Mom's Chicken & Dumplings

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Main Dish

Ingredients

Cook hen in pressure cooker with lots of salt and MSG, plus 1 teaspoon garlic salt. (If you don't use MSG, just omit it instead of lecturing me, okay?) Cover chicken with water and close. Place 15-lb weight on top and cook over medium-high heat. When the weight starts "popping" 2 to 3 times a minute, cook 15 minutes. Cool the chicken and de-bone. Mix flour, salt, 1/2 teaspoon MSG and a little less than 1/2 teaspoon baking powder. Blend eggs with 1 1/4 Cup cool chicken stock from pot (1/3 of it should be fat). Stir into flour a little at a time. On flour-covered board, knead dough and roll it out till thinner than a nickel. Cut dumplings (about 2 inches wide by 10 inches, or however long possible). Stack well-floured dumplings onto plate. In large pot, bring the rest of the stock to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the chunks of chicken alternately with the dumplings; quickly pushing them below the surface of the liquid as you add them. DON'T FOLD THE DUMPLINGS! Keep mixture boiling at all times. Lower heat; cover and cook for 12-15 minutes. Don't lift the lid for the first 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon pepper to broth --> might need to add additional stock during the cooking process.