What to make with just Flour and Water?

If you could convert the flour and water to sourdough, that would give you acidity to react with the baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to make quick bread or crackers. A little salt and you might make real bread. If you had some fat then there are a whole raft of other baking opportunities.

Flatbreads/naan
fry bread
if you have a solid fat (preferably lard), flour tortillas
Noodles or dumplings, if you can add an egg or egg substitute
If you can add butter and a couple eggs, pâte a choux, and with some cheese, those can also be turned into gougeres.
Crackers

Dumplings? Brilliant on a nice soup.

noodles (hold the baking soda) would be my first choice. Flour and water plus time gives some fabulous stretchy noodle options.

dumplings for soup would be another good one.

Tereza Okava wrote:noodles (hold the baking soda) would be my first choice. Flour and water plus time gives some fabulous stretchy noodle options.

Oh, would pasta be an option too? Does that have to be special flour?

Nancy Reading wrote:

Tereza Okava wrote:noodles (hold the baking soda) would be my first choice. Flour and water plus time gives some fabulous stretchy noodle options.

Oh, would pasta be an option too? Does that have to be special flour?

I make hand pulled noodles and udon with plain old bread flour (we don't have a lot of flour options here, it's white or whole).
https://omnivorescookbook.com/hand-pulled-noodles/
(if you can add salt, this recipe is flour, salt, water and oil to coat the pasta while it rests)

https://www.justonecookbook.com/udon-noodles/
(flour, water, salt)

for most Asian noodle recipes, the technique makes the difference-- kneading time, resting time, and occasionally water temp have huge impacts.

And if you can add an egg or two, you can make spatzle.

I was going on the assumption we didn't *have* to include all three of the ingredients, hence the noodle/pasta/dumpling suggestions. By dumplings, I was thinking along the lines of the bumpy, flat, wide type that my very southern grandmas used to make, for chicken&dumplins. They're excellent in other soups & stress, too - but my grandma's both put them in with chicken. If dumplings the way my Nana (wonderful step-grandma) made them, those would need the baking soda, to get their fluffy, puffy light spherical shape.

On the other hand, I think a filled dumpling could also be easily made, with the addition of an egg or buttermilk - and, if course filling, like apples, corn, etc.

Carla Burke wrote:By dumplings, I was thinking along the lines of the bumpy, flat, wide type that my very southern grandmas used to make, for chicken&dumplins. They're excellent in other soups & stress, too - but my grandma's both put them in with chicken. If dumplings the way my Nana (wonderful step-grandma) made them, those would need the baking soda, to get their fluffy, puffy light spherical shape.

At risk of getting off topic-- as someone who never saw a dumpling of this type til I was maybe 30,  which kind (round and fluffy or flat and wide) go better in which kind of setting, in your opinion? I grew up with matzo balls, but the preferred texture in my house was chewy, not fluffy, think "dodgeball". the flat and wide dumplings intrigue me!

I honestly love both types in everything, lol. BUT - the flat ones are a bit more work, because they have to be rolled out, cut, and left to rest about 10 - 15 minutes, to hold together better, when dropped into the broth. The poofs are simply scooped out of the mixing bowl and dropped in. So, for me, it depends on my mood, my level of wistfulness & nostalgia for my grandma's dumplings, and my energy levels. The poofy ones are fluffy, light, and fun, and I really do enjoy them. But, those flat ones... they get these yummy bumps, and they're chewy and dense and so filling... They're definitely worth it, when the stars align.