Chicken Noodle Soup

Here’s another one of my Grandmother’s recipes.  It’s amazing that I can make any sense of these things.  Actually, if I hadn’t recently asked her to show me how to make this, I’m not sure I could have.  And honestly, I’m not quite sure how well I’ve done translating her notes.  Here’s what she wrote down:

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken parts

Onions, celery, carrots

3 chicken bouillon cubes

pepper, thyme

Cook together 1 – 1 1/2 hours.  Remove skin.  Cool in fridge. Fat will rise to top.  Remove all but 3 or 4 tablespoons.  Swanson broth, add if needed.

Noodles

Egg – one or two

Flour accordingly

Roll and flour

Flour board and pin

And here’s my translation:

MamMom’s Chicken Noodle Soup

• 5 chicken thighs (bone in, skin on)
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 4 carrots, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 chicken bouillon cubes
• Salt and pepper
• 1 batch homemade noodle (see below)

BAH Note:  In a perfect world, I’d give you an exact quantity of water to use.  If I were a betting woman, I’d say we used about a 6 quart pot and had between 4 and 5 quarts of water in there.  But don’t hold me to that.  Also, if you don’t want to wait a day to eat the soup, much of the fat can be carefully skimmed off the top of the warm broth and the noodles added immediately.  The time for the noodles to thoroughly cook in the broth remains unchanged.  Don’t be alarmed when the soup goes cloudy and get a little bit thick after you add the noodles.

Place chicken thighs, bouillon cubes, and diced vegetables in a large stock pot or dutch oven.  Add enough water to fill the pot about 3/4 full.  Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until chicken is done.

Carefully remove chicken from the liquid and let cool until it can be handled.  Remove and discard the skin.  Shred the chicken off the bone and add the meat back to the pot.  Add a can or two of chicken broth if desired, taste for seasoning, and add salt and pepper to taste.  Let the soup cool and then refrigerate.  Once thoroughly chilled, remove most of the fat that has risen to the top, leaving just a bit for flavor.

Reheat on the stove, adding handfuls of homemade noodles.  Allow the soup to simmer for at least 20 minutes for the noodles to cook through.

Homemade Noodles

• 1 egg
• All purpose flour

Beat an egg in a medium mixing bowl.  Add flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, and mix to combine until the dough comes together.  The dough should be a little on the dry side.

Turn the dough out onto a floured board and roll into a thin sheet with a floured pin, being sure to pick the dough up and dust the board with additional flour as needed to keep things from sticking.

Allow the dough to sit on a kitchen towel or newspaper until it is fully dried.  Carefully roll the dough up and thinly slice off noodles.  Separate the noodles into individual pieces.  Unused noodles can be sealed in plastic bags (with all the air removed) and frozen for later use.

{printable recipe}

The entire process looks something like this: