Avgolemono: Lemon Chicken Soup

Two meals that I only ever tasted once during my childhood stick out vividly in my mind to this day.  They were that good.  First, an incredible peanut soup that I had at a friend's house.  Her mom set steaming bowl in front of me, and I'll admit, I was wary... peanut soup?  It was unlike anything I had ever tasted before, and it was amazing.  The second was also a soup.  And it was also at a friend's house.  My best friend growing up had the most amazing cook for a mother.  And I spent so much time at her house that I started calling her mom Auntie Suzanne.  One day she set a bowl of lemon chicken soup in front of me, and I've dreamed about it ever since.

Yesterday Carsten requested soup for dinner.  He knows I love soup, and they are relatively quick to throw together.  When I don't follow a recipe though, my soups all turn out about the same: delicious but not entirely exciting when you just ate it a week prior ;)  So I decided to look for a recipe, and Auntie Suzanne's lemon chicken soup immediately came to mind.  I have no idea why it has taken me this long to try to make it.  It's maybe the easiest soup I've ever made, and if you're craving soup on a hot summer day, this one is refreshing, even though it's piping hot.  I found this recipe at Katie at the Kitchen Door, and adapted it only very very slightly.  Enjoy!


Ingredients
(serves 2, with maybe a bit for leftovers)

6 cups chicken broth (I use low sodium)
2 chicken legs
2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed or finely minced
1/2 cup brown rice
1 can cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 eggs, separated, at room temperature
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill
salt and pepper to taste (I didn't feel the need to add any salt)

Procedure
In a large pot over medium-high heat, combine the chicken broth, chicken, minced/crushed garlic, and brown rice. Bring to a boil, then cover, and reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until both the rice and the chicken are fully cooked – the rice should be tender and the chicken should be cooked through, with no pink in the middle when you cut into it.

Remove the chicken from the pot and place on a cutting board. When cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones, discard skin and bones, tear meat into bite-sized pieces, and set aside.

Beat the egg white with a whisk in a medium bowl until it is white and thick. Lightly beat the egg yolk, then add the egg yolk to the beaten egg white and whisk together. Slowly pour the lemon juice into the egg mixture as you whisk. The mixture should be pale yellow and fairly thick. Slowly add a thin stream of the hot broth-rice mixture to the egg-lemon mixture, whisking the eggs vigorously as you do so, to temper the eggs, using about 2 cups of the broth mixture. Pour the tempered egg-lemon mixture back into the pot, whisking the soup as you do so. Continue to stir, and add the chicken pieces, chickpeas, and dill to the pot. Cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring, to heat all ingredients through and slightly thicken the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve hot.


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Red Wine Beef Stew

 
The Holiday season this year was just what I'd hoped for: lots of quality time with friends and family, and just enough relaxation and time to myself at the end that I feel rejuvenated and ready to go back to work/school tomorrow.  The Christmas festivities began the weekend after Thanksgiving.  I had the house to myself, Carsten was at the hospital working hard.  I turned on the Christmas music and pulled the Christmas boxes out of the attic.  I sang along and decorated the house to my hearts content - taking a break only to head out a buy a few more things.  Maybe next year we'll get our first Christmas tree, but this year I decided to fill my house with poinsettias instead - a little trick I learned from my mother-in-law.  A fast and easy way to bring the feeling of Christmas into the house without the hassle of a tree.  But don't get me wrong, I love Christmas trees.  Love them.  Next year, hopefully.  I also bought - don't hate me for this - pine cones.  I know, I should be ashamed, especially as an Oregonian.  And I was.  Knowing how many times I've tripped over pine cones on my runs, it felt utterly stupid to be paying for a little bundle of them.  But I wanted them to decorate with, and I wanted them then.  *sigh*  forgive me.

Needless to say, my home soon felt and smelled like Christmas, and I was eager to fill my house with friends.  The last week of school, we had a Christmas dinner party with my classmates.  I prepared a delicious lentil stew (with homemade chicken stock) and a mouth-watering red wine beef stew.  My first beef stew ever.  I was a little nervous, as a bad beef stew can be pretty awful, so I read through many recipes until I came up with a combination of a few recipes that I thought would be good.  At the end of the night, the pot was scraped clean, so I'll count this one as a success.  Unfortunately, I only remembered to snap one picture, and it was long before the stew was completed.

I also made a delicious gingerbread cake (recipe here) and a scrumptious maple whipped cream topping (recipe here), and garnished it with pomegranate seeds.  Dessert was just as appreciated as the stews - but I forgot to take any pictures :(

Ingredients
2 lbs stew beef, but into 1-inch chunks

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 tablespoon + more if you need it olive oil 1 medium-sized chopped yellow onion 4 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chopped 2 large yams (sweet potatoes), washed and chopped 4 clove garlic, crushed 1 handful of fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons of dried 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 12-14 ounces of red wine, something you would drink 1 cup low sodium beef stock (I only had vegetable and used that) 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar - See more at: http://kneadtocook.com/slow-roasted-beef-stew/#sthash.7DVTItgE.dpuf

3 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3+ Tbs olive oil (more as needed)
1 medium sweet onion
4 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 lb potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 4 medium)
3 medium parsnips, peeled and chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 cups red wine (something you would drink - it's nice to have an extra bottle to drink with the meal)
1-2 cups low sodium beef stock
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

Procedure
place beef pieces in a colander and rinse with cold water.  Pat dry with paper towels.  In a large ziploc bag, combine flour, salt, paprika, and black pepper.  Shake to mix, then add the beef pieces.  Shake to evenly coat all the meat.
Meanwhile, heat 3 Tbs olive oil in a Dutch oven on the stove over medium heat.  If you don't have a Dutch oven, you'll need a heavy bottom stew pot.  When the oil is nice and hot, but not quite smoking, carefully add a layer of beef - you'll need to work in batches.  Brown the beef on all sides, then remove and set on a plate lined with paper towels.  Once all of the meat is browned, you'll have a tick brown crust on the bottom of your pan.  That's where all the flavor is!  To keep all this good flavor in, add the apple cider vinegar to the pot, and scrape the botton until all little brown bits are loose.  Be careful of the steam!
Add the meat back into the pot, along with all the other ingredients (using just 1 cup of beef stock).  Stir and reduce the heat to low.  Let the stew cook for 2.5-4 hours, stirring frequently to prevent burning.  Check the liquid level periodically, adding more stock or wine as need be.  The meat should be falling apart and the vegetables tender.

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3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 tablespoon + more if you need it olive oil 1 medium-sized chopped yellow onion 4 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chopped 2 large yams (sweet potatoes), washed and chopped 4 clove garlic, crushed 1 handful of fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons of dried 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 12-14 ounces of red wine, something you would drink 1 cup low sodium beef stock (I only had vegetable and used that) 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar - See more at: http://kneadtocook.com/slow-roasted-beef-stew/#sthash.7DVTItgE.dpuf

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 3 tablespoon + more if you need it olive oil 1 medium-sized chopped yellow onion 4 medium-sized carrots, peeled and chopped 2 large yams (sweet potatoes), washed and chopped 4 clove garlic, crushed 1 handful of fresh parsley or 2 tablespoons of dried 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme 12-14 ounces of red wine, something you would drink 1 cup low sodium beef stock (I only had vegetable and used that) 3 tablespoon apple cider vinegar - See more at: http://kneadtocook.com/slow-roasted-beef-stew/#sthash.7DVTItgE.dpuf

Edamame Pea Soup

I know it's summer, and I know it's hot out, but I just can't resist making soup every now and then.  I found a recipe for a Spanish fava bean cilantro soup that looked light and refreshing enough for a hot summer day, and decided to try it out.

I've never actually bought fava beans before, but I've seen them around at the farmer's market enough to know what they look like and to think that they wouldn't be impossible to find.  So that's where I started my search: the Redlands Saturday morning farmer's market.  No luck.  Maybe they aren't in season?  Although I checked around, and most websites said late spring into the summer.... So I decided I'd head to the specialty natural organic grocery store in Loma Linda.  On my way I stopped at the Jacinto Farms market - no luck.  But I picked up some delicious strawberries since I was there anyway :)  Then no luck at Clark's.  So why not try Vons (and Trader Joe's since it's right next door), since I have to head back that way anyway?  Still no luck.  That's four grocery stores and a farmer's market.  But by this point I was fixated on this recipe, so I decided to tweak it ever so slightly - by completely changing up the main ingredient.  I decided to substitute both edamame and peas for the fava beans.

The outcome?  Delicious!  Although I have absolutely no idea how it compares to the actual recipe, seeing as I don't think I've ever eaten fava beans before.  But I will definitely make this soup again, and if and when I ever come across fava beans at the market, I'll try the original recipe.

Ingredients
2 Tbs olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 lb shelled frozen edamame (soy beans)
1/2 lb frozen peas
32 oz vegetable stock
1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure
Heat the oil in a large pot, and saute the onions until soft, about five minutes.  Add the potatoes, edamame, peas, and vegetable stock, and bring to a boil.  Simmer until the potatoes are soft.  Add the cilantro and simmer for another ten minutes.  Blend the soup using an immersion blender, or blend in batches in a food processor or blender.  Stir in the cream, and season to taste.
Serving suggestion: top with a drizzle of cream and olive oil, a few sprigs of cilantro, and freshly cracked pepper (note: if you drizzle half and half instead of cream, it doesn't look nearly as pretty - I tried.  You can tell the difference in the photos).

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