Avgolemono Sauce comes from Greece and is made with lemon juice and egg yolks
Serves 4
One of our markets had a very good special going on packages of various chicken parts; so I loaded up. Shortly after, I heard a bit of Greek music on the radio and this wonderful recipe came to my mind. I had to make it right away. Avgolemono or egg-lemon sauce may originally be a Sephardic Jewish dish. It is a sauce used often in the Mediterranean. You may have experienced it even as a soup. I do enjoy the unique taste of it and in this chicken recipe, I think that it’s excellent. I serve it with white rice and a good veggie dish or a nice salad. I hope that you’ll enjoy it as well.
Ingredients:
8 chicken thighs (or chicken pieces of your choice amount to match up to 8 thighs if you wish to serve 4)
1 Tsp. safflower or olive oil
1 small onion, minced
6 mushrooms, minced ( I used my frozen mushrooms duxelles from my freezer-recipe given in a previous issue)
1 celery stalk, chopped
3 C. chicken broth
S&P to taste
1 bay leaf
Paprika to sprinkle on the dish at the end
For the sauce:
2 Tblsp. water
2 Tsp. cornstarch
2 egg yolks
1/4 C. lemon juice
Directions:
- I actually used a wok like pan for this dish but I’m sure another larger deep pot would work as well. Place wok over medium heat; add oil.
- When hot add onion, mushrooms and celery; stir-fry till crisp-tender.
- Add broth; bring to a simmer and add chicken parts, S&P, and bay leaf; simmer uncovered till chicken is done—depending on the parts used, anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour.
- Remove chicken and cover to keep warm.
- At this point, you may only have about 2 cups of liquid left, however if not, simmer more uncovered till you only have 2 cups or so of liquid. Remove wok from hot burner.
- Strain the broth and put back in wok. Reserve the veggies with the covered chicken to keep warm.
- In a small bowl or cup, stir together the water and cornstarch till smooth.
- In another bowl beat the egg yolks till light and lemon colored. Slowly beat in the lemon juice.
- To the strained broth in the wok add the cornstarch mixture stirring till smooth. Place wok on medium burner; bring to a simmer, stirring frequently until slightly thickened.
- Remove wok from heat and stir in the egg mixture. Season with S&P.
- Place chicken topped with your veggies on a pretty platter; pour the sauce over all and then sprinkle with paprika.
For easy access and printing of this and past recipes, visit Margot’s blog http://blog.tempinnkeeper.com Call Margot for personal cooking help @ 721-3551.
Margot is a self-taught enthusiastic & passionate cook. Having been an inn-keeper for 5 years at her own inn, she accumulated a lot of good recipes which she loves to share.