Friday, January 11, 2013


Since it’s been cold and snowing here this week, I decided to dig back to my Midwestern roots for an old-fashioned recipe.

My Aunt Eva in Nebraska always makes these hearty noodles and serves them in a rich chicken broth-based soup. The result is similar to a chicken and dumpling recipe probably heralding back to our German roots on the farm.

My aunt shared this recipe with me years ago, and it’s followed me every time I’ve moved from NYC to Washington D.C. to Baltimore and now to Istanbul. I think everyone needs one of these family recipes that you can pull out whenever you want a taste of home.

While I was cooking the soup, I took a photo on my cell phone to tease my husband with his upcoming dinner at home. I’m not sure if it was the snow or the soup that made him come home early that night!

This recipe is definitely a crowd pleaser and one that will warm you up when it’s cold outside.

Afiyet olsun!
Perfect comfort food - homemade noodles and chicken soup!
Homemade Noodles
Serves 6-8 people.

5          Tablespoons    cold water
2          cups                 all-purpose flour
2          ea.                    Large eggs
2          tsp.                  sunflower or vegetable oil
1          Tablespoon      salt

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients together. I used a hand blender for part of it. Then, knead the dough together by hand for a couple minutes, until you have a smooth ball of dough. If the dough seems dry, add a splash of water. If the dough seems too wet, add a little flour.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for one hour. (While the dough is resting, work on the soup ingredients.)

Divide the dough in half. Liberally dust your counter with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough fairly thin.

Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough into thin strips to make your noodles. Mine were about ½-inch wide by 2-3-inches in length.
Make sure your soup is up to a rolling boil at this point and drop in the noodles a few at a time. If you drop in the noodles too fast, they can clump up together.
Continue rolling out the rest of the dough the same way and drop into the soup as well.

The noodles will need to cook for 15-20 minutes in the soup.

Note: If you have leftovers, you will need to add more chicken stock or water to the soup. The noodles really absorb any liquid once left to sit for awhile.

Chicken Soup Base
Ingredients:
2          T.                     sunflower or vegetable oil
3-4       ea.                    Carrots, peeled and diced small
2          ea.                    Medium onions, diced small
2          cups                 celery or leeks, diced small (I had a lot of celery to use up.)
1          ea.                    large potato, diced small
2          ea.                    Chicken breasts, chopped small
1-2       teaspoons        dried thyme
4-5       ea.                    bay leaves
To taste                       salt and pepper
2.5       quarts              chicken stock or water (If you use water, drop in 2-3 chicken flavored bouillon cubes.)

In a large stockpot over medium-high heat, add the oil. When hot, add the carrots, onions and celery or leeks. Saute’ for a couple minutes until the vegetables are soft.

Then add the potatoes and chicken. While stirring, cook the ingredients for a few minutes.

Add the spices and cover everything with the chicken stock or water. Add lid. Bring soup up to a rolling boil before you drop in the noodles.

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8 comments:

BacktoBodrum said...

Chicken soup on the stove makes every one hurry home, regardless of culture. Perfect for an icy day

jaz@octoberfarm said...

yum! looks a lot like my chicken and dumplings that i got from dear beverly! i cherish that recipe even more now that she is gone. snow for you and 70 degrees here.

Manya said...

Seems that many of us have done noodles this week. It's the kind of comfort food you crave when it's cold. Here in OR, I served a beef pot roast with csipetke, an easy Hungarian noodle that is a cross between a noodle and a dumpling. I used to make the more labor intensive spaetzle until I discovered csipetke. They are also great in soup, just like your noodles. Question: do Turks have a version of this type of soup with dumplings? If so, it is sure to have some kind of pepper or cumin in it :) I also made tarhana this week; it is so simple and was great with aci biber (paste) and and sautéed onions.

Joy said...

@BacktoBodrum, true true!

@Joyce, That's sweet! It's definitely good to have those cherished recipes.

@Manya, I looked up the csipetke noodles and they look very similar to German spaetzle. Similar regions, I guess.

Here's a good recipe for Turkish homemade noodles called erişte. I haven't played with them yet, but here you go.
Köy Eriştesi/Village Egg Noodles with Sage, Walnuts and White Cheese

Unknown said...

Great recipe - definitely going to try this F x

Joy said...

@Francesca, Hope you enjoy my aunt's recipe! Thanks for stopping by!

Julia said...

You can't beat a good hearty chicken soup in wintery weather - not that winter ever really arrived in Fethiye this year but we like to pretend. Looks lovely, this soup. :)

Joy said...

@Julia, Yes, indeed! In fact, I may need to make this soup this weekend. Coldest day yet here in Warsaw at -15C. Yikes!