Creamy Chicken

By cushey27

Ingredients

• for the chicken stock
• 1 (3 - 4 lb) whole chicken
• 2 medium onions, quartered
• 6 - 8 large carrots, washed and left whole
• 4 - 6 stalks celery, washed and left whole
• 1 Tablespoon garlic, minced
• 2 Bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup butter, divided into two halves
• 2 cups whole milk

Preparation

Step 1

Begin, first thing in the morning, and get your chicken stock going. It needs to simmer all day to develop that deep, rich chicken-y flavor. Once you get it going, you can go about your business and not have to fuss with it much, but it does need to start early.

Place the prepared vegetables, garlic, bay leaves, chicken, salt and pepper in a large stock pot (Mine is 8 quarts).

Fill stock pot with water, being sure to add enough to completely cover chicken and vegetables.

Cook on high until the water comes to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and allow the chicken to cook about 1 hour, or until the meat is tender and easy to remove from the bones.
This is the time to mix up and roll out your noodle dough. That will give them plenty of time to dry before your evening meal.

Don't overcook, or the meat will become dry and stringy.
Remove the chicken from the pot and allow to cool in a bowl, while the vegetables continue simmering in the stock pot.

After about 30 minutes cooling time, remove the chicken from the bones. Put the cooked meat in the fridge, until later. Break as many as of the bones in half, as you are able to, and place them back in the stockpot. The chicken skin has lots of fat (flavor), so add that back into the post, too.
Add ½ of your stick of butter to the stockpot. Turn the heat down to just a simmer, where you can still see the liquid moving, but there isn't a hard boil. Allow the vegetables, bones and skin to continue cooking down for 4-6 hours.

Check periodically, to make sure your stock pot isn't boiling dry. You can always add more water if it seems like the level is too low. Don't go overboard with it, though. Remember, you're trying to create a flavorful, concentrated chicken stock, loaded with nutrition.
At the end of the cooking time, strain the skin, bones, vegetables and bay leaves out of the stock pot.
Place the vegetables in your blender with enough water to fully cover them. Blend until they are pureed smooth and then pour the vegetable puree back into your chicken stock. You should end up with at least 4 quarts of chicken stock. You can add a little water to bring the level up, if you're not there.
Add the last half of your stick of butter and the milk to your chicken stock. (Please, don't leave out the butter. You can't believe what richness and depth of flavor it adds to your finished dish.)
Bring the chicken stock mixture to a boil, over medium-high heat.
Add your fresh,dried noodles, along with any leftover flour that is clinging to them or piled underneath them to your stock pot. (The flour will begin to thicken the stock into a delicious chicken gravy or cream soup.)
Bring stock back to a boil and cook noodles until tender.
Break the cooked chicken into chunks and add them back to the noodle pot.
Stir the chicken and noodles frequently to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
If it seems to be too thick, add additional milk to thin it.
This is the point where you will want to taste, again. If your stock simmered long enough, the chicken bones and veggies will give it a delicious flavor, but even if it still seems a little weak, you can tweek it by adding salt and pepper, or a little bouillon, maybe even another pat or two of butter. It will be dreamy, creamy, chicken-y noodle heaven.
Place a large spoonful of mashed potatoes into a bowl and ladle your creamy chicken and noodles over the top.