I have a very hard time stopping to think about what I do when I cook. I open the cupboard and my inner Julia Child says, "A little of that, and a little of this, and wouldn't a touch of whatchamadiggy make that so much better?" Here is a pseudo attempt at my scratch chicken noodle. Pseudo, because I had this herb roasted turkey lunchmeat I needed to use and I grilled the chicken instead of boiling it. By the by, never boil frozen chicken. Always defrost it first, lest you get hit with the rubber chicken.
Being sick and being my favorite cook have some setbacks. If I want to help "me" feel better, well, I have to make "me" some of my favorite soup. Rather than dirty another big silver pot, I scrubbed the one that was already dirty:
Chopped 4(?) ribs of celery:
And about 1/2 or a sweet walla walla:
Added a bit of butter (or substitute - usually Parkay spray for me since it is made with buttermilk) and let these cook until tender-crisp:
Chopped 3 stout carrots without peeling them:
Cook these in the microwave on a plate for a couple of minutes until tender crisp:
Remove the celery and onion and throw on the plate with the carrots for later. You don't want mushy veggies while you boil your noodles:
Here is where I would fill the pot with water (12-14 cups) and boil the chicken breasts (3-4, depending on the size) while I make the noodles. Instead, I am using a few chicken tenders and this low sodium, herbed turkey lunch meat so it doesn't go bad.
Now for the noodles; all I use is whole wheat flour, olive oil, water, and my hands:
I tried to measure to help you out here. I usually never measure, but I think this is about three cups of flour. It just depends on how much soup you want, and how noodley you want it:
Next I pour in olive oil and them blend it thoroughly in with my hands. I think about 1/4 cup, if that? If you want it lower fat, add less oil, more water:
Now, the water really depends. I add a little at a time, and mix with my hands. You want it about the consistency of playdough, maybe a little more firm. You want to be able the push your fingers through it without them getting sticky, but also without too much resistance:
You'll need a large floured surface to roll out the dough, but one you can cut on. If you run down to your tile store and ask for a 16 inch piece of absolute black granite, usually they will give you a piece for free, and you can cut right on it. Add some adhesive felt circles on the bottom to make it easier to pick up.
Roll out the dough. I use about 1/2 of the dough each time on the 16" piece of granite, which is about right. Don't worry about making a perfect rectangle. The dough should be roughly 1/8" thick - or maybe a little thinner.
Now slice those noodles with a knife - even a butter knife will do.
Batch of noodles #1 (first half of the dough), ready to go! Repeat for batch #2, if necessary. Here is where I would check the chicken breasts to make sure they have cooked through. I remove them if they are ready and let them cool while I throw the noodles in.
While the noodles boil, here is where I would normally chop the boiled chicken into cubes. How much water should you add? Hmmm. Well, depends on how much soup you want, how chunky or brothy you want it... This is about 12-14 cups. You can shred if you want to, but I don't recommend it.
I don't throw the cooked chicken in for a while, but I do throw in the veggies. This is where they go from tender crisp to tender without getting mushy:
Here is where I braised my cheater chicken tenders and chopped them up. The meat is the last thing to be added, ALMOST!
Here is where I flavor to taste. If I had boiled the chicken, I would already have a chicken broth, however, here is why I use this stuff instead of creating my own flavor from scratch:
1. Normally it takes a reasonable amount of fat and salt to create the kind of flavor you want in chicken broth, and I am using white meat lean chicken. To get the concentrates just right without increasing the fat and sodium would take much more time.
2. This is low sodium, but has a very nice flavor without the garbage ingredients you will find in most bullions or canned broths (like MSG).
They sell the low sodium stuff at Costco, I believe, but you may use the regular, too. Scoop some of the liquid out of the pot of soup and into a small bowl. Stir in some Better than Bullion (Turkey flavor or Chicken flavor) until it is liquid. Stir into the pot of soup and taste. Repeat until you have the right flavor.
Add a little pepper if you choose, and enjoy!
The reason I don't like recipes is because of conformity. Take for example, the Salmon Patty. I usually add onion, celery, eggs, and salmon, but I was out of celery this round. If you reject a recipe because of a single ingredient, something is very wrong. You have to learn to look for key ingredients: Eggs and salmon. Everything else is optional. Want to add oatmeal? Great! Want to leave out the onion, GREAT! Breadcrumbs? Take 'em or leave 'em! Stay tuned for a funny story at the end.
2 cans salmon
Mash up the salmon (see funny story below)
Throw in veggies and 2 eggs and mix:
Smoosh into patties (squeeze out most excess liquid so it sticks together better)
Cook on medium for 1-2 minutes on each side, rotating twice. When you flip them the first time they may fall apart if there is too much liquid in them. No worries. Smoosh back together and keep cooking. It will stick together the next time you flip them.
2 cans salmon
Mash up the salmon (see funny story below)
Throw in veggies and 2 eggs and mix:
Smoosh into patties (squeeze out most excess liquid so it sticks together better)
Cook on medium for 1-2 minutes on each side, rotating twice. When you flip them the first time they may fall apart if there is too much liquid in them. No worries. Smoosh back together and keep cooking. It will stick together the next time you flip them.
