Mom English: Fed her chicks noodle soup
My mother, Ila English of Butler Township, had many mouths to feed with nine children.
Our family favorite meal is, hands down, her Chicken and Noodles recipe.
It is always the dish that all of the grandchildren request for their birthday dinner.
With so many grown kids and grandkids, there are not many months that go by when she doesn't have to whip this one up.
This is served over mashed potatoes and I remember times when 10 pounds of potatoes were used.
The teenage boys had heaping plates that resembled volcanic mountains.
Our family put together a family cookbook and I asked her for the recipe to include.
She said, “I don't have a recipe. I just do it.”
Teresa EnglishButler
<B>1 whole chicken or cut up pieces3 to 4 stalks of celery, choppedA couple of onions, dicedBouillon or chicken stock3 eggs2 cups flour1 tsp. salt¼ to ½ cup waterMashed potatoes</B>Put chicken in boiling water or chicken stock. Boil chicken for an hour or more until cooked. Remove chicken from stock.You can do this the day before and refrigerate to remove the fat from the stock at this point.To make noodles, mix eggs into flour. Add water one tablespoon at a time until it forms a ball.Knead ball until smooth and elastic. Let rest 10 minutes.Divide dough into four parts. Roll dough with rolling pin one part at a time onto floured surface.Cut into strips (a pizza cutter works great). Let dry two hours.While they dry remove chicken from the bones and bring stock back to a boil.Add the noodles to the stock keeping them well dusted with flour. This makes a thicker gravy.Cook the noodles in the boiling stock until tender, maybe twenty minutes.Add the deboned chicken back to the stock.Stir often because the noodles may stick to the bottom of the pot.Season to taste with salt and pepper.Serve over mashed potatoes.
