Grandma's Chicken and Noodles

When my mom came over for Halloween this weekend, she brought me her recipe file...I'm in heaven!  I sat down today to look through some of my childhood memory dishes.  It's a very cold, rainy day so something warm and comforting for dinner would be great.  As soon as I saw this hand written recipe card by my Grandma, I just knew that's what I was going to make.  I didn't even have to go to the grocery store...bonus!  I love looking at all the recipes my mom has that are either written in my Mom, Grandma, Mimaw, or Meemaw's handwriting.  You can definitely tell which ones were cooked the most.

My mom bought me a noodle cutter several years back when we made these together.  I found it in the back on my kitchen drawer.  It makes noodles the perfect width and works like a charm.

This recipe calls for a "nice fat fryer" (I can totally hear my Grandma saying this!), but I only had some boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the freezer.  It worked out fine, but the whole fryer would have given the broth much more flavor.  I used 2 chicken bouillon cubes, a yellow onion, and peppercorns to make up for the lost flavor from not using the skin, bones, and dark meat.  I'm going to write the recipe as my Grandma and mom have always made it because tradition is always best when it comes to family recipes.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken
kosher salt

Noodles:
2 C flour
1 T salt
2 large eggs
water

Cook the chicken in salted boiling water for 1 hour.  While the chicken is cooking, you can make the noodles.  

In a bowl, mix the flour, salt, and eggs.  Add enough cool water to make a stiff dough. Kneed with your hands in bowl, then turn out onto floured work surface and continue to kneed until it comes together. Divide dough into 2 parts.  Roll out on floured surface (fairly thin as it will cook up thicker).  Use plenty of flour to keep dough from sticking.  Cut dough into long, thin strips lengthwise, then use a knife to cut into smaller pieces if desired (I did this step backwards and it made my work more difficult).  Place noodles on floured cookie or sheet tray and toss noodles in flour to prevent sticking together. Let the dough dry while the chicken is cooking. 

When the chicken is cooked through, remove from the water and let cool enough to handle.  Leave the broth simmering.  Remove the skin and bones from the meat.  Cut or shred the meat into smaller pieces and set aside.

Drop small handfuls of noodles into the broth, stirring after each addition.  This will keep them from sticking together.  Cook noodles for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Broth should thicken after the noodles cook.  If not thick enough, stir some flour and hot water together in a glass, then slowly add it to simmering broth while stirring until it thickens. 

Add the chicken back to the pot.  Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!  

I made some whole wheat dinner rolls from For the Love of Cooking to go with our Chicken and Noodles.  Delicious!