Chicken Wiggle

I bought a new stock pot to cook Chicken and Dumplings in next week because the old one had begun sticking very badly. Of course, I just had to test it out (afterall, it wouldn't do to ruin a whole pot of dumplings on Thanksgiving Day just because of untested cookware).

Chicken Wiggle is one of those dishes that is perfect for a cool night or when you just don't feel well. It's a little thicker than soup and maybe even stew; it's about the same consistency as Chicken and Dumplings. In fact, the recipe that I use is very close to our Chicken and Dumplings recipe (with a few minor differences). You can substitute turkey instead of the chicken for Turkey Wiggle. I attended a small public school growing up, and Turkey Wiggle along with cranberry sauce was always served around the holidays in the cafeteria, and it was a very welcome improvement over the usual school lunches. There was a running joke on Turkey Wiggle day that the dish got its name because after taking a bite you could feel the noodles wiggle all the way down. Of course, you can't feel them, but it sure made a lot of sense back then : )

The Ingredients:
4-5 chicken breasts
Reserved chicken broth
2 cups water
1 bag of egg noodles
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 can of carrots, drained and rinsed
2 cans of english peas, drained and rinsed
1 can of cream of celery soup
1 can of cream of chicken soup
2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and sliced
kosher salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste

1) In a pot, boil the chicken in water. While it's boiling, make sure to season the water with salt and black pepper. Once the chicken is done, remove it from the broth and allow it to cool, then debone it and either shred or cut it into large bite-sized pieces. Strain the broth.

Just after adding the noodles.

2) In a stock pot, combine the chicken broth and 2 cups of water. Bring the broth back to a boil and add in the egg noodles.

Just after adding the chicken and onions.

3) Allow the noodles to cook for a few minutes, then add the chicken pieces, onion, cream of chicken, and cream of celery. Make sure to stir in the cream of chicken and the cream of celery very well.

Just after adding the carrots and English peas.

4) Stir in the carrots, English peas, and the hard boiled egg slices. At this time you can season the Chicken Wiggle with a little more salt if you want to (because there are a few canned foods in it and the broth has salt in it, too, I usually only add a small amount of salt or none at all towards the end; so make sure to taste it before you add any, just in case). Allow the Chicken Wiggle to simmer on medium heat for about twenty minutes. Just before it's done, you can add a little more ground black pepper (we like quite a bit of pepper in ours, so the amount I usually add is about 7-10 full turns of a pepper mill).

A hot bowl of Chicken Wiggle.