Sunday Rewind: Maggie Monday: Super Simple Chicken and Noodles

 – Originally posted June 11, 2012.As The Rantings of an Amateur Chef has been going since February of 2012, there are quite a few readers that have joined along the way. In an effort to bring back some great recipes that they may have missed, I will dedicate Sundays to re-posting a favorite that is at least two years old. I hope you enjoy! – The Ranting Chef

Recently there was a wedding in my wife’s family where we travelled to southern Virginia. As there were a large number of us driving down from Cleveland, Ohio, carpooling was an obvious topic of conversation. Once we knew we were going, however, we put plans in place to go see Maggie and her family. When we told one of my sister-in-laws that we couldn’t carpool because we were going to see my friend Maggie, she excitedly asked “Are you really going to see Maggie Monday?!??” Welcome again, the world famous Maggie…

This is a dish from my childhood. I had the good fortune to grow up in a multi-generational home. An elderly aunt lived with us my whole life. She didn’t cook often, but when she did, it was old-fashioned comfort food. I remember spending weekends helping Annie make home-made egg noodles. Just flour, eggs, butter, and salt. Our hands were wrist-deep in dough, then we rolled it out in huge circles with the rolling pin, then rolled up each big circle and cut those into noodles. We’d have newspapers spread over every flat surface, covered with drying noodles. Once the noodles were dry, she made the dish below. I can remember making these noodles for my college roommates. Mary still requests this dish when she comes to visit.

Several years ago I discovered the Mrs. Reames frozen egg noodles. OMG. They taste just like my homemade ones. I can grab them right out of the freezer section at the supermarket instead of giving up a whole weekend to this effort. These noodles are amazing- thick and tender- almost dumpling-like in consistency. So good.

Annie passed away in my senior year at college. This is just one fine legacy she left me. I made this for her today because it is cold and rainy. This one’s for you, Annie!

Super Simple Chicken and Noodles

What you need:

1 whole chicken, cut up

3 quarts water or chicken broth

2T chicken soup base or bullion

1 large bag of Mrs. Reames frozen egg noodles

1 can Cream of Chicken soup (10 ¾ oz)

Salt and pepper to taste

What you do:

Boil chicken in 3 quarts of water until fully cooked. Remove chicken from broth. Skim any foam and fat from broth and reserve all liquids. When I have lots of time, I chill the broth so the fat hardens then I can skim it right off). Let the chicken cool, remove it from the bones, discarding the skin, bones, cartilage and other yucky bits. Tear the chicken into bite size pieces. You could prepare this with boneless, skinless chicken, but then you lose the flavor the skin and bones bring to the mix. Your choice!

Bring the reserved and skimmed liquid back to a boil. You will probably need to another 3 pints or so of water, to get it back to between 2.5 and 3 quarts. Add the soup base or bullion now. Once it is boiling, add the bag of noodles, and cook until they are not quite done- still a bit tough. Add the can of soup, and blend in. If you don’t like the idea of using a canned soup, you can thicken by just cooking down, or adding a bit of flour. I like the extra smoothness and flavor the soup adds. Now you can add the chicken back in, and let it all cook down until the gravy is the thickness you desire. I like mine pretty thick! Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve over mashed potatoes for a total starch festival. Major comfort food!