Speaking of Buttersticks

This week’s recipe (and for that matter this week’s lunch) is a loving tribute the late Julia Childs’ idiom that fat (especially butter) carries flavor. One of my favorite dishes of childhood, chicken noodle casserole was my frugal mother’s attempt to get rid of the leftover meat from the previous night’s roast chicken and stretch it such a way as to feed a family of 6. All of this, of course, had to be done with as little prep work as possible AND utilize only the basic ingredients that can be found in the fridge and the pantry.

After I finished college and moved out of the house, my parents went on a health kick (much to the chagrin of my younger brother who still had a year to go before leaving for college himself). This was the 1990s, the height of the fat-free diet craze. My mother’s favorite cooking program was Graham Kerr, that was all about re-making high-fat, high-flavor foods into low-fat weight-loss foods, much like a certain calorie-commando does today.

So what did she do? She removed all the fat from the recipe, basically turning it into chicken and no-yolk noodles swimming in a cornstarch-thickened gravy flavored with bullion cubes and disguised as a cream sauce by the addition of skim milk. She served it for dinner one night when I came to visit. Remember that paste you used to eat back in kindergarten? Putting that on noodles with a little chicken might have improved the flavor.

My food philosophy has always been as long as the calories you consume are equal to or less than the calories you burn during the day, you will maintain or lose weight. High-fat, carbohydrate-laden foods can eaten as part of a healthy diet as long as they are eaten in moderation. What good is eating a pound of fat-free pasta with fat-free tomato sauce sans cheese (and still wanting more), if the addition of said cheese satisfies you after only 4 ounces?

So, without further ado, I present you will the full-fat, full-carb, high sodium, oh-so-yummy recipe of my youth that I prepared yesterday and have portioned into GladWare containers for microwaving at the office come lunchtime this week:

Chicken Noodle Casserole
(this recipe made 5 portions with a few tasty bites left for the cook)

¼ cup butter (I use Plugra-style butter….more fat)
1/3 cup flour
2 cups chicken stock
4 bullion cubes
1 cup of WHOLE milk (use skim at your own risk)
1 teaspoon black pepper
3 cups chopped cooked chicken meat (in a pinch I have used canned)
12oz egg noodles

Melt butter in saute pan over medium heat, add flour and stir, cooking for several minutes to get rid of lumps and cook out the floury taste. Add stock, bullion cubes and milk. Stir until bullion cubes are dissolved and mixture has thickened and returned to a boil. Let simmer for 3 minutes. Add black pepper and chicken meat and stir. Cook egg noodles according to package directions undercooking by 1 minute. Drain. Combine egg noodles and gravy mixture in large covered casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve. (For those who believe a casserole is not complete without a crunchy topping, take the cover off 5 minutes before cooking is complete and add crushed potato chips to the top).

And finally to go with this……my whine wine of the week:

JACQUES & FRANÇOIS LURTON SYRAH, "LES BATEAUX," VIN DE PAYS D'OC, FRANCE

Not only is it an intense, gobsmacking Syrah (also known as Shiraz in Australia), it is so far the only French red wine I have found with a SCREW-TOP CAP!