Step 1

For the broth: Put the chicken, celery, chicken base, celery salt and 1 gallon water into a pot and bring to a full boil. Reduce to a simmer, then cook until reduced by half, about 45 minutes. Strain the broth into a separate container. Remove the chicken to a different container to cool. Separate the meat from the bones, shredding by hand as you go, then set aside.

Step 2

For the homemade cream of chicken soup: Melt the butter over medium heat in a saucepan until fully melted and the butter starts to foam. Sprinkle in the flour a little at a time, stirring until the consistency is like wet sand. Remove from the heat. Measure out 2 cups of the broth. Add a third of the measured broth to the saucepan and whisk. Add another third of the measured broth and whisk. Add the remaining measured broth and the chicken base along with the milk, celery salt, garlic powder and onion powder. Return to the heat and whisk. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, until it thickens. Pass the mixture through a stainer for a smooth consistency.

Step 3

For the dumplings: Sift together the flour and salt into a bowl. Add the shortening, egg and 1 tablespoon ice water. Mix to start forming a dough. Add the remaining tablespoon ice water. Knead the dough until slightly sticky, 4 or 5 times (if the dough is not sticky, add more ice water, a few drops at a time).

Step 4

Flour the surface where you plan to roll out the dough. Place the sticky dough on top of the flour and lightly sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Roll the dough out from the center using a rolling pin. Beginning in the center of the dough, roll the dough a little at a time in each direction. The dough will start to stick to the surface; flour the top of the dough and flip the dough over to continue rolling out the dough. Repeat this process until the dough is very thin. Flour the dough once again and cut into medium squares. Stack the dough squares on a sheet pan to hold until ready to drop the dumplings.

Step 5

To finish: Add the remaining broth to a pot. Add the chicken base, black pepper and 1 1/2 cups cream of chicken soup to the broth and bring to a boil. Start adding dumplings one by one until all the dumplings are in the pot. Turn the pot down to a simmer and cook, stirring often so that they do not stick to the bottom of the pot, until the dumplings stop floating on the top and start to drop, 20 to 30 minutes. Add the chicken meat to the pot and mix.