Recipe: Greek Kotosoupa Avgolemono (Chicken Soup with Egg and Lemon)

This recipe is from my Greek cookbook, The Food and Wine of Greece by Diane Kochilas. It calls for rice and no artichokes but, I think, you could eliminate the rice and add quartered artichoke hearts instead. Rinse the artichoke hearts (if not using fresh ones) and gently squeeze out the excess water and citric acid (yuk:-(! )

GREEK KOTOSOUPA AVGOLEMONO
(CHICKEN SOUP WITH EGG AND LEMON)

"Why are we always enamored with our mother's chicken soup? Mine makes a tangy, creamy one with nothing more than broth, rice, and avgolemono. This one is similar except that bits of chicken meat are incorporated into the soup."

1 (3-4 lb) medium roasting chicken
1 large onion, unpeeled and studded with 2 whole cloves
2 to 2 1/2 quarts of water
Salt, to taste
1 cup uncooked long grain rice, bulgur, or trahana (homemade pasta pebbles)
2 or 3 eggs, at room temperature
Strained fresh juice of 1 to 2 large lemons (I think I would use just one if you just want a hint of lemon. I say this because I have made lamb and artichokes with avgolemono and only used 1 lemon. I was happy with the taste - not too lemony.)
Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1. Bring chicken, onion, and water to a slow boil. Skim foam off top frequently. Add salt to taste and simmer, covered, for 2 to 3 hours, until chicken meat comes away from bones.

2. Turn off heat and remove chicken and onion from pot with a slotted spoon. Discard onion and debone chicken, shredding, or chopping meat fine. Put chicken meat back in pot, bring to a boil, and add rice (atichokes instead??!?). Simmer, with cover ajar, adding more wtaer if necessary or desired, until rice is cooked. (If you use canned or frozen artichoke hearts, this would be just until they are hot, I would think.)

3, In the meantime, in a medium-size bowl beat together the egg and lemon until frothy. Very slowly add 4 to 5 ladlesful (2 to 3 cups) of hot soup to egg mixture, beating vigorously with a whisk to keep egg from curdling. Pour egg mixture into pot and stir well with a wooden spoon. Serve immediately. Season individual bowls with freshly ground black pepper.

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

Verla, I sure hope that this turns out to be what you are looking for or, at least similar! Let us know how it turns out if you decide to make it.