Homemade Egg Noodles
Welcome to our new normal. Sheltering in place, self-quarantines, that deeply unsettling “So when does this start to feel like Mad Max?” aura permeating the air.
None of this is normal. But it is our new normal. So, please stay the fuck inside. Seriously. Use this homebound time to make yourself something that feels like a hug.
I’m talkin’ about noodles, people. Perhaps the most coveted dish at any family gathering, my great aunt Ruth’s iconic silver stock pot, squat and gently curved in a way that makes me think it’s a distant relative of Mrs. Pots from Beauty and the Beast, contains all you need to feel cozy, warm, and content: tender, silky hand-made egg noodles perfected over years of practice, just kicking it in a rich, glossy chicken base.
These are truly not hard, but they do take a few tries to get right. Like most of the best recipes handed down through families, there’s a lot of personal preference infused with a “just go with your gut” attitude. (Literally, the recipe I was given includes instructions like, “Beat the heck out of it.”)
I also find doughs to be the most soothing cooking projects. And lately, drowning in how surreal and scary our lives feel, I’m gravitating to highly tactile, hands-on projects to ground me back in the present.
It doesn’t feel any less scary but it helps me feel a little more like the old normal.
Homemade Egg Noodles
Serves 2-3 (go ahead and double it; you’ll want leftovers)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon milk
1 large egg, beaten
6 cups water
Orrington’s or your preferred chicken bouillon, to taste
Ina Garten’s roast chicken, optional (see note)
In a bowl, combine egg, water, milk, and salt. Mix in half of the flour using a hand mixer or mixer with paddle attachment. Beat the heck out of it. Add remaining flour and mix again to combine into a very stiff dough. (Note: Ruth finds it easier to roll the dough out when she mixes in the flour in segments. The dough may climb up the beaters due to its stiffness, but it makes them roll out better.)
Flour your board or counter where you’ll be rolling out the dough. Pat the dough into a round circle and roll, roll, roll; the thinner, the better. You will have to continually add flour to the top and bottom of the dough so it doesn’t stick. (Note from the OG noodle queen Aunt Ruth: Sometimes it works and sometimes it is a big pain! Just keep trying. It gets easier with time.)
Once your sheet is rolled very thinly, let dough dry lying flat in a cool, dry place for 3-4 hours. (I flip them every hour or so and let them dry on large sheet pans.)
Once they feel dry to the touch but still pliable, sprinkle the dough sheet with a little more flour on both sides. Roll the dough up into a log and cut into thin strips using a bench scraper or very sharp knife. Unfurl the noodles and cut lengthwise to your desired size.
In a saucepan or dutch oven, bring 6 cups of water and however much chicken bouillon to suit your taste. (If you’ve made the Ina chicken, I add all of those delicious pan juices to the party as well. It makes a huge difference in flavor!)
Add noodles to boiling stock and stir to separate the noodles. Let them boil for a few minutes until floating and very tender. I like to turn the heat down to a bare simmer to let the stock thicken and the noodles meld with the broth.
The result should be a glossy and thickened sauce, almost like a gravy, that clings to the noodles but isn’t overly gloppy or thick like paste. Always err on the side of using more water than you think you may need or you might end up with a brick of noodles glued together.
Serve on top of mashed potatoes if you really know what’s up.
Trash bird note: As you know, chicken is not a food I enjoy, but I do think the juices from a freshly roasted bird make all the difference here. I follow Ina’s recipe, but I roast mine in a cast iron skillet with chunks of celery, onion, and carrot beneath the chicken. Do whatever you want with the trash bird (shred it to add to the noodles! hack it up into pieces to take out your pent up COVID-19 aggression! give it to the dog!) but reserve those tasty juices from the roasted trash bird to enhance your noods.
Oh, and please splurge a little on a high quality roasting chicken.