Amish Style Noodles
November 11th, 2006
My good friend Heather sent me an email a couple of weeks ago, asking how to make noodles like the Amish.
Anyone who has been blessed enough to have experienced dining in an Amish restaurant knows what Heather is talking about. They make these deliciously simple noodles in some kind of brothy sauce and pour it over mashed potatoes. (Dr. Atkins would roll over in his grave, I’m sure.)
To begin with, the noodles themselves are - of course - homemade in a warm Amish kitchen, free of all preservatives. Made from eggs they gathered themselves, probably from free range chickens that eat grain the Amish grew. The flour in the noodles was most likely ground from wheat the the Amish farmer raised himself. Then Mrs. Amish Goodwife mixed it all together by hand, rolled out the noodles by hand… etc., etc. You get the picture.
Well, Heather…. I’m not really sure how they make that sauce. But I’ll give you my best guess. Unfortunately, I don’t have access to the right kind of noodles to begin with, so I can’t do this experiment in my own kitchen. Sometimes I can get them at the butcher where I buy meat, but they were out when I stopped there yesterday. Heather, you’re going to have to try it for me.
So, first of all, either make your own noodles, since this is no simple process, we will take choice number 2 — buy some homemade Amish noodles.
Second of all, either make yourself some chicken broth or buy several cans of it. To make chicken broth, you boil a small raw chicken until it’s cooked through. Then refrigerate the cooking water until the fat hardens on the top. Skim that off, then reheat and strain through the finest strainer you have to get the little bits of meat out.
I’ll assume you are going to buy the broth. So, you start with the noodles and several cans of broth - say 3 or 4.
Pour two cans of broth (this is about 4 cups) into a large saucepan and heat to boiling. Add the noodles (they probably come in 8 oz. bags). I think the liquid should not cover the noodles, but come up about half or three-quarters of the way to the top of the noodles. Add broth if you think you need more. Turn the heat down to medium to maintain that boil without letting it boil over. Cook those noodles for about 8 - 10 minutes, just as you would for most pastas.
When they are done, DON’T drain them like you usually would for pasta or noodles. Instead, add 4 T. butter and stir together. Add some seasonings if you like, such as onion powder, and salt and pepper. If this “sauce” doesn’t seem thick enough, mix 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch with 3 Tablespoons of water in a coffee cup, then add this to the hot noodles. That should help it to thicken up.
Pour over mashed potatoes. I can’t think of a better side dish to go with leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
Let me know how it works out!
Entry Filed under: Leftovers, Old-Fashioned Foods, Recipes, Side Dishes, Table talk
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