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1
Rinse and drain the chicken.
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2
Place the chicken in a large pan, add water and salt, spices and herbs and bring to a boil.
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3
Reduce the heat and simmer.
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4
After 20 minutes, add the onion,celery,and carrots.
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5
Add potato chunks or rice if desired.
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6
(Do not add rice or potatoes if you are making chicken and noodles.
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7
Do not add noodles yet.)
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8
Continue simmering for another 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
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9
When chicken is tender, turn the heat off.
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10
Remove chicken to a large platter or bowl, remove the skin and discard, and let the chicken cool enough that you can debone the meat-about 15 minutes.
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11
Remove the meat from the bones and cut into chunks.
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12
You will want 2-3 cups of boneless chicken.
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13
Skim the fat from the chicken broth and vegetables and discard.
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14
Place flour into a small bowl or large cup.
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15
Remove about one cup of broth from the pan.
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16
Add a little broth to the flour, stir the flour to moisten, and then add more broth a little at a time until the entire cup of broth is added, stirring after each addition to remove lumps.
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17
Slowly stir the flour mixture into the broth.
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18
Add the chicken chunks.
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19
Add the 2 cups of milk.
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20
Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally until the soup has thickened.
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21
If you are adding homemade noodles, flour from the noodles will further thicken the soup.
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22
Add the noodles if you are adding noodles.
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23
Add the peas.
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24
Continue cooking until tender.
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25
Serve hot.
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26
For dumplings: In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together.
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27
In a small bowl or large cup, whisk the oil and milk together.
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28
Form a depression in the flour mixture and add the liquid mixture.
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29
Stir with a fork until combined.
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30
With a large spoon, drop mounds of dough atop the bubbling soup.
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31
The soup must be bubbling hot to start the cooking of the dumplings upon contact.
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32
Immediately cover the pan.
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33
Reduce the heat so that the soup will simmer and let cook for about ten minutes.
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34
The dumplings are cooked when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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35
Serve hot.