Kota Soupa Avgolemono

Mom had surgery on Thursday, which went very well. As a consequence, both of my siblings plus Sis's Beau came in last night. Sis had called me last week to relate my recipe for Avgolemono soup like Mom makes it, and I had been wanting it all week.

It's bizarrely warm here right now, which meant we could eat on the porch. We had soup, Greek salad and crusty organic wheat bread for dipping. It was a lovely evening, and I think Bro, Sis and I are all feeling very fortunate and blessed that Mom was there with us, looking and feeling so well.

3 large chicken breasts, bone in but skinless (Mom uses a whole chicken, but that takes longer, is more hassle and the soup ends up a bit too greasy unless you skim, skim, skim -- so this is my change)
8 cups chicken broth, or 8 cups water plus 4 boullion cubes
1-2 onions, chopped finely
3 carrots, chopped finely
kosher salt (if using unsalted or low-sodium broth -- for regular broth, there's already more than enough salt)
fresh ground pepper
2 lemons, juiced
1 cup long-grain rice
3 eggs

• In a stockpot, bring chicken, broth, vegetables and fresh ground pepper to taste to a simmer, and simmer for 30-45 minutes, just until the chicken is done.


• Remove the chicken and vegetables, add 8 cups of hot water, and bring to a boil uncovered


• Add the rice, reduce heat to simmer, put on the lid and simmer until rice is done, about 20 minutes


• Meanwhile, remove the bones from the chicken and cut it into cubes, and season the chicken and vegetables with kosher salt (if you used unsalted or low-sodium broth) and fresh ground pepper


• When the rice is done, seperate the eggs into two bowls (I usually put the yolks into the bowl I have the lemon juice in)


• Beat the egg whites until frothy, then add the yolks and lemon juice. While still beating, add a couple of ladlefuls of hot soup.


• Continually beating (I use a big whisk at this point), add the avgolemono sauce into the stockpot. Then add the chicken and vegetables. It should be the right temperature to serve at once, or you can warm it gently. Keep stirring to avoid curdling the avgolemono sauce...but honestly, if you did the beating and slow addition of the broth properly, curdling is not likely to happen.