Wednesday, November 28, 2012

(using your) noodle tutorial

Well I left my camera up at mom and dad's.

That should be reason enough to turn around and go back up for two weekends in a row, right?

In the meantime my phone has to suffice for the hundred snapshots a week that I have the sudden burning need to take.

Like today.

I was making noodles and I suddenly thought, this is so crazily easy and cheap, I need to put this on the blog because I bet there are people out there who have never experienced homemade noodles.  Some of my earliest noodle memories are sneakily tip-toeing across some great '79 era linoleum and reaching my little paw into the cool oven racks to break off  little pieces of the noodles as they dried.  I loved that salty forbidden fruit. Mom is definitely off the hook.  I'd been warned about raw eggs. 

So with my phone to the rescue and a few poor quality shots (you know you aren't here for the photography) here are the noodles. . .

Best part.  There are 21 cents worth of eggs in here and about 20 cents worth of flour.  You do the math. 


So I combine two recipes from Fannie Farmer Cooking Book:  The Italian Version and The American Version.

The American Version is (typically) complicated, wasteful and salty.

The Italian Version is (typically) easy, resourceful and bland.

So I feel that I have combined the best of both worlds by adding salt to the Italian version.


2 cups flour
3 eggs
1 T. salt
2 T. water

Make a well in the flour, crack the eggs into the well, pour in water and salt. 

Froth the water and eggs with a fork. 

As the eggs mix up, start adding flour from the sides.  Mix the dough around until the flour disappears.

Let the noodle dough set for about ten minutes.  This allows the flour to absorb the water and it will be less sticky.

Divide into three sections. 


Using lots of flour, roll each section into a long rectangle.

It's just like rolling pie crust, only lots thinner. The dough should not stick to your rolling surface. 

Use lots of flour.  (Did I already say that?)

Then gently fold up the noodle rectangle  just exactly like a business letter. 
Using a very sharp knife, cut your noodles into strips.  They magically unfold from their "business letter" into long, beautiful noodles.  (IF you used enough flour.)
My kids love unfolding the noodles out onto my cookie-doubling-as-noodle-drying racks.

You don't HAVE to dry them, but I always do.

If you turn a ceiling fan on, they dry to a lovely brittle in about two hours. Then you can pop them in a zip-lock bag and freeze indefinitely OR

pop them in some chicken broth brought to rolling boil + chicken + carrots + potatoes for some pretty good eating.  (It will take 10-15 minutes to make sure the noodles are cooked.)




Oh yum!  Comfort food at it's best! :)

15 comments:

  1. so....i'm a noodle-making fool. :)
    my grandma's recipe calls for a couple shakes of cream of tartar. my mom swears by it. maybe next time you could try it and see if it makes a difference. she says it makes them lighter and fluffier. also...i used heavy cream instead of water. yikes.
    but i'm here to say YES! cheap comfort food at it's finest!

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    1. I'll definitely give it a try! How could heavy cream go wrong? ;) and glad to know there's someone else in town making noodles. ha ha

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  2. Fun! I totally have memories of helping make noodles and then sneaking noodles as they dried when I was growing up! I'll have to try making them now as I'm on a "as simple, homemade (and cheap) as possible kick" at present. :)

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    1. and what was the color of *your* linoleum, Stephanie? ;) I like beef & noodles too- reminds me of small town church dinners. more comfort food.

      (i'm trying replying from my phone, btw- I love all the great comments &I never respond- you ask sts so nice to keep leaving them!)

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  3. you *all are. phone replies might not work for me. :)

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  4. Thanks for making noodles look easy for the first time ever!

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    1. they are, Beth! hope you have a successful noodle story of your own soon!

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  5. I'll be testing these noodles out on my many small day care children today!

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    1. yay! kids love noodles! (I'll be crossing my fingers that they turn out for you)

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    2. I have 6 little ones (15 months, 2, 2, 2, 2 and 3 years old) to feed and it is rare that they ALL like the same thing at the same time...today was a first and there were lots of seconds! Thank you for sharing your recipe, I'm hoping all the full bellies lead to nice long naps;-)

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    3. I hope you had a great naptime session for your littles today, too!

      and can I just say anyone who cares for four 2 year old must be a saint!!

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  6. Oooh, I'm going to have to try this!! I've never made noodles before, who knew it was so do-able? Thanks for the recipe!

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    1. you'll have to try them and document with REAL photos, Katie. ;)

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  7. I look forward to trying your recipe!
    I couldn't help but notice your "Dinner: A Love Story" book. I'm about halfway through reading my copy. ;)

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