Ingredients
For the broth:
1 whole chicken OR 4 split chicken breasts
Various herbs and spices such as sage, thyme, bay leaves and whole cloves
3 celery stalks (from one bunch of celery)
2 onions cut in half
For the soup
6-8 carrots peeled and cut
Celery bunch washed and cut
1 cup medium or short grain rice (I use the only one I can find which is Goyo) OR orzo
6 lemons, juiced
3 eggs
chicken meat from broth, shredded and skin & bones discarded
Details:
For lemon chicken soup, either a whole chicken or one cut into pieces can be used–I use split chicken breasts and add any extra pieces of chicken fat that I have on hand to enrich the flavor and I first boil the chicken–I use a pressure cooker and boil the breasts with various herbs and spices such as sage, thyme, bay leaves and whole cloves, as well as the onion and celery in large pieces for 10 minutes after it begins to whistle. When chicken is cooked, remove onion and celery (to cut and add back to soup), strain broth and clean chicken from the bone.
Add carrots and the rest of the celery (and other vegetables of choice) to the broth and boil until almost done. You might need to add some water or extra broth to the soup. Then, add the rice or orzo. And finally, the shredded chicken. When rice is done, beat together eggs and lemon juice. Slowly—spoonful-spoonful, add hot broth to egg lemon while whisking vigorously until egg mixture is hot and then add to the pot.
Egg lemon sauce can also be used to thicken beef or vegetable stew as well as cabbage rolls and stuffed zucchini–see post from January 2022 for cabbage roll and stuffed zucchini recipes with egg-lemon sauce!
