Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces and put it in a large saucepan. Add the carrot, celery, onion, bay leaf spice and peppercorns and cover everything together with cold water. Cover the saucepan, bring the contents to a boil and simmer gently for about an hour until the chicken is tender. Add salt. Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the flour. Let the butter brown for about 3 minutes, then add 2 cups of the chicken soup. Stir constantly until the sauce thickens. Whip the whipping cream with the egg yolks and add to the sauce. Heat all through and season with juice of a lemon and maybe a tiny bit of salt. Put the chicken pieces on a plate and pour the sauce over them.
Wash, clean and blanch the spinach in cold water. Let it drain well and chop it finely. Mix the spinach with the salt, pepper, cheese, egg and half of the butter. Put everything together in the refrigerator for an hour. Form the dough into dumplings and roll them in flour. Put the dumplings into gently boiling chicken soup. As soon as they rise to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in a hot buttered baking dish. Preheat the oven. Sprinkle the dumplings with the remaining Parmesan, pour the melted butter over them and bake at a high temperature until the cheese is browned. (makes 12 dumplings)
Our tip: Use the young, tender spi