Happy Passover! Potato & Kimchi Kugel. Eat it.

It's Pesach time. Which means spring, and family, and lambs blood splattered on the door of my DC apartment and Cathy bitching about brown food. It is true that our people tend to cook with far less spice and veggies and, well, general variety than Koreans, but I take a sense of pride in the food that we have come to define as our own. I will see your bul-go-gi with a well-cooked brisket and I can take out your mothers kimchi any day with a quality kosher dill.

Each and every Passover since I left home 10 years ago I have campaigned for a change from the usual brisket/matzoh kugel/gefilte fish staples of the Seder table. Now I love a good haroset as much as the next guy, but we have two nights of this people, can't we mix it up? Maybe a nice roasted lamb?

A few years ago, Cathy and I attempted to insert our own culinary ideas onto the table with mixed luck. One year the braised leeks sat sad and lonely next to the bitter herb. Last years ground lamb and eggplant dish fared a bit bit better, but my father still refused to taste it.

This year I decided the hell with it. I am going all out. If I am going to shlep along my crazy-ass Korean girlfriend, I might as well follow through with this half breed lifestyle of mine and start cooking like I live. And so I give you Potato & Kimchi Kugel.

I bastardized a recipe I found online for a tasty looking Potato and Fried Shallot Kugel. It was heavy with egg and oil and I hoped it would turn out creamier and moister than what we usually have.

(find the basic recipe here)
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/potato-kugel-with-fried-shallots


My biggest obstacle when it comes to trying to get my family to try new, and different food items is this man:



His idea of variety is coleslaw next to his corned beef sandwich instead of chips. He is the same man who tried honey for the first time last year (I had to beg) and who hadn't tasted turkey until he met my mother in his mid-30's. Meat and potatoes kind of guy is an understatement. His favorite meal to cook is boiled hot dogs and mashed potatoes. Really dad?

For my mothers sake (after a few sad text messages) I opted to make a version without the kim chi. That man always wins.

Here is the mound of 'taters



Here is the mound of hand shredded 'taters



Here is the 'taters with egg, seasoning, fried shallots mixed in



Here is the mound of fresh kimchi delivered that morning by Cathy's mother (we get a monthly delivery of a gallon of fresh, spicy Kimchi. You should be jealous). I pressed out much of the juice so the flavor wasn't overpowering and I chopped it up real fine.



Here are the thee kugels- w/ kim chi for passover, w/kim chi to see if it was a giant mistake, w/o kim chi for grumpy old men.



Here is the pan of kimchi being fried up for topping.



And the result (I forgot to take a final photo w/ the fried kimchi bits on top, sorry)....



This was DAMN good. No joke. Creamy and moist with a hint of kimchi spice inside and a crispy, hot, salty kimchi toping. I will let you know how the family reacted later this week.

This is the beginning of something great. Right?