Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Shaker-style Noodles

 I love working with dough but I've never made noodles before. A couple of days ago I decided to give it a shot and asked Mom a few basic questions. She's an old pro. I remember homemade noodles when I was a kid and they were always one of my favorite meals.



 This is the finished product ... not quite a soup because we both prefer the dish to be quite thick. And certainly without chicken because we're vegetarian. I'll post the basic recipe below but Mom adds potatoes, celery, carrots and onions to it,

 She seasons with parsley and garlic (both home grown), salt and pepper. She also adds two vegetable bouillon cubes (Knorr Vegetarian) and Mrs. Dash Original Seasoning Blend (salt-free).

As with any soup, the amount of water is determined by taste and how thick you want the finished product to be. Maybe 1.5 quarts? Mom also adds a small amount of vegetable oil.

 She cooks the veggies in water first and only adds the noodles when the veggies are tender.

Shaker Noodles *

1 cup bread flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon soft butter
1 egg
3 tablespoons water


 I made the dough in a bowl then poured it onto a flowered pastry cloth and kneaded it slightly. I then rolled it out into a thin layer and let it dry for many hours.


 Here's how the dough looked after I had rolled it into a thin layer. It's a little irregular but I've never done this before. Doesn't seem to matter.


 After drying for much of the day, Mom began cutting thin strips of noodles from the dough.


 After she cut a while, I cut the rest. The noodles were then dried further (hours) and eventually placed in a plastic bag and frozen for use today.

We cannot have noodles without thinking of our beloved schnauzer, Ginger. Homemade noodles were her favorite and we'd often tell her we were making "noodlers". She seemed to look forward to her bowl as much as the rest of us. After she ate, she knew to stand at her bowl and await a beard washing. It was funny to watch her wait. She knew that this was a requirement and she never spoiled it by walking away until she had been cleaned.


Bottom Line: How was it? Delicious!

* Credit: The Shaker Cookbook by Caroline B. Piercy
Crown Publishers, Inc. 1953





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