Broth
Roast chicken and/or chicken parts. Season them well with salt, pepper, and whatever spices you like on chicken (thyme, bay leaf, sage, garlic are all good). Separate out the good chicken meat from the skin and bones, and set aside the chicken meat (refrigerate). Cover bones, skin, etc. with water in a stock pot and simmer for about 4 hours. You can add carrot, onion, and/or celery if you like the flavor or have them in the house. Strain through a colander, then strain through a strainer (line with cheesecloth if you like) and put back into pot that you’ve wiped out from the simmering. If your chicken was very fatty, you’ll want to skim off most of the fat. Depends on the brand and the parts that you used. You’ll need about a quart of broth for each cup of flour used for noodles.
Noodles/dumplings
Make a soft egg noodle. One cup a flour will make about 2 servings. Measure out flour. Stir in salt (and pepper if you like). Mix in egg/water/oil mixture until it comes together, then turn out and knead until smooth. Alternately, put flour in food processor, add salt. Pulse. Turn on and add egg/water/oil through tube until it comes together. This is a very stiff dough, and may be too much for your food processor. It does work will with a stand mixer with a dough hook. Proportions that I use (vary as you like):
- 3 c flour
- 1 t salt
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 c water
- 2 T of oil
or
- 4 c bread flour
- 1 c self-rising flour (the low % of SR flour makes the noodles a little lighter)
- 6 eggs
- 1/2 c water
- 2 t salt
- 1 T oil
Basically, use one egg per cup of flour, plus an additional egg. Then enough water to make a stiff but workable dough (think play-do or soft pasta noodle dough)
Let dough rest for 5 or 10 minutes. (longer is fine). Roll out to about 1/16" thick (can be thicker – just cook longer) in a generous amount of flour. The flour will help thicken the noodles when they boil – you’ll still probably have to add more. Cut into strips about an inch wide using a pizza cutter. and dredge in flour to keep from sticking together.
To make
Bring broth to a rolling boil, then add the noodles/dumplings slowly enough to keep it boiling (so they don’t stick together), then cover with a lid and simmer for 45 minutes . Test a noodle to make sure it’s cooked through and continue to simmer until done. If it is too thin, mix flour with cold water and stir in simmering pot and cook until thickened. Stir in the chicken that you reserved from roasted chicken and heat through. You can add cooked vegetables if you like, or add them raw a little sooner.
