emdub wrote:Mhays, was this in the New Harmony area? My dad is from there, it's a strange cultural mecca in the middle of nowhere.
and more. By all means read the whole piece.There’s so much to love in that post. The assumption that Hoosier beef and noodles must be a perversion of the more authentic Amish dish, assumptions of Amish authenticity being rampant in Chicagoland. (Trust me, honey: The Amish invented canned beef. These people don’t have refrigeration, remember. You wouldn’t believe some of the crap they eat.) The “dog-food like aroma.” The utter bafflement at its presentation, ladled over mashed potatoes. But hey, nice noodles. Where do you buy them?
I can answer her question right off the bat: You don’t. Those kind of noodles you make, but it’s pretty easy. You don’t need a pasta machine, just a rolling pin, a flat surface and a knife. My Jay County-raised neighbor used to make killer chicken and noodles, and she thought making noodles from scratch was about as difficult as opening a carton of milk. As for the triple-starch presentation, all I can say is, if you spent the morning baling hay and were about to spend the afternoon stacking it in the barn, all those carbs would burn off by 2 p.m. and your stomach would start on the protein. The first and only time I ate noodles over potatoes I was doing the rigorous duty of writing a newspaper column, and the effect was soporific. Within 90 minutes I slipped under my desk for a 20-minute nap, and the residue of that meal I carry on my hips to this day.
emdub wrote:ooh! I got called "snarky" and a "chicago foodie" in the blog above!
If they only knew- I'm a Hoosier too! And lived in Amish country when I was a little girl..
Cathy2 wrote:HI,
Long ago, I visited a friend in Iowa City when I was may be 19 or 20. He very kindly made dinner of steak, mashed potatoes and rice. I observed I had never had two comparable starches served on the same plate at the same time before. I began to feel like a high maintenance snob when he explained, "Rice is cheap and filling. It fits my budget at this time."
Regards,
tyrus wrote:My grandmother has since passed but when my family talks about these "noodles," one of my cousins said that when she gets a taste for them, she'll go to Arthur, IL (another Amish community) and there's a restaurant that serves them there. I've never been but wouldn't mind seeing how they compare.
Cathy2 wrote:I have been advocating chicken and noodles served at church suppers when you get beyond metropolitan Chicago. I see now I should also be considering beef and noodles as well.
Geo wrote:When I was a kid growing up in Ft. Collins, I went to St. Joseph's, a 4-classroom (1st-8th grade) elementary school for a few years. This was in '49-'53, and the cafeteria ladies had infinite stocks of war surplus canned beef, chicken and turkey to work their way through. But our beef- , chicken-, and turkey-'n-noodle were only sometimes served over mashed potatoes: under the best circumstances, we got them served over homemade, glorious biscuits! Lots of canned meat, wonderfully sloppy gravy, noodles, and wonderful biscuits--you could smell those biscuits baking from recess on, drive you crazy.Geo
Cathy2 wrote:I observed I had never had two comparable starches served on the same plate at the same time before. I began to feel like a high maintenance snob when he explained, "Rice is cheap and filling. It fits my budget at this time."
Geo wrote:While reading this thread, I've come to realize that I miss those flavors, savours, aromas, more than almost anything else I can remember from my childhood. I can taste those lunches, particularly the turkey, even as I'm writing this.
What I wouldn't give to taste them once more... Of course it would most likely be a disappointment. But still...
Cathy2 wrote:tyrus wrote:My grandmother has since passed but when my family talks about these "noodles," one of my cousins said that when she gets a taste for them, she'll go to Arthur, IL (another Amish community) and there's a restaurant that serves them there. I've never been but wouldn't mind seeing how they compare.
Could you find out which restaurant in Arthur offer this?
Regards,
Cathy2 wrote:tyrus wrote:My grandmother has since passed but when my family talks about these "noodles," one of my cousins said that when she gets a taste for them, she'll go to Arthur, IL (another Amish community) and there's a restaurant that serves them there. I've never been but wouldn't mind seeing how they compare.
Could you find out which restaurant in Arthur offer this?
Regards,
Cathy2 wrote:This thread has been very interesting. On April 5th, Greater Midwest Foodways Alliance meeting will be on sweets and desserts. When we had our sausage event, we lunched on every sausage discussed during the program. Unfortunately you cannot serve candy, cake and cookies for lunch.
I have been advocating chicken and noodles served at church suppers when you get beyond metropolitan Chicago. I see now I should also be considering beef and noodles as well. I wasn't aware these were served on top of mashed potatoes, which is especially great.
jlawrence01 wrote: Typical menu at the in-laws:
Baked Ham
Escalloped Potatoes
Escalloped Corn
Potato Salad
bread
Cathy2 wrote:Hi,
Does this Beef Noodles sound on target? Are the noodles usually baked in the meat juices?
The relative blandness discussed in the narrative seems to evoke Christopher Gordon's comments up thread. It is intended the diner will adjust seasonings to their taste.
Regards,