Monday, January 17, 2011

Grown-up Noodle Soup

I won't divulge the name of the restaurant I follow on Twitter. It's where I got the idea for this dish, but I'm certain my version looks or tastes nothing like what the chef was hinting at.
Toasted pasta cooked in stock. I had to have it, no matter how it turned out.
Simplicity. We knocked down a chicken carcass and gently simmered it for two hours with onion, carrot, celery... The chicken itself was very herby, so we backed off there. But make sure it's as salty as you like, because this is food!
Next, I grabbed a few coiled nests of fideo (really, capellini), and tucked them in a plastic bag. Went medieval on them with a rolling pin. Cranky was cowering somewhere else.
These broken bits of noodle went into a dry skillet over somewhat aggressive heat, and I stirred them until I had a crazy quilt of earth tones.
Dump the toasted noodles on a plate and add a little olive oil to the hot pan. Toss in a couple of sliced cloves of garlic and get them a bit golden.
And then? And then? Duh. Cook the noodles and garlic in the strained chicken stock. Until you like them. Flavor with clever flicks of hot smoked paprika; not too much but you want to kind of notice it.
This was almost baby food, it was so edible and reassuring. But it was stinky with garlic and sticky with gelatin; very adult.
We're totally going to have this again. Although maybe I'll sample the restaurant's version and find where I went right, and where I could go righter. I suspect there were crustaceans involved. Maybe bivalves.

8 comments:

Zoomie said...

Wow, sounds good and also soothing to my aching jaw where Step Two of an implant was implanted a few days ago. Not a procedure I recommend.

cookiecrumb said...

It is soothing and comforting. I'm craving it, just one day later.
Implant? Frightening. Well, I guess they got drugs for that. Bundle up and take care, Zoom.

Ms Brown Mouse said...

Sooo, twice cooked pasta, I'm intrigued.

cookiecrumb said...

Mouse: Well, yes. Twice cooked. A flavor enhancer that doesn't come from the spice cabinet. (I think it's done with pilafs, in oil.) I'm wild about it. My new trick: browning and burning. :)

Greg said...

That really sounds good!

cookiecrumb said...

Greg: I can't stop thinking about it! That good.
(Turns out the restaurant added Dungeness crab. OMG.)

Kris said...

I was just saying to my better half that I wanted to make something soon w/crab before the season went out. This could be it. I'll bet some fresh herbs would brighten the crab up nicely too (not that we have anything fresh these days)... When you go try it out, let us what the difference was (and if you enjoyed it of course).

cookiecrumb said...

Little Pots: Yes, fresh herbs sounds nice. You don't even have windowsill herbs? Poor you.
If you do this with some crab, I might recommend making the noodles less soupy... But then -- whatever!
My thought: Dust the crab pieces with smoked hot paprika (very cautiously; ours is killer hot) and maybe other spice flavors. Saute quickly in oil, and plop on top of the noodles. Pass lemons.