Mushroom Soup with Bacon Dumplings

For the dumplings, dice the bacon finely and saute until crisp, drain in a colander and collect the grease in a bowl. Peel the onion, finely chop and saute in hot butter until translucent. Cut the bread into small cubes, saute briefly in the reserved bacon grease, then place in a bowl. Whisk the milk with the egg, season with salt and pour over the bread cubes. Mix the onion with the parsley and the bacon bits and add to the milk mixture. Let mixture stand about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the flour over the dumpling mixture and with wet hands, shape into 8 equal-sized dumplings. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Add dumplings and cook for 15-20 minutes (do not allow the dumplings to boil!).

For the soup, wipe the chanterelles thoroughly. Peel shallots and cut into very thin strips. Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the chanterelles briefly, then add shallots and cook until translucent. Season with salt and pepper. Remove approximately 1/3 of chanterelles and set aside. Deglaze the remaining mushroom mixture with white wine, let it boil down a little, then pour in vegetable broth and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Stir in the crème fraîche and heavy cream and season with salt, pepper, lemon juice and nutmeg. Puree until smooth. (If a thicker consistency is desired, add a little flour, bring to a boil and cook until the thickened, stirring.) Add reserved chanterelles to the soup and heat through.