Mise en place (always). Rinse the chicken, make sure no innards are inside. Place in a large pot. Add water until chicken is covered.
Sprinkle with salt. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer (covered) for approximately 2 hours. A foam will probably develop on the surface. Skim off and discard. Stir occasionally and make sure it stays at a low simmer. (Meat is done when meat is tender and starting to come off the bones.)
Remove chicken from pot. Use slotted spoon to make sure there aren’t any little bones or skin left. Set pot with liquid aside off of heat. Allow chicken to cool for 10-15 minutes or until you can remove meat without burning fingers. Remove chicken in chunks, breaking up a little bit if need be. Discard bones, skin, and scraps [or freeze to use later to make chicken broth].
During this period, fat will have accumulated on the surface of the liquid. Skim most of it off. Don’t worry about getting every little bit; it provides flavor.
Add meat, vegetables, garlic, herbs, and spices to the pot. Bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer (covered) for approximately 2 hours, until vegetables are tender, stirring occasionally.
During last hour: make noodles according to directions below.
After the noodles are cooked, add them to the soup. Let simmer 10 minutes.
Noodles
Beat first three ingredients together. Add enough flour to make a stiff dough (it will have a similar texture to pie crust). Note: I always use the entire 2 cups.
Remove from bowl and knead 1-2 minutes.
Sprinkle flour on large surface area. Roll out the dough, sprinkling a little flour on top or on rolling pin as needed. Roll until it is very thin- almost translucent if you can get it that thin.
Let sit for 30 minutes. Start a large pot of chicken broth (or water) heating.
After 30 minutes, cut noodles thinly. Then cut across sliced noodles into desired lengths. Allow to sit for another 5 minutes.
Bring broth to a boil. Add noodles handful by handful to boiling broth. Cook noodles for 10-12 minutes.
Notes
***For thicker soup: skim off most of the ‘broth’ portion of soup. Place broth in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add noodles handful by handful to boiling broth. Cook noodles for 10-12 minutes. Add a bit of chicken broth if needed. After noodles are done, dump everything back into soup.For thinner soup: In a separate pot from soup, bring 8-10 cups of chicken broth (or water) to a boil. Add noodles handful by handful to boiling broth. Cook noodles for 10-12 minutes. Strain out noodles and add noodles to soup.***If you don't want to make homemade noodles, simply cook egg noodles according to package directions. Then add to soup and simmer for final 10 minutes.