Greek lemon soup: Avgolemono

Opa!!! We are headed to Greece today!...well...in our mouths...and in our crockpots...

I love soups, and who doesn't? I always get a sort of rustic feeling when I am tending to a big pot full of vegetables and meat bubbling away. This soup has been a tradition in Greek culture for MANY years, and it is called Avgolemono. I never had the opportunity to cook it before, so this is exciting. The inspiration came because I caught a terrible drawn out flu just a couple of weeks ago. It started with a sore throat, then losing my voice, then coughing my brains out for a couple weeks. Thank goodness it's gone now, but during that time I had Greek lemon soup from a little hole in the wall restaurant down the street. One bite and my throat instantly started to feel better. Grandmothers everywhere have established that chicken broth and citrus are good for the flu! SO whether you are sick or you just want to try something a little Greek today, I recommend this recipe.

After scouring the internet for variations of this recipe, I personally prefer this method. It creates a creamy, thick soup...without using cream!

The ingredients:

1 small size whole chicken
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 cup water
2 carrots chopped into small chunks
2 celery stalks, chopped in small chunks
1 small yellow onion, sliced
2 bay leaves
1 TBSP peppercorns
salt
3 eggs
2 big lemons
1- 1 1/4 cup orzo pasta (whatever you like)
fresh cracked pepper
parsley ( dried flakes or fresh)

The procedure:

1. Place whole chicken into a crockpot, breast-side up
2. Pour in chicken broth and water. The liquid should not cover the chicken entirely.
3. Add carrots, celery, onions, peppercorns, bay leaves, and a little salt to the pot.
4. Put on high for about 4 hours until the chicken is completely cooked through. I turn the chicken once to make sure everything cooks thoroughly. After approx: 4 hours, you have a delicious stock.
5. Take orzo, and boil in a pot of salty water over the stove until AL DENTE ( a little chewy). Strain and set aside
6. Remove the chicken carefully and place on a cutting board. Shred meat and set aside..
7. Pour the contents of crockpot through a strainer into a another wide bottom pot. (Discard the veggies and such). You should be left with just stock.
8. Bring your pot of stock to a simmer over the stove
9. In a medium bowl, crack the eggs in and squeeze the lemons. Whisk together thoroughly
10. When the stock on the stove is hot BUT NOT BOILING, take a ladle of the stock and put it into the bowl with the lemon and eggs. You DON'T want scrambled eggs. Whisk together. Add one more ladle and whisk again.
11. Now, add the entire lemon/egg/stock mixture to the pot of stock and stir together. Season with salt and cracked pepper as well as the parsley (fresh or dried).
12. Finally, add cooked orzo and some of the shredded chicken
13. Opa!!! Eat and enjoy. Tastes fantastic the day after as well.

*Note: You can leave out shredded chicken from soup if you wish and just use the shredded meat for other dishes later.