the potatoes.)

• • 3 Skim the water from the bowl that the potatoes drained into, reserving the starch.

• • 4 Put potatoes (cover) in a bowl with starch, 2 eggs, salt, pepper and grated onion.

• • 5 Grease 1 qt. pan well with oil; put well mixed ingredients in pan.

• • 6 Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until crust is crisp on top.

TEXT AND PHOTO BY JENNIFER HETRICK