(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! :)

Ragbrai Chicken Salad

{I'm calling this Ragbrai Chicken Salad because that is always how I think of it- I found this recipe in a Midwest Living magazine (featuring Ragbrai) and made it, but lost the magazine and now I have just adapted the basic concept.}

3 cups chopped, cooked chicken breast

3 granny smith apples, chopped very fine

2 stalks celery, chopped very fine

1 cup dried cherries

1 cup toasted pecans

Lemon

fresh ground salt and pepper to taste

equal parts sour cream & miracle whip light (or mayonnaise) (about 1/2 cup of each)

Squeeze the lemon juice - about 2 T. - over the apples. This keeps them from turning brown. Stir all ingredients together and serve in whatever bread you like. Croissaints, pitas, bagel thins, flatbread- possibilities are endless. This salad will keep very well if you save out the pecans, so it is great to make ahead.

Creamy Chicken Soup

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup italian dressing
6 small red skinned potatoes, scrubbed and diced
6 carrots, scrubbed and sliced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 bunch green onions, minced
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups milk
1 8 ounce package neufchatel cheese
2 cups frozen peas
fresh ground salt and pepper

Cook the chicken and dressing in Crock Pot on High for 4-5 hours; cut into small pieces, reserving liquid for soup. Combine the chicken, broth, onions, potatoes, carrots, celery and liquid from chicken in a large saucepan. Simmer until tender. Add milk, neufchatel, and peas. Stir until cheese is melted and peas are cooked. Season to taste.