Jackie Lewandoski visits Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum where we travel back in time and learn what it was like for the early Pennsylvania German (Deutsch) to prepare meals in a hearth.
Chicken Corn Soup
Landis Valley Village and Farm Museum Cookbook
4 to 5 pounds stewing chicken
Pinch of saffron (this is a very important ingredient in PA German cooking that I forgot to mention)
1 stalk celery
2 small onions
6 ears fresh corn on the cob (I used 2 (1 lb) bags of frozen)
1 Tablespoon finely chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Noodles (see recipe below)
Wash the chicken well and remove excess fat. Place in a large kettle and cover completely with water. Add some salt and the pinch of saffron. Boil for about 1 to 1.5 hours, until the chicken is soft. While the chicken is boiling, prepare the noodle dough, finely chop the celery and onions, and cut the corn off the cobs. Remove the chicken from the broth and let cool. Remove the skin and discard. Cut the chicken into small pieces and set aside. Add the cut-up vegetables to the boiling broth. Allow vegetables to boil about 10 minutes, and then add the noodles to the boiling broth. Boil about 20 to 30 minutes. (It may be necessary to add more water as the soup is cooking.) Add pepper, cut-up chicken, and parsley. Serves 6.
Noodles
2 cups flour
3 eggs
Dash of salt
Half an eggshell full of water
Add salt to the flour, and then make a well in the center of the flour. Add well-beaten eggs and stir into the dough. Add only enough water to make workable stiff dough. Knead a few minutes, and then turn onto a board and cover with a bowl for 10 to 15 minutes. This makes it easier to roll out the dough. Divide into 3 pieces and roll each piece as thin as possible, sprinkling with as little flour as possible. Lay the rounds of dough on a cloth and let sit about 30 minutes. Turn the pieces over and let dry another 30 minutes. Roll up the dough and cut into thin slices the desired width of your noodles. Add to soup, or cook in salt water and serve as a side dish with melted butter.