Avgolemono
June 8th, 2008 at 9:05 pm by Patrick
I spent the day record-shopping in Williamsburg (Abbey Lincoln ‘Straight Ahead’ original LP, Cheap Time S/T LP, Nigeria Rock Special dbl LP, Nyurmännen ‘Vem är pavul?’ LP) in 96-degree humidity, and came home exhausted and hot. I wanted something refreshing and summery, and I’d been thinking of making avgolemono soup.
I combined elements of this recipe with this one. The first recipe suggests that Carolina rice will cook in 8-10 minutes in boiling stock, which is clearly wrong. The second one’s 20 minutes is closer to the mark. It’s probably more authentic to use orzo, anyway. But Carolina rice is what I had.
For stock I defrosted two cups of goose stock from the Provençal daube I made a month or two back. The daube keeps on giving… it has now contributed two meals plus macaronade, and now this. And I still have two calves’ bones and extra pork rind in my freezer.
Avgolemono is extremely simple to make. You whisk 4 egg yolks with 1/8 cup lemon juice while the stock is boiling. Cook 3 tablespoons of rice in 2 cups of chicken or goose stock, about 20 minutes. When the rice is tender, carefully whisk half the stock into the egg-lemon mixture, about a cup at a time – you don’t want to scramble the eggs. Then whisk that back into the remaining stock and rice, and stir constantly over very low heat until thickened. Add salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with lemon slices. This serves 1-2; double for 4 as an appetizer or a bit less as a main course.
The soup was very good, one of the most successful things I’ve made all year. This always happens when you don’t have company. It was unctuous and rich (probably from the stock), but refreshing and lemony at the same time. I served it with a Greek salad of lettuce, vidalia onion and lemon juice that my friend George taught me when we were growing up. I think he put flat-leaf parsley in as well. I only had basil so I used that.
Since 9000 is going to ask, I drank East India Solera from the ubiquitous Lustau with the meal. I’m now having the same company’s dry oloroso, having consumed most of the bottle last night.
June 8th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
good looking out, PA.
robert parker says east india solera is best served with dessert. what did you think? i could use a sherry primer.
June 9th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Well, it is sweet, so I can understand why he said that. However it worked surprisingly well against the tartness of the soup. My favorites are the olorosos, especially the old ones – they’re dark but dry, with an incredible, salty complexity. A friend swears by the palo cortados – I just got one for the first time, but haven’t opened it yet. I think sherry may be the best bargain in wine. I just hope it doesn’t get discovered and go the way of, say, Alsatian.
June 9th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Friends in Cádiz introduced me to sherry. They drink manzanilla as an aperitif regularly, and fino frequently too, but not so much the darker varieties. I’m guessing that it’s climate-related. They’d mix fino with say, fizzy lemonade as a refreshing drink. That and jugs of chilled sangría. Cádiz is great.
June 9th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
My favorite part of Lustau House website: on when to serve Señor Lustau Solera Reserva Brandy de Jerez and Señor Lustau Solera Gran Reserva Brandy de Jerez, “As a digéstif but also enjoyed with a mid-morning coffee.”