Soups
Greek Lemon Chicken Soup (Avgolemono)
Ingredients:
3 tablespoon Olive Oil
3 large Carrots - peeled and diced
2 stalks Celery - thinly sliced
1 large Onion - finely chopped
Salt and Pepper - to taste
1 cup Rice (maybe Orzo)
12 cups Chicken Broth
2 shredded Chicken breasts
4 tablespoon butter
4 tablespoon flour
4 eggs
½ cup lemon juice - fresh
Zest of 1 lemon
Directions:
In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat, add the carrots, celery and onion and cook until soft, about 3 - 5 minutes.
Increase heat to medium high, then stir in the rice and cook for a minute or two, generously salt and pepper.
Stir in the chicken broth, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice and carrots are cooked.
Stir in the chicken and remove from heat.
In a small, heavy bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour, until smooth.
Gradually add about 4 cups of the broth mixture, and cook (stirring constantly) until slightly thickened, then remove from heat.
In a small bowl, beat the eggs until they are foamy.
Slowly beat the lemon juice and the thickened broth into the soup, then very slowly add the egg mixture, vigorously stirring constantly so the eggs do not 'split'.
Heat the soup over medium heat until it thickens a bit, but do not return to a boil.
Chinese Congee - Rice Porridge
Ingredients:
1 cup Rice
7 cups Chicken Stock
1/2 teaspoon Salt
One-inch knob of Ginger, peeled and sliced thin
Shredded Chicken
Sliced green onion, for garnish
Sesame seed oil or soy sauce (optional)
Directions:
In large pot add stock, rice, salt and ginger. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to a low simmer. Stir occasionally so that the rice doesn't clump or stick at the bottom.
Simmer the congee for about 1 hour or until the congee is thickened and creamy. Add cooked chicken the last few minutes.
Add salt to taste. Serve the congee hot.