Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The Anti-process Series: Making Egg Noodles

REMEMBER: Anything that you make at home yourself is better than even the "healthiest" (processed) alternative at the store. KNOW YOUR FOOD! BE AWARE!


So let's just dive right in...

STEP ONE:
I start with:

4 cups flour
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
A cup with warm water nearby


Mix salt into the flour. 
Then make a nest with the flour, like a mountain with a hole in the middle. 
Pour the oil into the center.
Crack the eggs into the center as well. 
Start working the dry flour into the liquid center & 
add water while kneading as necessary to get a consistency of tough dough. 

It looks like this:


*****SIDE NOTE!*****
You can't really screw up this recipe. If you add too much liquid, you just add more flour & vice-versa. Just knead until you have the right consistency. Noodles are not made from fluffy dough like pizza crust. They do not contain yeast so they will be tough & flat. 

Also, live & learn!!! The more you make them, the easier it is to gauge proper consistency. 
So practice, practice, practice!
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STEP TWO:
OK, now to roll out the noodles. 
Use your fists to flatten out the dough ball as much as you can. I usually break the dough into two or three smaller balls first so I can work with smaller batches. 

Take a rolling pin & just start rolling the dough flat. 

I get it as thin as I can & then put the dough through my pasta machine, but I didn't always have a pasta machine so I used a rolling pin for the whole thing. 

It turns out great either way, so don't worry about the machine if you don't have one.

 Either way, this is the machine I use:


STEP THREE:

Rolling Pin: just roll out the dough as thin as you can, adding flour so that they don't stick to the surface. 
Machine: Crank the dough through the machine.

Both Rolling Pin & Machine:
Fold the dough over itself as shown below.


Put it through the machine or roll out again.


Repeat step three until the dough looks smooth. 
It doesn't have to be perfect, that's what makes homemade taste so good!

It usually takes me about three times, 
adjusting the thickness of the machine roller each time to a smaller level.



STEP FOUR:

Cut the noodles to the size you desire or is necessary for your dish.


*****SIDE NOTE*****
Yes, yes, yes... I could have used a noodle attachment to make all of the noodles uniform, which I would have done if this batch had been for pasta; but if I'm using them for something like chicken noodle soup (as I am here), I really love to cut them by hand. 
I still try to keep them a similar size because you want them to cook uniformly, but I like the noodles just the way my Grandmother made!
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STEP FIVE:

Either cook or store. 
To cook, bring your water or broth to a rolling boil & drop the noodles in one at a time
This keeps them from getting stuck together. 

Boil for 5-7 minutes or until the noodles are thoroughly cooked, but still chewy.

Finished homemade chicken noodle soup, just like my Mam used to make, 
paired with a delicious serving of homemade bread!


Stay FNT, people!

Natalie