AUNT JEAN’S CHICKEN AND NOODLES

Steps:

• Chicken: Place a whole chicken in a stew pot and cover with water. Add 3 bay leaves Add ½ onion cut into large chunks Season with Johnny's or Old Bay, garlic powder, celery salt, black pepper (whatever flavor you want the broth to have). Cook 2-3 hours until it falls apart. Remove the chicken from the broth when done. Toss out anything you used for flavor (onions, etc.) Remove all the meat from the chicken and toss the bones. Noodles: Aunt Jean uses 3 eggs for Sunday dinner. More people = more eggs. General rule of thumb is one egg for noodles (and one potato) per person. Crack 3 eggs into a large mixing bowl Season with a dash of salt and pepper Beat eggs lightly until blended. Start with 4 handfuls of flour added to the eggs and fold together. Continue to add flour and fold together until you get a dough consistency that is not sticky (Aunt Jean used 5 more handfuls). Roll out the dough on a pastry sheet or freezer paper until thin. Use lots of flour to keep it from sticking. Let the dough dry until you can cut it easily without sticking (at least 10 minutes - longer the better) depending on how much time you have before dinner. Cut with a pizza cutter into thin noodles using flour so they won't stick (flour also thickens the broth). Put chickenless broth back on stove and bring to boil Drop the noodles in the broth one at a time, with stirring, so you don't get dumplings. Put in remaining flour from the pastry sheet as a thickener. Cook until the noodles are done, about 15-20 minutes, depending on how hungry you are. Combine: Optional (although Aunt Jean does not): you can add carrots, etc., to the broth while the noodles are cooking. Add the chicken back to the broth. (You can add the chicken while you are cooking the noodles or after, depending on whether you want the chicken cooked more or less). Serve over mashed potatoes. Makes as many servings as you like as long as you make enough noodles.