Side Dish - Egg Noodles ..?

[LoN]

Since my original menu for a "casual" dinner party got sidetracked (don't ask!), I decided to fall back on chicken breasts in a mustard sauce main....but I'd like to do something other than potatoes. I experimented a couple of weeks ago with an egg noodle recipe with leeks and mushrooms, honey and parm cheese, and it was pretty good, but not great. It seemed a little dry to me - maybe I'm expecting too much.....any suggestions? My veg would be asparagus and roasted carrots..... any ideas to make the noodles come alive???? THanks.

[bayoucook]

Would a white sauce work with it? Add garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and/or roasted peppers?

[alkapal]

i love egg noodles! did you use butter? gotta add butter! -- also, with that dish you mention, a wee bit of lemon zest might perk up the earthy flavors.

[Diane in Bexley]

Lo, are you familiar with noodle kugels? A Jewish casserole dish that could be savory or sweet, depending on ingredients. Can get a little heavy if you use cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, raisins. If you do a savory vegetable kugel, you can incorporate roasted fresh spring veggies like onions, eggplant, peppers, mushrooms in a stock based sauce. Best part, you can assemble a kugel up to a day in advance and keep refigerated, which would be a big help for a dinner party. If any sound appealing, let me know and I can elaborate recipes.

[weezycom]

Instead of noodles, I'd do either cheese grits or a polenta.

[greygarious]

Was the noodle dish with the honey supposed to be a side dish or a main course? As a side, it has too much going on to pair with an entree in sauce. Sounds like a better match for a plainer meat dish without a sauce of its own. Buttered egg noodles with salt and pepper and perhaps some smothered onion-family member would be good with your chicken. Noodles used to be served more often than today, when they are often supplanted by polenta. You could also go with spaeztle or gnocchi, either lightly cooked in butter after boiling/draining.

[c oliver]

gg, I agree with you. Just butter, s&p. I don't think the starch needs a starring role when you've got the sauce with the chicken. I forget egg noodles for periods of time but then my husband reminds me. We've been eating them more often lately.

[Green Omnivore]

As an egg noodle side dish, I usually add some (or alot!) butter, S&P, a bit of garlic and a sprinkling of parmesan and parsley. Green garlic is in season right now and it would be a nice substitute for the regular garlic, it has a wonderful mild garlic flavour. To loosen up the pasta if it seems dry, I toss it with some chicken stock or pasta water.

[Karl S]

Melted butter (you could add a pinch of sugar if that intrigues you) and poppy seeds.

[c oliver]

Ah, yes, poppy seeds. Another fave of Mr. O.

[alwayscooking]

Egg noodles with parsley or poppy seed would compliment the mustard sauce. Pan or oven roasted potatoes would also be nice seasoned with one or a combination of thyme, tarragon, fennel.

[LoN]

Okay...I think I probably was a little too shy with the butter on my noodles!! lol I am going to give the noodles another try, and perhaps add a carmelized shallot or two to the leeks and mushroom....love the idea of some lemon zest to "perk them up"!!! I will also have some chicken stock to moisten them, and in the end IF all else fails and I find them too mundane I will have cream on hand to give the dish some richness!! Thankyou for the input!!

[middydd]

I like to toss hot egg noodles with sour cream, salt, pepper and chopped parsley.

[The Professor]

Browned butter. And salt to taste.
Simple and incredibly good as a side. Great with either wide egg noodles or spaetzle.

[NYchowcook]

toss some chopped garlic in the butter at the end for a minute or two. S&P and some poppy seeds if you have 'em.
Everything's better w/ garlic (a major food group for me!)

I personally have weaned myself from egg noodles because of the zero nutritional value (except of course w/ chicken cacciatore), and prefer roasted potatoes w/ garlic and thyme, polenta and brown rice.

[Cheese Boy]

I have nothing for the OP, but the addition of poppy seeds sounds very tasty to me. I will definitely have to give that a try. I'm tempted to try the addition of the lemon zest as well, but I'm concerned that it would taste too much like lemon-poppy muffins. If all else fails, there is cheese of course, with butter and zucchini ribbons ... : ).

[alkapal]

a wee bit of lemon zest is all i would recommend....

[LoN]

Update.....butter is the key!! Did the noodles and used a good chunk of butter....however, I did not use "fresh" egg noodles, rather I used the "no yolk" dried package....guess I'm trying to justify the butter!!! I also perked them up with the zest and fresh parsley - did not have poppy seeds so sprinkled with black sesame seeds! I started with sauteed leeks and mushrooms and a hint of garlic and honey. The surprise was that these actually tasted better the second day which means it works easily for entertaining....

[alkapal]

loN, yay, and congratulations on your tweak of the dish! i find those no yolks have a good texture, but not quite as much flavor, as the regular dried egg noodles.

you are right, too, that the dish would taste even better the next day when re-warmed. the mushrooms really got acquainted with the garlic and butter. i'm thinking how that lemon-honey would mellow, too. you still put parm in, too? mmm, what a savory dish you've made. did you re-warm on the stove, or nuke? i'd do that one on the stove.....

[LoN]

You're right...did the reheat on the stove top - had to moisten with just a bit of oil...and yes I still added parm!!! It really was just the change I was looking for from my standard roast potatoes......I think the fresh noodles would be the only improvement I'd try now!!

[kchurchill5]

Try fresh noodles for entertaining and fresh parsley. Simple easy combo.

For another time some fresh spinach along with a regularspaghetti and some fresh mushrooms and leeks is a wonderful combo. Just as easy and just lots of butter, s/p I love the spinach with the mustard. I actually make a mustard chicken, just glazed but I serve that over the spinach pasta all the time.

Your chicken sounds great. and enjoy! The most important part.

[greygarious]

This thread makes me want to revisit one of my childhood favorite comfort foods, boiled egg noodles which are then fried in butter and/or bacon fat until the edgles are golden and a little crisp, then salted. I think my mother made them for me when the dinner's meat was something without any gravy/sauce. Without knowing it, she was making a Germanic version of chow fun noodles.

[alwayscooking]

Would have never thought! Time to go back in the kitchen. Thanks.

[chef chicklet]

spaetzle!

[c oliver]

Definitely bacon fat!!! Mmmm.

[chef chicklet]

I've made a French Mustard sauce chicken dish for years.

When you said when you tried it with pasta it seemed dry to you. That is why I always double my recipe, I use the sauce with the side,and I now just use the baby reds,

I've made it with pasta, (which I didn't think it worked at all) rice, which was a little better, and then decide to try small baby red potatoes. For me the potatoes just goes with the tartness of sauce, and it was too heavy for pasta. I think you could perhaps try gnocchi?

Another idea which I have not tried but will be is a recipe from a recent find of Julia Child's. Its a gnocci made with flour and farina, and from what I read in Joy of Cooking, farina made a great dumpling.

the chicken with mustard sauce is a rich dish, that is if you make like I do, with wine cream, butter and mustard.
My other side are simple steamed baby carrots with dill. That's it.

[Father Kitchen]

I like the brown butter and also butter and parsley or the sour cream. They all let you taste the noodle instead of simply making it a vehicle for sauce. When I was growing up, our mother used to toss the noodles with home-made croutons, and this still my favorite treatment. And, of course, you can season the croutons any way you want. I vote for making them with garlic butter.

[alkapal]

i'll bet you're making home-made noodles, though, father kitchen. it makes a difference if one is using dried commercially made egg noodles, or "faux" egg noodles like "no yolks" noodles.

[kchurchill5]

I admit, I buy some fresh pasta, but always keep no yolk on hand, also some regular. Fresh is 10x better, but bagged is so convenient for just me when it is late at night. When fresh you need hardly anything as a sauce. But for bagged. You do need a bit more I think. But it is just my opinion.

[alkapal]

yes, my point exactly. when they're fresh, you want the "noodles" to shine. when they're dried (and i use plenty of those), a little extra flavor is needed.

[kchurchill5]

Fresh pasta is so much different and I love it. I only entertain with fresh when I can, surprise dinners sometimes I use dried but I love fresh soo much. I agree totally. Dried you need something but I admit I do use them.

Ever try store bought pesto and canned diced tomatoes in a dish with ricotta and mozz and parm).

It sounds odd, but I went to a girlfriends last summer in WI and I told her I would cook. Well They wanted to BBQ chicken but no spice, not much of anything. So I marinaded the chicken in a store bought Italian dressing, dried. It actually was good. I doctored up the BBQ sauce with hot sauce, mustard, honey and whatever else I could find.

But ... they wanted a side. Well a bag of buttered noodles, some Italian diced tomatoes, some store bought pesto (I'm surprised they had that) topped with ricotta (she does eat that with fresh fruit) some fake mozz ... better than nothing and some parm, the famous green bottle. Well to say the least. The idea was good. It actually wasn't bad. Fresh would of been wonderful but they and the group thought it was the best they ever had. Considering Italian seasoning, s/p was all there was I know why they thought it was great, lol.

[alkapal]

"your creative concoctions from someone else's pantry" might be a funny thread. sometimes, it is amazing the good flavor you can bring out from paltry pantries! <say that fast 3 times ;-)>

[c oliver]

Do you have a recipe for fresh egg noodles? I'm not sure I'd want to make pasta from scratch for a side dish, but maybe.

[alkapal]

no recipe that i've used. father kitchen has one, i'll bet!

[c oliver]

Oh, so you BUY fresh egg noodles? I don't think I've seen that. Will keep an eye out.

[alkapal]

no, i buy dried egg noodles. i've had fresh egg noodles, but have not made them.

[kchurchill5]

I made them once, a pain! I buy them. I got a similar type of noodle, don't remember the name it was over in Orlando at a small Italian restaurant. Very good. I buy from the little Italian store in Sarasota and then I cut the long threads in small pieces like egg noodles. I know not the same. But they are similar and they work. For true egg noodles I buy ones from Whole foods, but otherwise I use no yolks, for cholesterole reasons but I am sure the preservatives out weigh the good parts. But 90% I try to use good fresh pasta when possible. We can only do so much right?

I've not made a lot of fresh pasta but it is fun isn't it. I just don't have time, but loved it.

I had a pasta party where we actually all made pasta. All afternoon, tomato, spinach and plain and then everyone got to take some home. Some went home fresh, but a week later was the bagging party after the pasta dried. It was easier to transport that way. Just used a wooden clothes drying rack. We had so much fun. But we did try our fresh and it was amazing. We made a big pot of fresh 4 cheese ravioli with fresh tomato sauce and we did a walnut, strawberry and ricotta cheese ravioli for desert and we did a fresh spinach goat cheese, eggplant, muchrooms and pancetta and sun dried for another with the spinach pasta and then spinach pasta with scallops, fresh carmelized lemons with a basil pesto. Also basil pasta, fresh tomatoes, chilled with fresh grilled chicken and roasted zuchinni, and tomatoes. It was so much fun. No asian flavors ... everyone wanted basically Italian flavors so I stuck with that. It still was a blast and not hard. We used pretty much everything from the market that morning which we all went to so it was fun to use what we bought.

A pasta party is a bit messy ... NOTE ... don't wear black or dark clothing, but was a lot of fun for a girls afternoon.

[LoN]

OK...ok....that's it...I am totally pumped!! Off in search of fresh egg noodles....it will be a challenge since the nearest fresh pasta shop is likely an hour or more away, but by the sound of it, it will be well worth the trip! Thks..

[alwayscooking]

They are so so easy to make at home and will take far less time than your excursion to the shop. Egg noodles are very easy to work with, nearly foolproof, and can be made without a pasta machine - just a rolling pin.

[kchurchill5]

Do you have a good one, mine is burried in storage and if you have one full proof, I'm game.

[alwayscooking]

Here's the recipe I use
http://www.recipezaar.com/Delicious-H...

Differences: I let it rest for at least 30min and I don't roll out the dough until 'paper thin' - I leave it a bit thicker since I like the flavor and chew. Also, I dry them in nests on and under a dish towel.

Note that this is a recipe for creamy egg noodles and not all pasta.

[kchurchill5]

Thanks, my last was not fun so I am hoping to try something new. I really love egg noodles.

[Father Kitchen]

This was supposed to have nested with a AlKapal reply to me. But it skippped way down the queue.
Nope, but whenever I can I get noodles from our Amish market. Our brother cook normally gets noodles from Costco. But he really noticed the difference when I delivered the real thing. I have made noodles, and I think they are worth the effort. My dad's chore as a kid for a few years (with some of his brother and sisters) was to make egg noodles on Saturday night. He had the knack for it, but never did it often enough for me to learn from him. Still even commercial egg noodles aren't a total loss tossed with a bit of sour cream or butter and parsley or with good croutons. And anyone can make croutons that beat the rancid things sold in the markets.

[greygarious]

For making homemade noodles without a pasta machine, there was a neat trick on Lidia's Italy. After using a rolling pin to get thin dough, she rolled the sheet up toward the center from both sides, like a palmier/elephant ear cookie. Then she sliced into desired width and slid a flat rod underneath the whole length of the roll, in the center where the two rolled sides met. When the rod was lifted, the noodles automatically unrolled and the rod was ready to hang-dry.

[kchurchill5]

Yeah last time I made them I had the clothes hanger which worked but the cats were able to get to it too easily. We fixed that problem but this sounds interesting.

[blue room]

Several here have suggested adding poppy seeds--is this for crunch, or looks, or flavor?
I bought a bag of poppy seeds from Penzey's, (for muffins,) but they seem to have NO flavor of their own--did I get an old batch?

[kchurchill5]

Not in noodles for me. Love them in muffins.

[c oliver]

Did you taste them on their own? If no taste at all, then maybe you got some old ones. I don't have the vocabulary to describe it but it's subtle and not tasteless. I didn't realize until I read this thread that poppy seeds and egg noodles are a standby. Thought it was just my husband's preference.

[greygarious]

The closest description I can think of is similar to sesame seeds, but weaker in taste. Maybe if sesame were that small the two would be more similar. I have never bought from Penzey's, but considering the premium prices they charge, and buyers' expectations of higher quality than supermarket brands, I would ask for an exchange or refund.