Chicken Avgolemono Soup

Today as a bit of a balm for those of us mired in rain, I've decided to share my Greek Chicken Soup recipe. It's lemony and refreshing, and the broth is thickened by eggs but still thin enough to go down easy. You'll find Avgolemono Soup on the menu of many Greek restaurants, but it's so easy to make at home.

To start, you'll need:

• 3 - 4 lb. whole chicken
• 2 carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 3 quarts (12 cups) water
• 1 large sweet onion
• 1/2 cup orzo
• 3 eggs
• 2 lemons
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper

Trim the chicken of excess fat and pull off the skin. Peel the onion. Cut the carrots, celery, and onion in half. Put the chicken, carrots, celery, onion, bay leaves, 2 teaspoons of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper in the water. Bring to a rapid boil, lower heat to medium, and simmer for at least an hour -- an hour and a half for larger chickens.

Remove the chicken and vegetables, then strain the broth carefully to remove all stray bits. Return the liquid to your pot and return to a boil. Pour in the orzo and cook uncovered until tender (about 10-12 minutes).

While the pasta's cooking, make the avgolemono. Beat the eggs with a whisk until frothy. Zest 1 teaspoon of skin off a lemon. Add zest and the juice of both lemons in a thin stream while constantly beating the eggs. The citric acid partially cooks the eggs while allowing them to remain liquid.

When the orzo's done, turn off the heat. Fill a small bowl with about two cups of hot broth. Slowly add the avgolemono to the broth, whisking constantly. This tempers the eggs, preparing them for the rest of the really hot broth. If you dumped it into the pot, you'd have scrambled egg soup! Once tempered, stir the lemon-egg mixture into the pot. If the soup has cooled some, heat again over low heat for about 10 minutes. Do not let the soup boil again!

Adjust your salt and pepper to taste.

Shred the chicken and chop the vegetables. Mix together and serve on the side, or save for another application. Traditionally, avgolemono soup does not have meat or veggies in it. I do like to put the carrots -- chopped extra fine -- and a little bit of the chicken back in mine, though.

You can substitute any small pasta for the orzo, but your cooking time will vary according to the package directions.