The real dough nuts

By Tammy Swift

The Forum, Fargo, North Dakota, September 17, 2006, B-1

Not only did they make cheese buttons, but they fried them in butter. Not
only did they make custard, but they then poured it inside a yeasty sweet
bread.

Of course, we conveniently forget their heavy foods served a purpose many
years ago. They needed sustenance to milk cows and plow fields and build
barns out of rock. Besides, all that dough kept them from blowing away
during blizzards.

Nowadays these heritage dishes are, by necessity, an occasional treat. If
we ate a fleischkeuchle (translation: deep-fried meat cookie) every day,
then spent the afternoon before the computer, we would create a
super-mutated race of 800-pound office worker. Our daily 15-minute breaks
would be filled with sessions at the defibrillator machine. Our
watercoolers would have to be filled with gravy.

You get the picture.

So now we simply eat these foods at special occasions. One of those old
favorites includes buttered egg noodles. I remember when Mom used to make
these with her trusty pasta maker. It was an all-day affair that required
lots of stirring and kneading. After cutting out the noodles, she would
drape them over the back of the kitchen chairs to dry. By the end of the
day, wed be so covered with flour that we looked like Stay-Puft
Marshmallow men.

My friend Noreen and I recently demonstrated these noodles to a high
school family and consumer science class. Unlike moms recipe, these dont
need to be dried. Just coat them with a little oil after cooking and
freeze them in a well-sealed bag. When its time to heat them up, dump the
frozen noodles into the boiling water.

Youll note these noodles are served with buttered bread crumbs. Proof,
once again, that German-from-Russia cooks really knew how to use their
noodles.

Egg Noodles with Buttered Bread crumbs

4 large or medium eggs (figure 1 egg per person and adjust other
ingredients accordingly)

4 tablespoons olive oil or 100-percent canola oil

4 cups white flour or semolina

Stir together to form sticky dough. (If mixture is too crumbly, add extra
oil and warm water a few teaspoons at a time.) Work with hands into a
ball of dough. Knead dough well on a well-floured surface until smooth and
non-sticky. (If its sticky at all, it will gum up the pasta maker.) Let
dough rest for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil 4 quarts of water in stock pot. (Optional: Add 1 teaspoon
of salt and 1 tablespoon of olive oil, which will keep noodles from
sticking together, to the water.)

Divide dough into 3 or 4 equal-sized pieces; flatten slightly and flour
each side generously. Feed through well-floured pasta machine according to
machine instructions. (Or roll out dough into oblong shape, about -inch
thick, and cut into strips. You can also just cut off small wads of dough
and drop them into the water to make knoephla, or dumplings.)

Put noodles into boiling water; cook until they float (this will only take
a few minutes). Remove; drain and sprinkle with olive oil.

To make buttered breadcrumbs: In a separate frying pan, melt 2 to 3
tablespoons of butter in a skillet over medium heat. Toss in crumbled
bread and continue to fry, turning often, until crisp. When noodles are
cooked and drained, add to skillet and cook, turning often. Add more
butter, if needed.

Printed with permission of The Forum.