Homemade Beef and Noodles

We never had a large family meal at my mother-in-law’s without beef and homemade noodles, unless we had chicken and homemade noodles.  The first time I made them for a crowd, my sister-in-law Dixie helped me make them using her grandmother’s recipe – we made a large enamel dish pan full, and they all disappeared!  The only way to serve this country dish is over mashed potatoes.  Better Homes and Gardens (of course, headquartered in Iowa) says this is one of the straightest paths to comfort food heaven.  I never ate these growing up in Minnesota or Texas, and I don’t know if it’s just an Iowa thing or not, but everyone here loves them.  They are usually at every pot luck dinner.

Use good homemade broth or dilute 2 cans of consommé to make the 3 cups of water.  You may need additional liquid when you add the noodles.  When I make mashed potatoes for this, I keep them a little stiffer so they don’t get runny under the gravy.

I usually make my own noodles, but I followed the recipe here and used Reames regular frozen noodles.  They cost about 5 times what I can make them for, and I freeze my own too, so these are probably the last I will buy.  Reames noodles originated in Iowa in 1952, and I expect most women here use either purchased frozen or dry homemade-style noodles nowadays, although my husband’s family members still make their own fresh ones.

 Beef and Noodles

  1         Pound  Chuck Roast -- or round steak

     ¼     Cup  Flour, All-purpose

  1         Tablespoon  Cooking Oil

     ½     Cup  Onion -- chopped

  2         Cloves  Garlic -- minced

  3         Cups  Beef Broth or consommé

  1         Teaspoon  Dried Basil -- crushed

     ¼     Teaspoon  Black Pepper

  8        Ounces  Frozen Homestyle Noodles

  2        Tablespoons  Fresh Parsley -- snipped

Trim fat from meat.  Cut into 3/4 inch cubes.  Coat meat with flour.  In a Dutch oven, brown half of the coated meat in hot oil.  Remove from saucepan.  Brown the remaining meat with onion and garlic, adding more oil, if necessary.  Drain off the fat.  Return all the meat to the saucepan.

Stir in the broth, basil and pepper.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours or until meat is tender.

Stir noodles into broth mixture.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Cook, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until noodles are tender.  You may need to add hot broth or water to keep noodles from sticking.  Sprinkle with parsley.  4 Servings.

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Per Serving: 351 Calories; 21g Fat (55.4% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 66mg Cholesterol; 1019mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable; 2 1/2 Fat.