Avgolemono- Greek Wedding Soup

I'm not Greek, but I sure do wish I was. I view Greek food as comfort food, something about any kind of grilled meat, feta and lemon make me happy!  The best vacation we ever had was in Greece, wow, we looked like some sort of makeover picture with our before and after vacation photo shots. What I like best about Greece is the history, the sun, the people and the food.  Oh my, the food is the best ever, so good for you, and with intense flavors that really make you in that happy kind of vacation state of mind.

My Mom used to make this soup all the time and now I know why!  Wow, is it easy and cheap to make! This is a rich and comforting soup.  It's such a simple thing to make and tastes so much more complex than the 4 base ingredients.

Serves about 4
Ingredients:
8 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup white rice (long grain or calrose), rinsed
6 egg yolks
4 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp minced parlsey or green onions
Salt & Pepper

Heat up the chicken broth to a simmer over medium heat.  Make sure that the stock is great tasting, and if not to your liking add salt and/or chicken base to fix it up.  Add the rinsed rice, and cover the pan.  Simmer the rice for 12-14 minutes, until tender.

While the rice cooks, separate the eggs, putting the yolks in a medium size bowl. 

Save the eggs whites for breakfast tomorrow!  Add the lemon juice and beat the yolks and beat until smooth.  When the rice is tender, turn off the heat, and one ladle full of hot stock into the beaten eggs, whisking the whole time.  Don't skip this step, it's important for the texture of the soup and keeps the eggs from curdling & cooking in the big pot of hot broth.  Once you've beat in the broth into the medium bowl with the eggs, you can add the egg mixture into the stock pot of broth and rice.  Whisk while you add the egg mixture to the broth mixture.  The soup becomes a pale yellow and thickens slightly.  Add minced parsley or green onions if using. Serve at once.

If you have leftovers, reheat the soup very gently, stirring the whole time or it could curdle.