Thursday, January 3, 2013

Homemade Chicken & Noodles


Some of the best comfort food I remember growing up is my Mom's Easy Chicken & Homemade Noodles.

Gramma used to make these for my mom and her sisters when they were growing up.
My favorite part of mom making this recipe is when the noodles were laying out on a tea towel to dry. My sister and I couldn't resist the slightly soft, floury, noodles laying about. We would always sneak through the kitchen and steal a noodle. Of course, these days we know better and I don't let my kids do that because of the raw egg in the dough, but it is one of my favorite memories surrounding this meal.

These days I make chicken and noodles whenever someone is ill, when the weather turns cold, when I have leftover chicken or turkey, and even when I just have very little in the house to cook with. It's a great way to stretch a small amount of chicken.

I sometimes add veggies to the broth, whatever I have on hand, and often I'll use homemade chicken stock or broth. When I make the broth homemade as well, I really feel like this comfort food is taken to another level.
It doesn't take much effort to make your own broth and the extra nutrients and flavor you'll get out of it are definitely worth the time! There are some really excellent recipes posted on Food.com. These are a few I've tried and keep coming back to:

Herb and Garlic Broth-Aigo Bouido

Homemade Chicken Stock for Cooking

Crock Pot Chicken or Turkey Stock

The noodles can be rolled and cut thick or thin. I use a pizza cutter to slice them quickly. Personally, I like a little thicker, chewier noodle, but sometimes I'll cut them spaghetti thin because it makes a lot more for serving to a crowd or for sharing with a sick friend.

I've also tried a variation of homemade egg noodles, posted to Food.com by kindcook, and found that I liked the richness of using egg yolks instead of whole eggs.
Delicious Homemade Egg Noodles

Regardless of the broth or noodles you use, the best way to serve this recipe is over a big mound of mashed potatoes!