Homemade Noodles

One of the traditional dishes in this area is Chicken & Noodles. I'm not sure if the Amish influence is responsible for this regional favorite, but I learned early to refrain from mentioning that I had never made noodles before. My New England equivalent would be saying someone had never eaten chowder. How strange and sad, right?

Anyway, my husband's grandmother used to make even the noodles themselves, not just a recipe using noodles. She was a feisty, hard-working, and resourceful woman I wish I had the pleasure of meeting, but she is quite alive in my imagination and my husband's memory.

As a scientist, I thought I should do some research about how other people make noodles before attempting this culinary feat myself. There are apparently two schools of thought for noodle-making: with and without milk. So, I made a batch of both, dried them overnight, and cooked Beef Stroganoff to serve over both kinds of noodles, with a "moat" of green beans in between the noodle types on our dinner plates.

We both preferred the milk-based noodles with the stroganoff, but expect that we'd prefer the non-milk noodles with tomato-based recipes. In any case, store-bought noodles will no longer grace our shelves. The homemade noodles are simple to make and taste significantly better than the store-bought variety. Imagine your favorite chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles...

Homemade Noodles
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 c egg substitute
1 c all-purpose flour

Whisk the egg and spices. Work in the flour with a pastry cutter, then with your hands. Roll out to 1/8" on floured surface. Flour the top and roll like a jelly roll to cut with a pizza cutter in 1/2" strips. Unroll the strips and hang to dry overnight. Either wrap the noodles for storage or start boiling some water. Cook in boiling salted water for ten minutes before serving.

Homemade Milk Noodles

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 c egg substitute

1/2 c milk

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

Whisk the egg, milk, and spices. Work in the flour with a pastry cutter, then with your hands. Roll out to 1/8" on floured surface. Flour the top and roll like a jelly roll to cut with a pizza cutter in 1/2" strips. Unroll the strips and hang to dry overnight. Either wrap the noodles for storage or start boiling some water. Cook in boiling salted water for ten minutes before serving.

A word about drying pasta: Feel free to use an old-fashioned clothes rack or the back of a chair. I used cookie racks since my batches were small enough to prevent the strips from touching as they dried.