Experimenting with my new/old cookbook this week brought some interesting results - some good, some not so good. Let me start by reminding you that this cookbook was written obviously assuming that everyone had some basic understanding of how to prepare foods without using a cookbook - unlike today's recipes that usually explain everything in detail assuming you don't already know some basics! I am a fairly experienced cook and know lots of little things about cooking and baking without having to have it spelled out, but this old cookbook challenges me.
What I'm trying to say here is that I have to wing most of the recipes I've tried out so far - no pictures, not a lot of description, and most of them I've either never heard of or have never tasted. On to today's post - noodle ring with chicken ala king.
I've never heard of, seen, or tasted a 'noodle ring' but it seems self-explanatory right? A ring of noodles. I've heard of chicken ala king but if I've ever had it I don't remember. So I decided to try them. When I asked Dave if he wanted a noodle ring or a rice ring (the other option), he said 'why do I have to have either?", apparently the old noodle ring chicken ala king didn't sound good to him but that wasn't the option I gave him. So he picked noodle ring.
Here's the exact noodle ring recipe as written, I followed it to the best of my ability to guess - notes to follow:
- 1 pound noodles
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup milk
- dash of salt and pepper
- 2 T. catchup
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 T. Worcestershire sauce
Cook noodles and drain. Beat eggs well. Combine with other ingredients. Add to noodles and pour into buttered ring mold. Set in pan of hot water and bake in a moderate oven (350') 45 minutes. Unmold carefully onto a large platte and fill the center with Creamed Chicken. Spaghetti, macaroni or rice can be used instead of noodles.
my notes: creamed chicken is literally chicken in white sauce (milk gravy) and I didn't want to make that so I changed it to chicken ala king. I omitted the ketchup cuz that sounds gross with chicken ala king but what do I know, it might have made all the difference. I don't have a ring mold, so put 2 oven-safe ramekins in the middle of a round cake pan to create one. The end result is indeed a ring of noodles, but was not very appealing - more like a firm wall of noodles that turned almost loaf like. It broke when I unmolded it but that is not the reason this recipe failed hahahah. Oh, it certainly held in the chicken ala king so I guess it wasn't a total fail...but can't say I'm ever making this again - and Dave is definitely not going to be asking for it again in the future LOL. Alright, I'll say it - this was pretty bad.
However, the chicken ala king is a pleasant surprise! It tasted really good, was easy to make (especially cuz I used shredded rotisserie chicken from the store), creamy and flavorful like a stew. I will make this one again:
- 2 T. butter
- 1 green pepper, minced
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 T. flour
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 cups diced cookies chicken (or boned canned red salmon if you want to make 'salmon ala king'
- 1 cup sour cream or evaporated milk
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 pimento, diced
- salt and pepper
- 4 t. sherry
Melt butter, add green pepper and mushrooms and saute until tender. Lift out. Add flour to butter; add stock and cook until thickened. Add chicken or salmon, cooked pepper and mushrooms and heat thoroughly. Remove from heat and add cream mixed with beaten egg yolks and remaining ingredients. Serve at once or place over hot, not boiling, water to keep hot. Do not boil after adding egg yolks.
my notes: I omitted the green pepper, used sour cream, and replaced sherry with dry vermouth. I added the egg yolks before removing from heat so they would be cooked a little more, don't heat too much tho or they'll scramble, then turned off heat and added the sour cream.
Whatcha think - up for making a noodle ring hahahahaha? Blech.
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