Chicken and Noodles

There are things I have spent years trying to make correctly. Fashion choices, pie crust and homemade egg noodles are among the top on my list. Egg noodles are just one of those things that taste like home. The packaged  kind will do, but there is just something nice about those doughy homemade noodles. 

My grandma would make these amazing egg noodles in a broth based gravy and serve them over mashed potatoes. There was never a recipe, so I have pieced together what people remember and a few trustworthy recipe creators to help me get pretty close to the real thing. 

Jonna at Get Off Your Butt and Bake makes her own egg noodles, too. I used her recipe and my grandmas method to come up with this delicious bowl of goodness. There are a few key steps, but overall it is a pretty simple process. 

One of the keys is you must let the noodles dry for at least an hour. Not 45 minutes. Don't even try it. One hour is good, two is great. Another important detail is to roll the noodles thinly enough so they can dry in that one to two hours. Follow these simple rules of advice and you will have delicious egg noodles.

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

3 egg yolks

1 whole egg

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

1 chicken leg quarter

8 cups of water

8 bouillon cubes or teaspoons chicken base

First, dump the flour in a large bowl and create a well in the center. Add the whole eggs and egg yolk to the center of the well. With a fork, combine the egg and egg yolks together, then slowly mix in the flour. Add the water slowly, starting with the smallest amount first. 

 

The mixture will look crumbly, but keep combining, it will come together. 

 

You will know you have enough water when the whole thing sticks all together in a ball. You may have a few crumbs here and there, but most of it will be together. 

 

On a well floured surface, roll out the ball of dough. Make sure you have plenty of flour to combat the stickiness of the dough. Roll this out as thin as you can without the dough cracking or falling apart. 

Cut short noodles out of the dough. I like to use a pizza cutter for this, but a knife will work great as well. Don't worry about making straight lines. I obviously didn't. 

 

Separate the noodles. Sprinkle another 1/4 cup of flour over the top and spread them out to dry. Let the noodles dry for at least an hour. 

 

In a large pot, cover the chicken leg quarter with the water. Let this simmer over medium heat for about 20 minutes.

 

After the noodles have dried for at least one hour, add them to the simmering pot. When you add the noodles, add in the flour you used to dust them with as well.  Keep this on a low to medium simmer for about an hour or until the noodles are done.  

Take the chicken leg quarter out, and shred all the meat off of the bone.

After an hour or so, add in the chicken base and the shredded chicken to the pot. I like to add the seasoning towards the end since a lot of the water will boil off. When the chicken base or bullion cubes boil, they create an odd foam at the top of the pot. 

Let the whole thing simmer for about another 10 to 15 minutes to season up the chicken itself. 

I like to serve this without the mashed potatoes and more like a soup since the broth is my favorite part. This does take some time, but it is completely worth it!