Right Wing Nation

Dragonlady requested a recipe for noodles, so here it is, and a few more. Though in Indiana, at least the part of Indiana where I lived, making noodles was rather silly, since you could buy these wonderful Amish noodles in any store. And there are always Mrs. Reame’s egg noodles in your frozen foods section. But if you want to make noodles, here you go.

Egg Noodles

Egg noodles are the central European cousin to pasta. The primary difference between noodles and pasta is that noodles use exclusively eggs (eggs are used in pasta dough in northern Italy, but not southern Italy, where people rely on dried pasta), and noodles are kneaded more to develop the gluten for a chewier product.

2 - 2 1/2 c. flour
3/4 t. salt
3 eggs plus 1 egg yolk

Mix 2 c. of the flour and salt and make a well in the center. Add eggs and yolk to the well, and mix in with your fingers or a wooden spoon from the inside out, until the dough holds together and cleans the bowl; add additional flour as needed.

Knead the dough at least 10 minutes, until smooth and resilient. Cover with a towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Cut dough into fourths, then with each fourth at a time, flatten it, then roll it out 1/8-inch thick. Cut into noodles, toss to separate, and spread out on the counter to dry about 30 minutes.

For kluski, cut into 1/8-inch strips.

Chicken and Dumplings

These are probably not what you think. These are the kind of dumplings I grew up with, not the thick horrors dropped from a spoon, but very tender, rolled dumplings. These aren’t hard to make, as long as you follow the directions.

1 chicken, or chicken parts (but NOT boneless or skinless)
water or chicken stock
1 onion
1 carrot
poultry seasoning
salt and pepper

1 ½ c. flour
1 ½ c. chicken stock
sage or poultry seasoning
1 t. each: salt and baking powder

Cover the chicken, onion and carrot with water (broth is better), bring to a boil, then simmer until done (how long that is depends partly on whether you use a whole chicken, or chicken parts). You’ll need about 5 cups stock total. Discard onion and carrot. Remove chicken and reserve stock. You need a certain amount of fat in the stock to keep the dumplings from sticking together.

Dumplings:

When stock is room temperature, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and poultry seasoning (I like LOTS). Add stock: These are not noodles. You want the dough sticky, about the consistency of spätzle dough. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, you want it thicker than cake batter, but it shouldn’t “hold together” into a dry ball. When you lift the spoon, it should pull some of the dough with it and remain fairly sticky. Flour your counter generously, and turn the dough out onto the counter. Flour the top of the dough generously and let it sit for fifteen minutes or so. Now, using almost no pressure at all, roll it with a pin (it’s very soft, and requires no pressure) until it’s about 1/8 of an inch thick. Again, let it rest for about thirty minutes, then cut it into squares. Add poultry seasoning to stock, and bring to a boil. Now, lower the heat until the stock is simmering, but not boiling (the dumplings really are tender, and will fall apart if they are boiled rapidly). Add dumplings 5 or 6 at a time, and GENTLY separate them with a spoon and push them down into the stock before you add more. This prevents them from sticking to each other (as does the fat in the stock). The flour on the dumplings will thicken the stock as it cooks, so you don’t want to shake it off. Repeat this process till all the dumplings have been added, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Simmer very gently. Don’t boil. Very gently break them up two or three times, but IF YOU STIR THEM THEY WILL DISENTEGRATE!

Serve with the chicken pieces, or remove the chicken from the bones and chop then add when the dumplings are done.