Dried Yellow Pea Soup with Dumplings

Instructions
Place all the soup ingredients in a soup pot and bring the liquid to a boil.
Reduce the heat and cover the pan.
Simmer for .
Remove the ham hocks or meat.
Either puree the soup in a blender or serve it chunky.
Return the soup to the pan.
Remove the meat from the ham hocks and cut it (or the ham or corned beef) into tiny pieces.
Add the pieces to the soup.
Heat the soup through.
Taste for seasoning and add more salt and black pepper if needed.
To make the dumplings, bring the milk and butter to a boil in a small saucepan.
Add the flour and salt all at once and mix the ingredients with a wooden spoon until the dough is smooth and uniform.
Remove the mixture from the heat.
Add the eggs, one at a time and incorporate them thoroughly.
Drop the mixture by the tablespoon into the soup.
Cover the pan and cook for .