Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Chicken and Noodles over Mashed Potatoes

I know, I know. 


It is like a carb addict's dream.  This is a once or twice a year treat, I grew up on.  This dish will make some of you go...."WHAT is she THINKING"?  Seriously, just chill!  This is a dish I grew up on here in Nebraska.  I have never heard of anyone else eating it.  I don't know if it is just a Nebraska thing, a Midwestern thing or what but let me tell ya somethin'...NOTHING tastes better on a freezing cold, snowy day than THIS dish! 

This is not soup.  It is not "pot pie" as my easties would call it.  It is "Chicken and Noodles".  Thick and creamy and served alone or on a bed of mashed potatoes. 

When I moved to Jersey, some friends wanted a "Nebraska" kind of meal.  I made them this.  I make fresh pasta when I make this.  It is to easy and delish not too.  If you don't groove on making your own pasta, use 2  bags of good thick frozen noodles, or a large bag of egg noodles.  Makes no different to most people, makes all the difference to me.  You may need a few more noodles than I recommended.  I am not sure how many in pounds or ounces or anything else my recipe makes homemade.  So keep a few extras, you want this SUPER thick!

This recipe makes a boatload, but again, eat to your hearts desire and FREEZE, because it freezes like a dream.  In fact, when you decide to eat the rest of it up, you can always add some extra chicken stock and just have it as Chicken Noodle Soup!  This is a QUICK version so I am using store bought items.  The point is to get this baby cooking ASAP!

This is a quick version, (aside from my homemade noodles) much different than how my mom made it but, better....oh wait.  Did I say that out loud?  Anyhoodle, you decide on the noodle part.  I will give you the recipe I use, it is not the same as my Amish noodles, but those will work too!

3 eggs
3 cups flour
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dried parsley flakes
1/3 to 1/2 cup water or chicken stock as needed (I make my broth first and just use some of that)

Mix eggs, flour, salt and parsley together.  Add water or chicken stock for more flavor until a nice, non sticky dough is achieved.  I use my kitchen aid pasta roller but you can roll it out by hand just as easy.  Roll the dough as thin or thick as you like.  Roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time.  You may need to dust your pieces with some flour if they are a bit sticky. Let the sheets sit, divided by a kitchen towel until ready to use.  There is no need to let them dry.  Use a pizza cutter to quickly cut them into the width of noodles you like!

For the rest of the soup:
3 cups shredded chicken or turkey (I am using Thanksgiving leftover)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
2-32oz boxes of chicken stock or broth or homemade is even better!
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder

Mix all ingredients except chicken/turkey. When combined completely add poultry.  Bring to a boil and add the noodles a handful at a time until they are all in the pot!  After cooking there should be VERY little broth.  You want it thick.  Ladle over a bed of mashed potatoes and eat your heart out carb lovers!  If you don't have a great mashed potato recipe, here is mine Perfect Mashed Potatoes and Gravy!

Again I realize this is something we can't all eat everyday but that is what makes it so cozy and comforting, that once or twice a year you DO get to eat it.  Memories of childhood winters just play like a movie in my mind.  Sledding at Aubles pond, down the hill on to the frozen pond, hiking home, 3 blocks behind the older kids who wouldn't wait for me, snot running out of my nose, bawling, sled and ice skates in tote............perfection.

Your "STILL loves sledding"chefwannabe

21 comments:

  1. It looks very yummy to me. I always love chicken and mashed potatoes. They somehow look good and compliments each other's tastes. :)
    - MiracleNoodle.com

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    1. I think so too! MiracleNoodle.com, tell me about miracle noodles!

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  2. I grew up with this, both at home and at school. In Oklahoma. When Husband and I moved to Kansas I worked in the School Kitchen., we also made Chicken and Noodles over Potatoes, altho some people think its gross, and have it as 2 separate items.

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  3. Chicken and noodles over mash potatoes is very popular in rural Kansas. It is GOOD stick to yer ribs eating. Yum. And pass the biscuits!

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    1. It is here in Nebraska too!! I agree, pass the biscuits! HA! Thanks for reading!!

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  4. We always had it when I was younger & I'm from Iowa. We often have beef & noodles over mashed potatoes too. Yum!!

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  6. I grew up with this as well but in Southern California! Of course my family is from Iowa so... No one here "gets" this not even my California born wife! They just don't understand the deliciousness of it all! My feeling, when as you say we do get to enjoy it though very rarely throughout the year is "it sucks to be you who won't eat it!" Can't wait for my next carbo load of egg noodles, chicken and potato's!

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  7. I'm from West Virginia and grew up with it, BUT my family was the only one who made and ate this.

    According to my Dad's mother, she learned it from her mother-in-law who was the daughter of Bavarian immigrants who settled in Pomeroy, Ohio and then moved to Charleston, West Virginia. She taught her daughter-in-law, my mother, how to make it and it was a favorite winter and fall dish at home. I have since blogged about it and taught it to other folks.

    The only folks I have met who have eaten this are Midwesterners, usually from a German or other Northern European (Norwegian and Danish) backgrounds and usually came originally from farming families. I have since come to the conclusion that it is a German farm recipe--in other words--country food. Peasant food.

    It's still a favorite. I've never made this for anyone who has turned up their nose at it.

    BTW--the other big German family dish that was passed down is beef and lentil soup. And the only folks I ever met who made it were from places where lots of German folks settled.

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  8. I grew up with this in West Virginia.

    My dad's mother learned it from her mother-in-law who was the daughter of German immigrants who originally settled and farmed in Pomeroy, Ohio, but who later moved to Charleston, West Virginia. She taught it to her daughter in law, my mother, who had never heard of it--she is of English extraction originally from upstate New York.

    Nobody else I knew growing up made this dish unless they were related to me or they had learned it from someone related to me.

    The only other families I have found in later years who eat this have a few things in common.

    They are usually of German ancestry, though I have met folks who are of Norwegian ancestry who cook it as well. And some folks of Polish ancestry also eat this dish.

    They are usually from the Midwest.

    They either come from farming families or from farming communities.

    My conclusion is that it is a traditional farm dish from Eastern or Northern Europe, and in that context it makes sense. I know when I worked on my grandparents' farm, this dish really worked to keep me warm and keep my energy up, especially when it was freezing cold. A double starch like this makes sense when you are physically active in the cold on a long day.

    It doesn't make much sense for those who lead sedentary lifestyles, except as a treat now and then!

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  9. I grew up eating this too. My mom used to make homemade noodles which in my opinion was the best part. She was born and raised in Pennsylvania. To bad I didn't get the recipe before she passed away. So was glad to stumble on your site with this recipe.
    Thank you

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  10. I had this as a kid in Indiana during summer family reunions. The recipe has been handed down from German and Mennonite ancestors, and I still crave this!

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  11. I grew up in Ohio and this was a regular dinner for us I haven't had it in a few yrs was at the Circleville Ohio Pumpkin Show saw some that one of the vendors was selling and it did not look anything like my Momma made so today I was on the hunt for a good recipe and I came across this great one thanks ank cant wait until its dinner time.

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    1. I can't wait to hear how you liked it!! Thanks for reading!

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  12. I'm going to make this tonight. Thanks for giving me the courage to try to make homemade noodles!

    Also, I thought you'd be interested in this - which is an almost word-for-word version of the same recipe that I found while looking for this recipe:

    http://twofrugalgals.com/2013/10/31/chicken-and-noodles-over-mashed-potatoes/

    I assume yours is the original, since it posted several months before this one did. I hate to see someone's words/ideas stolen, so I thought you would want to know. Good luck!

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    1. Hello Molly! WOOHOO, I am so glad you are making this! It is SOOOO unbelievably delicious. I took a look at the link you provided and you are right. Mine is my original, however, ingredients can't be copyrighted, so while it is possible and maybe even likely it was taken without permission, there is nothing I can do. I appreciate you bringing it to my attention and I will be contacting them, if for no other reason to remind them of honor and ethics. Let me know how this goes!!!

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  13. My wife and I are both from rural Indiana farm country and grew up on this, it was even served in the school cafeteria when we were in school. Chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes is traditional where we are from as is beef and noodles over mashed potatoes. I learned how to make it from my grandmother and my now 103 year old great-aunt. My wife and I's families, along with most everyone else in the part of Indiana where we are from, are of Bavarian/Palatine/Swiss heritage. I agree with the other posters who believe it to be an old German dish.

    The noodle recipe that has been in our family forever is similar but a bit different:

    3 large eggs
    1/3 cup water
    1/2 teaspoon salt
    2 1/2 cups flour more or less to get the right consistency

    Roll out thin and cut very thin like matchsticks.

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  14. I grew up on this kind of stick to your ribs cooking. Typically in our house, in Northern Indiana, it was beef and noodles over mashed potatoes though. Although I always looked forward to the creamy chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes that the school served too. I use half semolina flour and half unbleached all purpose for my noodles so they can be rolled and cut with my pasta machine (for those of us who can't roll them out by hand). The semolina allows the dough to be a bit drier for the rolling machine, and also helps make the noodles a bit stronger for drying and storing if not used right away. I also add a bit of ground thyme to the noodles if I am going to be using them for chicken. I omit the thyme if used for beef. :) This dish is one of the only things that gets me through the long Indiana winters! Mmm...so good!

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  15. The Man loves this - the first time we ever saw it was a few years ago at an Amish style family restaurant in Shipshewana Indiana. I'm making this tonight because I have leftover mashed potatoes, chicken & gravy so I'll add the noodles & everybody will be happy.

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    1. Awesome! If you get a chance and follow me on social media make sure to post a photo or let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!

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  16. Central Indiana, Pennsylvania Dutch (German) and we ate these and Beef and Noodles all the time. In fact, I made homemade noodles today and plan on having some tonight before it gets into summer.

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