Sourdough Stories, Chapter 8: Chicken & Homemade Egg Noodles

When I go to visit my folks in my hometown, there's a better than 70% chance my mom will make her famous chicken & noodles while we're up.  She stews the chicken to make a broth, then adds the noodles, lets it simmer for a long time, and by dinner, it's deliciousness served over mashed potatoes ("carbs on carbs" we joke--a midwestern specialty).  When I grew up Mom would also serve it with a side of buttered bread--the perfect carb trifecta (Note: this was the 90s, when carbs were considered a healthy primo-energy source, not the sadly demonized shadow they currently exist in).

When I make it, sometimes I serve over mashed potatoes, sometimes not, but always add some frozen vegetables to make it a more complete meal.  And in general, always make it with Reames frozen egg noodles.  

I saw a recipe on Pinterest for using sourdough discard in egg noodle dough, and the weather was a little gross this week, so it seemed a good time for some homemade chicken & noodles.  We had a 10 lb bag of chicken leg quarters to use up (we decided to go in on a cow with my folks, so we're needing to clean out the freezer a bit), so last weekend I did roasted chicken & potatoes in the oven with half, and then cooked the rest in the Instant Pot with a couple cups of chicken broth.  Once the chicken had cooled, I shredded it (made about 4 cups) and put it in the fridge for this recipe later, strained the stock from the Instant Pot & put it in a separate container (also made about 4 cups).

Noodles (makes about 2 lbs of noodles):

3 cups AP flour

3-4 eggs (I started with 3, but the dough was really crumbly & dry so I added another)

1 cup of sourdough discard

For this part--super simple. First thing in the morning, I put all the ingredients in my Kitchenaid stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, and then let it mix for about 10 minutes.  Then I transferred the dough ball to another bowl, covered it and let it hang out all day while I was at work.

When I got home, I split the dough in half, then rolled it out to about a 1/4-1/2 inch thick (I need to get some rolling pin spacers so I can actually tell how thick dough is...in my mind it was nice and thin, but really it probably needed to be thinner, as we'll discuss later.)  Then I used a pizza cutter to slice them into about the size of Reames noodles (1/2 inch wide by about 2-3 inches long)--enlisted the help of Lil' Man for a bit of it.

We only needed about a pound for the soup so I put the other half on a cookie sheet in the freezer, then bagged them up the next morning.

Soup (makes 7-8 servings):

4 cups chicken stock (preferably homemade)

6 cups water

3 tsp chicken bouillon powder

4 cups pre-cooked shredded chicken

ground dried rosemary

onion powder

garlic powder

black pepper

12 oz bag frozen mixed vegetables (ours had green beans, peas, carrots & corn)

12-16 oz of fresh egg noodles

Directions:

Heat the stock, water, and bouillon powder over medium heat in a large stock pot until bubbling.  Then add the chicken, seasonings, and vegetables, cook for about 6 minutes over medium, then add the noodles.

The noodles fattened up immediately after we added them--this was the moment where I realized I hadn't made them thin enough.  I stirred the pot constantly for about 5-10 minutes, then turned off the heat, covered, and let it sit for about 10 minutes.  The original recipe said they should only take about 2-4 minutes (Clue #2 that maybe I'd cut them too thick).  They were also still tasting a bit bland after only 5-10 minutes so I wanted them to have a bit more time to soak up the chicken broth flavor.  But maybe a consequence of my adding an extra egg was that they didn't want to absorb as much.  

The extra sit time seemed to help with that, and they "deflated" a bit with time--I was worried that they would overcook but that wasn't an issue. In fact, in a few of the thicker ones when I bit into it, the center was still dry flour.  

This is one of those dishes where it actually tastes better the next day.  I had some leftovers over the weekend and the noodles were perfect at that point, had really soaked up a lot of that flavor.  I'll play around with the cook time a bit with the other half of the batch that we froze.  I definitely think we'll make these again--it was relatively low effort. I might try a different cut, like thin squares instead of the strips.

Instant Pot Shrimp & Sausage Gumbo (HAPPY MARDI GRAS!)

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all!

Tree at New Orleans International Airport (MSY).

This year, I was able to make it down to Scott, LA for their parade.  This is always my favorite:  the floats aren't anything amazing like what you see in New Orleans, but my friends live on the parade route, and they throw a big shindig with lots of food and I get to see some of my favorite people on the planet.

Yes, that is a Minion Porta-John.

Robin wins for best catch--hula dancing dolphins with coconut bras.

And I got to meet this lil' cutie, my friend B's new baby!

As per usual, since I am no longer a resident of the great state of Louisiana, I have to work on Mardi Gras. In fact, I will be in training all day learning how to use our new accounting software.  HOWEVER, we will be taking a break over lunch to have the annual Mardi Gras Potluck (coordinated each year by yours truly, because I just can't give it up.)

Last year, I made a boudin king cake, before that it was bacon gouda grit fritters w/pepper jelly sauce, then it was king cake cupcakes, and before that it was another king cake (sans boudin).  This year, a coworker is picking up a king cake kringle from Supreme Bakery here in town, so I decided to make gumbo.  I've done gumbo several times here (see list at the bottom of this post for links), but I've never made it in my Instant Pot.  So I figured...why not?

INGREDIENTS: (makes about 8-10 two-cup servings) 
* Note: if cooking for a smaller group, you can halve this recipe...or you can freeze part of it. It freezes really well.

• 4 cups cooked brown rice (aka 2 cups uncooked rice, cooked)
• 1 lb small or medium shrimp, tails/shells removed
• 1 lb smoked sausage (andouille if you can find it), cut into 1/2 inch pieces 
• 1 tsp olive oil (as needed) 
• 1 onion, diced 
• 1 bell pepper, diced (I used both red & green since that’s what I had on hand) 
• 2 stalks of celery, diced 
• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup instant roux 
• 3 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock (or 2 cups regular + 1 cup water)
• 6 cups water 
• 2 cups chopped okra, strung* 
• 4 cloves garlic, minced 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 2 Tbsp parsley 
• 1 tsp basil 
• 1/2 tsp thyme 
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper 
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper 
• 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning (or more to taste after cooking)

DIRECTIONS:

1) Cook the rice in your preferred method (I used the Instant Pot) and set aside.

2) Set the Instant Pot to Saute and cook the sausage (about 4 minutes). Once browned, remove the sausage and set aside in a medium bowl.

3) Put the okra in the pot and stir for about 3 minutes.  You'll see "strings" of slime coming off the okra--this is good, as cooking out the slime now will keep it from being slimy in the gumbo.  It will start to brown a bit as well, which is a good thing--adds flavor.  After the 3 minutes are up, remove the okra from the pot and set aside--you can put it in the same bowl as the sausage so you're not making extra dirty dishes for yourself.

4) Add the olive oil, onion, bell pepper, and celery to the pot and saute until softened and the onions start to go translucent (about 3-5 minutes).

5) Mix 1 cup water & instant roux together and then add to the pot, stirring until the roux thickens (just a minute or so).

 

6) Add the sausage, okra, rest of the water, chicken broth and spices to the pot and stir well--make sure nothing's sticking to the bottom of the pot.  Then lock the lid on, make sure the lid is set to "Seal", Press "Manual", and cook on "High" for 10 minutes.

7) Let the pot de-pressurize naturally (about 10 minutes), then open the lid and throw in the shrimp.  The residual heat from the gumbo will cook them without letting them get too tough & chewy.

Serve over rice (or with the rice mixed in, because my co-workers are a bunch of Yankees who aren't used to assembling their own gumbo bowls), with a side of potato salad and french bread.  

...and a side of red beans, jambalaya, veggies, Jimmy Johns, and king cake....  Because it's a potluck. And you start Keto tomorrow...so one last hurrah!!!

My Other Gumbo Recipes:
Chicken & Sausage Gumbo (made from scratch)
Pressure Cooker Gumbo
Gumbo Risotto
Duck & Sausage File Gumbo
Slow Cooker Gumbo

Crab Boil Potato Salad (Instant Pot)

Our neighbors invited us over for a BBQ the other evening.  I wanted to make a starch salad of some sort...originally, I was looking at recipes for a mustard potato salad, but I felt like being a little creative.  So I started with this recipe, and then modified it a bit.

INGREDIENTS:
2 pounds russet potatoes (would normally use red potatoes, but we were out)
1 link andouille sausage, diced
2 ears fresh Missouri corn, shucked
1 cup light mayo
2 Tbsp Zatarains Creole Mustard
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp cajun seasoning
1/2 cup crab boil seasoning (1 tsp reserved)
2 green onions, chopped


DIRECTIONS:

Place 1 cup of water, plus the crab boil seasoning, in your Instant Pot and stir. Then add the potatoes (skin still on) and the corn.  Stir so every item has a bit of the crab boil "sauce" touching it.  Pressure cook for 3 minutes, let steam release for 3 minutes, then quick release the pressure.  

(Note: I decided to use my Instant Pot to cook these just to see if we could still get the crab boil flavor even without doing a full boil. And it worked pretty well--definitely a lot of flavor cooked in, even though the potatoes & corn weren't surrounded by the liquid. If you don't have an IP, you could definitely just boil the potatoes & corn in water + crab boil.)

While the potatoes are cooking, combine the mayo, mustard, garlic, cajun seasoning, and the 1 tsp of crab boil seasoning in a large bowl, whisk to combine.  Add the andouille and green onions.

Once the potatoes are cool enough to handle, remove the skins (they should come off fairly easily) and dice.  Add the potatoes to the bowl.  Then remove the corn from the ear and add it to the bowl as well.  Toss to combine.

Place in the fridge and let chill for at least 2 hours.  Then dive in!  Note: this is going to have some heat to it, so taste test before serving.  If it's got more heat than you like, mix up a little extra sauce (mayo + mustard) and add it to the bowl.

Salsa Rice: Versatile Dish Extraordinaire!

Once upon a time (i.e. 2009), there was a recession.  Wait, what?  Are we still in it?  I can’t tell—plenty busy here…
ANYWAY…in this Once-Upon-A-Time land, there were two friends:

(I promise she’s not naked.)

…who worked for a consulting company that catered to oil-drilling clients.  And crude oil prices had bottomed out to $40/barrel.  And you know what happens when the price of oil drops below $60/barrel, my friends?  Oil-Drilling Companies don’t drill.  It’s not cost-effective.  So our phones weren’t ringing, and we weren’t working overtime, and we were even FORCED to take one-hour lunches and leave when we hit 40 hours at the end of the week.  Tough times, I tell you.

(Clean desk = not enough work.)

So what to do, when you’re not working, but you still have to BE at work?  Well, these two friends invented a game called “Google Dat”.  Which basically involved spending a lot of time on Google.  Don’t know the answer to a question?  Just Google dat.  What was the name of the guy in that one movie?  Google dat.  How long does it take to fly to Hawaii?  Google dat.  What’s the lunch special at Chung King today?  You should Google dat.  What’s on the Green Dragon Roll at Osaka?  Google dat.
So when one of these friends (aka: me) decided to test out Dr. Ian’s “Detox Diet” for two weeks, I needed a plethora of recipes that involved brown rice and beans, and no meat.  What’s a girl to do? 

You got it:  YOU GOOGLE DAT.

You know…because Pinterest didn’t exist yet.  Also, there were dinosaurs.

I still have a stockpile of recipes that we downloaded during this period of time, but this one is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. 

I still make it all the time because it’s quick, easy, super-flavorful & just really fresh-tasting.  And it goes with anything—or, is totally awesome on its own, because garbanzo beans are a nice protein source (1 cup gives you 29% of your daily requirement).

And normally, I make this with Minute brown rice for a quicker cooking time, however, we were out of that so instead, I finally used up the last of my Louisiana “popcorn rice”.

This rice was a gift from my friends the Trahans (pronounced “Trah-hahns”, not “Tray-hands”) and it comes from one of my favorite lil’ towns in Louisiana: Gueydan.

Which is, of course, pronounced “Gey-don”, not “Gooey-dan”.  Just FYI. It’s a fun word to say.  Particularly if you have or can mimic a Cajun accent.

ANYWAY…it’s a long grain rice that supposedly smells like popcorn while cooking…thus the name.  And it’s an authentic Louisiana product.  And it’s delicious and fluffy & cooks perfectly. If you’ve got the cash & the means, I highly recommend picking some up.

Ingredients (makes eight 1-cup servings):
2 cups uncooked rice
1 can beans (we used garbanzo this time, but black beans are equally awesome)
1 cup your favorite salsa (can add more to taste)
1 cup corn kernels (sweet Missouri corn preferred!)
1 handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp black pepper
Juice of 1/2 lime

Directions:
Bring 4 cups of water to boil, add your rice, then drop the heat to simmer, cover, and let cook for 20 minutes. 
Then remove the lid, check for doneness, fluff with a fork, and remove from heat.
(Updated 2019: You can alternately make your rice in the Instant Pot--I like to use brown rice, which takes 2 cups rice and 2.5 cups water, for about 18 minutes, and then let pressure release for 10 minutes.)
Add all the other ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Taste for flavor—add more salsa or seasonings as needed.
Then NOM down!

NutriFacts: (per 1 cup serving)
Calories 233.3
  Total Fat 1.2 g
  Saturated Fat 0.2 g
  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
  Monounsaturated Fat 0.3 g
  Cholesterol 0.0 mg
  Sodium 323.2 mg
  Potassium 269.1 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 49.6 g
  Dietary Fiber 3.9 g
  Sugars 0.7 g
  Protein 6.5 g