Homemade Chicken and Noodles 101

Directions

Cook chicken breasts and cool. Cut into big bitesized pieces. Kitchen shears work beautifully because they don't shred the chicken as you chunk. Strain broth and chill. Chill chicken pieces.

Put about 3 cups flour in a bowl. Make a well in the flour. Beat 3 eggs until frothy. Pour eggs into the hole in the flour. With a fork, begin to incorporate the flour into the eggs. Don't get in a hurry. Gently blend the flour into the egg mixture until you have a mass of flour/egg mixture that is hard to stir. Per my motherinlaw continue working in flour until you have a stiff ball.

Dump the mass out onto a well floured board. Don't overwork the mass as you would for yeast dough but continue to incorporate flour gently until you think you can't work in any more flour. Roll dough out into a fine layer. Again, don't rush. Be gentle. Don't be afraid of it but don't beat it to death!!

Cut the noodles into fine narrow noodles. My motherinlaw told me that when I thought they were narrow enough to cut them more narrow. Allow them to dry somewhat in a bit of flour. If you have a pizza cutter that is the hot tip for cutting the noodles!

Heat chicken broth and 2 T. chicken boullion in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Gently knock flour off noodles and drop into boiling broth. Continue to add noodles until all are incorporated into broth. If you discover you are short on broth you can add water if necessary. Having extra broth on hand is a better thing!! Lower heat. Do not allow noodles to boil.

Allow noodles to simmer, stirring gently and making sure they are not stuck together. Continue simmmering until noodles are tender. Add chicken chunks near the end and heat.

My motherinlaw always told me not to add salt to the egg/flour mixture because it could make the noodles tough. I've found that no salt is needed with the addition of the boullion. The boullion, while it adds some sodium, also adds great flavor and color to the dish.

Whether you try this recipe or another, if you've never made chicken and noodles give them a shot. The noodles are a great comfort food and they are a dying art