MISSISSIPPI AVGOLEMONO SOUP

My family’s introduction to Greek cuisine was with a trip through Tarpon Springs when I was a child.  Those memories of the Gulf, and the friendly, smiling people and their distinctive foods linger.  They surface whenever hunger pangs strike for a taste of the freshest seafood, meats, or vegetables prepared in unfussy but elevated fashion.  A great example is basic avgolemono soup.  Its combination of only four ingredients creates a balanced subtle tanginess and richness that continue to echo in memory after the bowl is empty.   The secret to creating this elegant cold soup is to use the finest ingredients, and few compare with those coming from our rich Mississippi earth.  Yard fed, heavy, full flavored chickens that often freely roam on our ranges for their nutriments impart the essence of their peckings into nutritionally rich eggs, and our Two Brooks Farm Delta Belle Rice siphons its nature from our rich blue mucky earth.  You can make yours like ours, with chicken for the stock (and reserving the meat for chicken salad), or with shelf chicken stock.  The serving of this splendid and understated soup gracefully endorses the arrival of spring and summer, or reminds you of it in the winter.

INGREDIENTS

 4 cup chicken stock

¼ cup Delta Belle Long Grain White Rice

3 eggs

Juice of 1¾ lemon

Salt to taste

¼ lemon, thinly sliced, garnish

Scant sum of fresh dill, garnish

METHOD

     In large saucepan, bring stock to boil. Add rice and salt, stir, cover with tight fitting lid, and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs until frothy and light. Add lemon juice and blend well.

When rice is cooked, remove 1 cup stock from soup. Slowly add this to egg and lemon, blending vigorously to keep eggs from cooking with hot addition. When successful melded, add this mixture back into the stock and rice, blending vigorously and thoroughly. Cool to room temperature, then temper in refrigerator until very cold.

To serve cold, stir, ladle into bowls, and garnish with thinly sliced lemon and dill. Enjoy!