When I was younger, I would hang out in the kitchen with my grandma, who was always cooking up a big pot of food. Even though it was just her and her sweetie at home, she still cooked for a small army. I must have inherited my fondness of leftovers from her. However, she didn’t call them leftovers, she called it “planned cooking”. And with all of the hype about meal planning these past few years (which I fully encourage) – Grandma was clearly ahead of her time.
She made the best soup too. I still remember when we moved into our last house, we had the kitchen torn out, and my husband and I were busting our butts trying to get things put back together. She showed up one evening with her Crockpot full of hot chicken soup. Talk about a blessing. She taught me how to make egg noodles this way. There wasn’t a real recipe, but after the years of eyeballing, I figured I should write it down to pass on to my family and to share with you, too. These egg noodles are kind of fun because they puff up when they cook. They have a slight firmness and don’t dissolve in your soup, keeping the broth nice and clear.
Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Inactive Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 25 minutes
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs, beaten
1 Tablespoon milk
1. In a bowl, mix dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center.
2. Pour eggs and milk into the well in the dry.
3. Mix wet into flour mixture, until all the dry is moistened.
4. Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface. Knead for a few minutes, adding more flour if it sticks. Let rest for 10 minutes.
5. Roll out dough into a large rectangle, making sure that the dough is thin, about 1/8” thick.
6. Using a knife, pasta cutter, or pizza cutter, cut into noodles, about 1/4” X 1-1/2”.
7. Dust generously with flour and allow the noodles to dry out for a couple of hours.
8. Cook in boiling liquid for at least 25 minutes.
I made these egg noodles with the intention of making Classic Chicken Noodle Soup. If you would prefer to make a small batch of soup, feel free to halve the soup recipe, and freeze the remaining uncooked egg noodles for a later use. Back when The Chopping Block first started offering their Culinary Boot Camp, I jumped at the opportunity. Those fundamental skills set the foundation for my future cooking adventures. Making stock is one of the topics covered during Boot Camp. You can control the seasoning, salt content, and intensity of your stock when you make it yourself. Making broth is very similar to stock; stock is made using bones, whereas broth is made using meat. Owner/Chef Shelley Young has an excellent in-depth blog post explaining the differences between stock and broth.
I made a broth using filtered water, aromatics, a whole chicken and some salt. After simmering for a couple of hours, I carefully removed the chicken, strained and discarded the aromatics out of the broth, and set everything in the fridge to cool down. After cooling, I removed the meat from the carcass and placed it back into a bowl with a little broth to keep it from drying out. I was able to reserve enough broth to make a full batch of soup. Another plus, because I stewed my chicken with the herbs and aromatics, my broth already had all of the flavor and health benefits, so I didn’t need to add more into the soup – resulting in a beautifully clear broth.
Serves 12
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
1 large onion, chopped
5 carrots, sliced
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 gallon chicken broth
1 batch of Old-Fashioned Egg Noodles (recipe above)
1 whole chicken, skinned and deboned, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
Salt to taste
1. In a large stock pot over medium heat, add oil and sauté onion, carrot, and celery until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add broth. Bring to a boil.
3. Add egg noodles, and simmer for 15 minutes.
4. Add chicken, simmer for 10 more minutes. Taste for salt and serve hot.
If you make this soup, please tag us on Instagram @the_chopping_block and @yummycrumbfd. Also, if you haven’t already joined The Chopping Block’s private Facebook group, please join us! TCB hosts fun challenges that members can participate in and share their recipes and tips.
And if you don't have time to make your own soup from scratch during the busy holiday season, The Chopping Block is now offering soup to go from Lincoln Square each Thursday. You can order either a pint or a quart and pick up between 4pm-5pm. And Chicken Noodle Soup is on the menu for December! Check out all of our upcoming offerings:
All of our new to-go food options (Tuesday grain bowls, Thursday soups, Friday cheese and charcuterie boards and Saturday pies) are available for orderings on our class calendar.