Homestyle Chicken and Noodles

Chicken and Noodles is one of my all time favorite comfort foods.  I like to go healthy most of the time, well about five out of the seven days of the week, but when I do comfort, I do it right!  I'm not talking Chicken Noodle Soup, which is fine and delicious in it's own right.  I'm talking rich, creamy, indulgent Chicken and Noodles!  I like to serve them over simple, and fluffy mashed potatoes.  Oh man!  It's like a warm blanket and a back rub in a bowl.

Here's the thing...  We're trying to cook on a budget these days, but with a little ingenuity every meal can be deliciously frugal.  On Sundays we usually slow grill or smoke large portions of meat to use throughout the week in several meals.  We even freeze some in vacuum sealed bags for later use.  I love a challenge, though, and coming up with great tasting, healthy, meals is definitely one that I am up to!  Certainly you can roast them in the oven if you don't want to grill, but we just love slow grilling/ smoking on Sundays.  Now, we have done pork roasts, hams, and whole chickens.  Next will be a beef roast.  There are just so many recipe possibilities with all of these!

For example... For our chickens, on Sunday we ate just the chicken and sweet potato fries for a side.  I will post a sweet potato fries recipe with Maple Curry Yogurt dip, shortly.  Delicious, but another post entirely.  For lunch today, I made us delicious chicken sandwiches on whole wheat toast with garlic aioli, cilantro, tomato, and avocado.  Of course tonight we had Chicken and Noodles with Mashed Potatoes, and tomorrow we plan to have Chicken Fajita's or Chicken Quesadilla's.  I haven't decided yet, but you can be sure that it will include Chipotle peppers!.  All of this and we still have plenty to freeze for later use.  We spent about ten dollars on both chickens, and we had fun doing it! 

My Chicken and Noodles start with a homemade stock.  When we trussed our chickens we removed the backbones, necks, and giblets.  These are PERFECT for making stock.  Granted, making stock takes anywhere from six to eight hours, but it's idle time. So, if you have a day when you're going to be home all day it doesn't take much effort, but the end product is liquid gold!  Give it a try on a lazy Sunday, and you will be hooked!

Homemade Chicken Stock:

2 Chicken Backbones
2 Chicken Necks
The Giblets of 2 Chickens
2 Carrots
2 Celery stalks
1 Onion
2 Bay leaves
4 Parsley stems
2 Garlic clove
1 T.  Peppercorns (whole)
3 Thyme sprigs
1 tsp. Salt (to taste)
Pepper to taste

Roughly chop the carrots, celery, and onion... Very large chunks, because you're just going to dispose of them.  Crush the garlic with the back of a spoon.  Toss all ingredients in a large stock pot, and cover with water, about 1/2 inch over the bones.  Bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer.  Simmer uncovered for at least six hours.  Keep an eye on it...If the water evaporates to a level below the bones, add a little more water.  I simmered mine for eight hours, and I had to add about six cups of water.  Taste it, and adjust salt and pepper.  The longer you simmer, the richer the flavor.  You'll want to skim the fat off of the top once in a while, but reserve the fat... you'll use this to make a roux to thicken the dish. 

When you have the flavor where you want it, drain into a fine mesh sieve.  Discard the bones and veggies.  Return the stock to to pot.  This is LIQUID GOLD.

Now, I adore homemade noodles, but when I'm tending to a homemade stock all day, I don't really want to make noodles too... not that it hasn't been done.  However, Ream's Homestyle Egg Noodles are so good!  They are pretty much just like my homemade noodles, just frozen!  Perfect!  And not all that pricey!

Chicken and Noodles:

3 sm. or 2 lg. Carrots (Chopped)
3 sm. or 2 lg. Celery Stalks (Chopped)
1 med. Onion (Chopped)
2 cloves Garlic ( Finely Minced)
3/4 c. Parsley (chopped)
1 pack Ream's Homestyle Egg Noodles
salt to taste
pepper to taste
Reserved Chicken ( about 4 cups)

Combine your stock ( if using store bought, it will equal about 6-7 cups), vegetables, garlic, and parsley. Simmer for about 7 minutes.  Add the Ream's Noodles and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

Add the chicken  and simmer for about 5 more minutes.  At this point you will want to use the reserved fat and broth that you've skimmed off of the stock... Use about 1/4 cup of this, and combine with 1/4 cup of flour.  If you're using store bought broth just use 1/4c. Stir until it is lump- free, and add some water or broth if need be.  Add the roux (flour mixture) to the Chicken and Noodles, and stir until combined.

Cover and let the noodles finish plumping up... I like mine a bit al - dente.  So it won't take long!  The finished product should be thick, and creamy.  If it's not thick enough, mix a little more flour with broth or water and add this to the noodles... if it's too thick add a bit more broth or water. I like to serve this  dish on top of pillowy mashed potatoes.  I think everyone has a recipe for those, and I never follow one anyhow.

You may want to put on some pajama's to eat this dish, because it very well may put you to sleep!  Trance inducing, splendor is what it is!  Enjoy!