Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Avgolemono (Greek lemon-chicken soup)


Avgolemono (Greek lemon-chicken soup) with Vegetables and Parsley

Makes 6-8 servings

This is one of my favorite soups in the world.  I am a huge fan of lemon, and soup is the only thing I want to eat when I feel under the weather.  I keep homemade chicken stock in my freezer, but it has a more robust flavor than what this soup requires.  I recommend using a lighter stock for this particular recipe.

Ingredients:
2 medium-large carrots, small quarter moons
4 stalks celery, small-medium dice
yellow onion, small-medium dice
1 cup long grain brown rice, rinsed
10 cups homemade chicken stock
sea salt, 1-2 teaspoons or to taste
cooked shredded chicken from small roasted chicken, about  3 cups (feel free to use other leftover poultry, poached chicken breasts, or even Thanksgiving turkey)
small bunch of parsley, chopped
4 eggs
juice of 3-4 lemons
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Procedure:
Combine the vegetables, rice, and stock in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until the rice is tender, about 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile, whisk eggs and juice of three lemons, and parsley together.
Season with sea salt to taste, about 1 ½ teaspoons.
Reserve 2 cups of soup, then add the cooked chicken.  In a thin stream, slowly pour the reserved soup into the egg-lemon-parsley mixture, while constantly whisking to prevent the eggs from curdling (scrambling).
Add the tempered mixture back into the large pot and whisk to combine.  Taste and season with freshly ground pepper and additional lemon juice or sea salt if desired.