Happy Easter Everyone!!
This is my Mom’s much requested noodles and beef recipe. Everyone in the family loved it when she made this, especially her grandkids. Mom would cook for days preparing all the home-made dishes she served for holiday and birthday dinners. They were a thing of beauty, made because of her love for us. When she could no longer do dinners like that, she would still prepare this—even when she was past 90–as one of her contributions for our celebrations. It was hard to get her to tell her recipes, and we were not able to get many, but this is one of the rare ones.
Hope you try it, and enjoy it as much as we all do. It is not difficult!
Mom’s Noodles and Beef*
4 cups flour
2 teaspoons of salt
6 egg yolks
2 whole eggs
1 cup warm water
3 lb. Chuck Roast
¼ teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 onion, peeled and quartered
1/3 package of Dry Onion Soup Mix
3 cans condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 quarts of Beef Broth
Olive Oil
Wax Paper
Make the noodles first:
Mix the flour and 2 teaspoons of salt together. In another bowl add 6 egg yolks (yolks only) and 2 regular eggs that include yolks, beating completely. Make a well in the flour and salt mixture, pouring the mixed eggs into it. Fold the flour and eggs together, it will be stiff, but work it together as well as you can. Slowly add warm water while continuing to mix until all the dough is moist, but still stiff. You will probably use all the water, but if it starts losing its stiffness, stop adding water. Divide the dough into three pieces. Take one of the three pieces of dough and put it on a piece of flour covered wax paper. Lightly cover the top of the dough with flour, then turn the dough over and lightly cover that side with flour. With a flour-covered rolling pin roll the dough out fairly thin. Take kitchen scissors and cut into noodle strips, about ¼” to ⅓” wide or the width preferred.
Put out sheets of wax paper, and lay the cut noodles flat on it, separating them so they don’t touch. Repeat the above steps with each of the remaining thirds of dough, ending with laying them on wax paper. Now the noodles must air dry for at least two hours.*
Take a chuck roast and cut into pieces or, if preferred, use pre-cut stew meat. Coat the bottom of a stock pot with oil, put in the beef and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon salt along with pepper to taste. Sauté meat until brown on all sides. Cover the meat with water and continue adding water until the stock pot is about half full. Add one quartered onion and 1/3 of a packet of dry onion soup mix. On medium temperature, bring meat to a very low boil and let simmer for about an hour. During that time the liquid should reduce by about 50%.
Now add two quarts of beef broth, and on medium heat, bring back to a boil. Quickly stir in all the noodles a couple of handfuls at a time. Once the noodles are all in, cook for 20 minutes at medium, stirring often so they don’t stick. Then add 3 cans of condensed cream of mushroom soup, stirring throughout, bring it back to a boil for 5 more minutes. Serve.
As we celebrate our second Easter without Mom, the promise this holiday brings of seeing our loved ones again gives us hope and assurance—peace that nothing else can offer. Many things remind us of Mom, and preparing this dish is one of them.
Years ago, my great-uncle, who lived in the Colorado Rockies, became a follower of Christ, and was baptized on Easter Sunday. He wanted the family to come to the mountains to see him and enjoy the new life he had discovered. Playfully, he wanted to wash our faces clean with snow. May you find that all the dark places in your life can be washed away by accepting Christ’s teachings and you, too, can feel whiter than snow.
*Please note this is a regular recipe that contains gluten.
**After drying, the noodles can be put in Tupperware and refrigerated up to 30 days. That way the noodles can be made ahead of time.
