Sunday, October 23

chicken soup


the baby got me and the honey sick. honey got the worst of it.  my poor honey has been puking his brains out over the last 12 hours. there is not much i can do for him, and it breaks my heart. i know he doesn't have much of an appetite right now, but he'll surely want something later.

we used to live around the corner from a greek restaurant...a local institution, really. it was our old standby, serving delicious traditional greek plates and lip-smacking burgers. but the true star of the show is the avgolemono (greek lemon chicken soup). the entire city swears by it, especially when under the weather. it's served by the bucket fulls year round, no matter if it's 110 degrees fahrenheit.  

after a few attempts, i've perfected my recipe. for one, i usually cook my rice short of 20 minutes, so it still has a firm texture. i don't like soggy rice. also, i make the steamed rice separately. i have found that cooking the rice in the original chicken stock pot does not make for good leftovers...unless you like chicken porridge. cooking and storing the soup and rice separately is great for the next day. you can also control the rice portions for the carb conscious folks.  you could also opt to leave the lemon out for a more traditional chicken soup. and adding noodles will bring you back to your childhood.

i can't wait to serve it to my honey, once he wakes up. boy is he gonna love it, and it's gonna put him back in tip top shape!

ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth
1 small onion (peeled and cut in half)
2 medium carrots (peeled and cut in half, then cut crosswise)
2 bay leaves (fresh, but use 1 if dry)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup of long grain rice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice to taste
2 tbls finely chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

bring chicken broth to a boil and add onion, carrots, and bay leaves. reduce heat to a simmer and add chicken breasts. 



continue to simmer chicken for 45 minutes. while chicken is simmering.

while chicken is simmering, begin cooking steamed rice by adding 1 cup rice to 2 cups water. bring to a boil and quickly reduce heat to low and cover.  allow rice to steam for 15-20. check on rice and remove from heat once it reaches desired tenderness.

once chicken has simmered for 45 minutes remove chicken and set aside to cool. when chicken has cooled shred by pulling apart or cut into strips.  add chicken, lemon juice (add bit by bit to your liking), and parsley back to broth and simmer for another 5 minutes.  



ladle soup over rice and season with salt and pepper to taste.


ENJOY!

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