This month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge, (which I almost forgot about — oops!), is all about party food. So, to accomplish this, I turned to a book all about parties, entertaining and proper hostessing — I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence, by Amy Sedaris. It’s very funny, kitschy, deadpan in tone and is sprinkled with hilarious photos of Amy and (quite honestly) some very unappetizing food photos. Ah, so what? I love this book. There’s also some handy and practical advice for entertaining:

A good trick is to fill your medicine cabinet with marbles. Nothing announces a nosy guest better than an avalanche of marbles hitting a porcelain sink.

or

Have toilet paper.

Genius!

While looking through the book I was tempted to make a cheese ball (one of her “famous cheese balls”), but figured another stick of butter is one of the last things jwa and I need right now. Instead, a recipe in the book submitted by Paul Dinello caught my eye. Paul’s Zucchini Fritters. The suggestion for serving these is at a “grieving party” but I say they just make a tasty breakfast, dinner snack or happy party snack! No one has to die!

The original recipe also included no measurements. Apparently Paul finds cooking without specific measurements, “exciting.” Huh. Okay. So, I’ve listed the measurements below that I used when making these. Help yourself. For the more adventurous, disregard those and just wing it like Paul. Oh and I added the mint and red pepper flakes and halved the amount of onion in my version. I just couldn’t help myself from making a couple of tiny changes, that is my way.

For a party, I’d make little fritters to serve as finger food. To make a meal of fritters, form larger patties, as I did, and serve three to a plate. The below amounts will serve about 3-4 as a meal. On the side, I whipped up some plain yogurt with garlic, tomato and cucumber. Excellent.

Paul’s Zucchini Fritters
2 medium zucchinis
2 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
1/2 a white onion, diced
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
2 eggs
6-8 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp fresh mint, chopped
Dash of red pepper flakes

Grate the zucchini. It’s important to get as much water out of the shredded vegetable as possible. It helps to salt it and then place a heavy lid on top it and press down. You can also wrap the grated zucchini in a tea towel and squeeze until you can’t squeeze anymore. Paul says, “When you think you’ve got all the water out keep pressing, because I can tell you, you haven’t.” He’s right about that.

In another bowl mix six tablespoons of the flour, eggs, onion, garlic, parsley, mint and feta. Combine with the zucchini and some salt and pepper. Add more flour if it seems too liquidy. Oh and don’t forget the red pepper flakes.

Coat the bottom of a hot frying pan in olive oil. For best results, make sure your pan is good and hot before adding fritters. Scoop a fist full of mixture from the bowl and shape into a small patty and place in skillet.

Let cook about 4 minutes on each side for larger fritters, 2 minutes per side for smaller ones.

I made medium-sized fritters and I got about 10 from this recipe, but if you made them slightly smaller (and depending on the size of your zucchinis), you could probably get 12. I’ve also doubled the original recipe (which said you could get 20-40 fritters from one zucchini) but I’m not really sure how that’s possible. They would have to be pretty damn tiny fritters.

I took two leftover ones today to work for breakfast and ate them cold. Wow. Still so very good. I think I’m going to definitely make these again. Thanks (as always) to Sara for hosting!

Lazy! Lazy! Lazy! And to think I have a whole other week off starting next Monday! Hooray! Okay. Enough of the gloating and the flaunting my time off. Let’s talk about fritters — mixed greens fritters to be exact. This recipe came from the cookbook, Modern Greek by Andy Harris, which is full of all manner of Mediterranean snacks and dishes.

We tried these a week or so ago when I discovered that I had all of the ingredients to make them. They looked good and I wanted to try them of course, but sometimes you just need to make a recipe because you can. And I could.

The verdict is that they were interesting. Not interesting in a bad way or anything, just really interesting — sort of like green, spinachy falafel. They were very crunchy and had a good flavor. We ate all of ours with some garlicky yogurt and snacked the night away.

Wild Greens Fritters (Hortokeftedes)
1 2/3 cups AP flour
1/3 cup polenta (corn meal would probably work too)
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, beaten (the original called for 2 yolks — I used 1 whole egg instead)
8 ounces mixed leaves such as dandelion, sorrel, watercress, mustard, arugula, spinach, or wild fennel (I used spinach and arugula)
2 cloves garlic,minced
3 tbsp fresh herbs such as parsley, mint and chervil (I used parsley, chives, basil and mint)
Salt & freshly ground pepper
3 tbsp olive oil (or more, depending on your preference)
Garlicky yogurt for dipping

Weigh out your greens if you have a scale. If not, do the best you can with your measuring implement of choice. Mix the four, polenta, milk and egg together in large bowl. Cover it and let it rest for 30 minutes — it’s sleepy, apparently. Meanwhile, cook the greens and garlic in some boiling water for 10 minutes and then shock in ice water. Drain well. Add the greens and garlic to the flour mixture and add a little salt (1/2 tsp or so) and some pepper. Form into little round fritters.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. You can also add up to a 1/2 inch of oil in the pan and actually pan fry the fritters. Cook several fritters at a time, for about 5 minutes per side. I just remembered, I covered the fritters while they cooked for the last minute or so on each side). They should be nice and golden brown. If fritters get too dark, turn the heat down. (Duh — you probably don’t need me to mention that, do you?)

Using a spatula, transfer the fritters to a wire rack or a paper towel lined platter. Continue cooking the rest of the fritters. When they are all done, sprinkle the fritters with a little sea salt (or kosher salt) and serve with the yogurt.

You can eat these as is, with the dipping yogurt, or make a falafel-type sandwich with some pita or flat bread.

Okay, I’m out of here until Monday! Have a nice weekend!

If I don’t say so myself, this was a good use of some chicken, feta, mint and phyllo dough. Now that I am over my apprehension of working with phyllo, it was even relatively easy. My one nitpick though, is that the chicken seemed to get a little dry. The flavor was still excellent, though, so it wasn’t the end of the world by any means. Next time, I believe I will mix a little of the egg/feta mixture into the chicken to keep it a bit more moist.

As the title picture shows, this recipe is from Meze: Small Plates to Savor and Share from the Mediterranean Table by Diane Kochilas. As I am prone to do, I added an extra clove of garlic, some mushrooms and a little fresh oregano. Oh and I also added a little lemon zest.

Chicken Pie with Mint, Feta and Eggs
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 white onions, finely chopped
6-8 button mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
1 tsp lemon zest (about 1/2 a lemon)
1 tsp chopped fresh oregano leaves
salt & pepper to taste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 pound phyllo, at room temperature
2 large eggs
3 tbsp milk
1 cup crumbled feta

Heat the butter over medium heat and cook the onions, mushrooms and garlic until lightly golden, about 8 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the chicken, onion-garlic mixture, mint, oregano and lemon zest.Season with salt and pepper and add the olive oil.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 10-inch pie pan. I used a plain glass pie pan. Place 1 sheet of the phyllo vertically across the pan. Brush with some olive oil and place another sheet overlapping a bit and brush that sheet with the olive oil too. Keep sheets that you are not using moist, under a damp towel.

Keep going until you go through the sheets, brushing each with a little oil as you work. I used few less than the whole 1/2 a pound — go ahead and use as much as you want but make sure you have the whole pan covered and layered nicely with overhanging phyllo available.

Beat the eggs, milk, salt and pepper until frothy and add the feta. Mix to combine. Add a little of the egg mixture to the chicken — a couple of tablespoons worth. Spread the filling evenly into the phyllo-lined shell. Roll the extra up and around the top of the pie. It won’t cover the whole top, just form a ring around the pie.

Pour the remaining egg mixture over the pie, tilting it so that it evenly covers it all.

Bake for 40-50 minutes until the filling is set and the phyllo is crisp and golden.

Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Cut and serve with a green salad.

Yep, there’s a new blog look today. I wanted a more Summery design and started playing around with new pictures and backgrounds Sunday afternoon. When I did this one, I also created two other themes so there should be another new look fairly soon.

Coming up, food-wise (maybe even all this week): tomato-basil salad, spinach & arugula fritters, green tea salmon and my Weekend Cookbook Challenge #7.

I love lamb. During my years as a vegetarian (and I think I’ve mentioned this before), the only meat that I really missed was tasty, succulent lamb. It just has such a distinctive flavor. Add some grill marks and some olive oil, garlic and salt and you really can’t go wrong.

These lamb chops have a few more ingredients and they were delicious. I made them last weekend and jwa and I both thought they were so good. I highly recommend them. Instead of mincing the garlic, I just chopped each clove into two pieces and stuck that in my grill pan too, after the marinating time. Then, there was crispy, grilled garlic to top the lamb chops. Excellent.

Red Wine, Garlic & Honey Grilled Lamb Chops
From Bon Appétit magazine.
3/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup olive oil
3-4 sprigs fresh oregano
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped in half
2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
8 1- to 1 1/4-inch-thick loin lamb chops (serve 2 per person)
2 tbsp honey

Mix the red wine, olive oil, oregano, vinegar and garlic in large glass baking dish or large zip lock bag. Pour yourself a glass of the leftover wine. Okay, continue. Add lamb chops and coat. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours to overnight, turning and basting often.

Transfer lamb to plate and whisk the honey into marinade. Grill lamb to desired doneness, turning once and basting with marinade often, about 10 minutes for medium-rare (145 degrees internally). You can either do this outside on the grill or inside on a grill pan. Discard the leftover marinade.

Pile on a plate and let rest (covered with foil) for about 5-10 minutes. When you put two lamb chops on each plate, divide the leftover lamb juices between the lamb chops.

We had these lamb chops with some Parmesan flatbread and a bunch of healthy, tasty side dishes. I chopped some tomatoes and tossed them with kalamata olives, fresh basil, salt, feta and garlic. I also peeled and diced a hothouse cucumber and tossed that with a little red wine vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and fresh, chopped dill. That was great — I can’t believe just a little while ago I didn’t like cucumber.

The last side was a Greek lima bean dish, from Gourmet magazine. I added the lemon and a bit of dried oregano to make it extra Greeky.

Greek Lima Beans
1 (10-oz) package frozen baby lima beans
1 cup water
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 lemon juiced and zested
1/2 teaspoon salt

Cook lima beans, water, oil, garlic, lemon juice and salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan, tightly covered, over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender, 17 to 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl. Serve sprinkled with the parsley and lemon zest.

Tomorrow: Happy Birthday to Je Mange la Ville. Grab a plate and let’s celebrate with both lemon and chocolate stout cupcakes!

This month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge is picnic food. This is a great topic as it is very open — there are so many foods that make for excellent picnic-fare. For this assignment, I reached for a very underused cookbook in my collection, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. After a few minutes, I picked my recipe — Greek Lima Bean Dip.

You might be asking, “Huh?” But, yes! Greek Lima Bean Dip, I say! I love humus-like dips. I am always looking for new ones to try and I think they are perfect picnic foods. Sure, dips are not the main attraction like sandwiches or fried chicken or what have you, but the side dishes play a very important role. The role of snack. So here, without further introduction or justification, is this great little picnic dip. It was very fresh tasting and the lemon/oregano/garlic combo did indeed give it a nice Greek flavor.

Oh, okay, wait. A couple of other things — 1. it saves well for a few hours at a picnic, as there’s no mayo in it (the tablespoon of yogurt I added is optional). 2. I changed the dill the recipe calls for to oregano, used more olive oil and added more garlic and lemon.

Greek Lima Bean Dip
3 cups cooked lima beans (2 15-oz cans or use frozen and just cook them according to the instructions.)
4 garlic cloves
Juice of 2 lemons (and a few strands of zest)
2 tbsp fresh oregano
1 tbsp fresh mint
1/4 cup olive oil
1-2 tbsp plain, low-fat yogurt (optional)
1/3 cup red or sweet onion, chopped roughly
salt & pepper to taste

This is the best kind of recipe — throw everything in the food processor, (except the olive oil, yogurt, salt and pepper) and process until combined well and it looks like a rough paste. Stream in the olive oil until it comes together.

Taste — add salt and pepper. If you want it a little creamier, add the yogurt. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and some lemon zest. Serve with toasted pita, crackers or use in a wrap.

It’s excellent, whether eaten outdoors on a blanket or in front of the tv, where you accidentally started watching Supergroup and now you are ashamed to be sucked in — will Ted Nugent beat up Sebastian Bach over his excessive drinking???!! Aghh — I need to keep watching to find out!

Recently, I was very much in the mood for Greek food. During this time, I stopped at Trader Joe’s and found some lamb loin chops and got them for dinner. Took them home and had a feast.

We bought hummus (although it’s very easy to make some) and some flat bread and had the lamb with those sides, as well as kalamata olives, chopped tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, feta and garlicky-yogurt sauce. It was so good and a bit of an accomplishment — I’d never made Lamb chops before. I shouldn’t have been apprehensive because they turned out wonderfully!

Garlic Grilled Lamb Chops with Cucumber, Tomatoes & Other Fixin’s
4 loin lamb chops
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
salt & pepper

hummus
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup pitted, kalamata olives
1/2 red onion, diced
1 English cucumber, peeled and diced
4 pieces, flat bread, warmed

Heat a grill pan over medium high heat. Brush lamb chops with half of the olive oil and mince one clove of garlic onto the chops. Season with salt and pepper and place on the grill pan, seasoned side down.

Rub the side that’s facing up with the rest of the olive oil, garlic and some salt and pepper. Flip after about 5 minutes and cook on the second side about 5 more minutes or until the internal temperature is 140 for medium-rare.

When done, plate lamb and cover with foil, letting it rest while you put together your fixin’s. Place diced vegetables, hummus, feta, flat bread or pita and yogurt sauce in little bowls.

Garlicky-Yogurt
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
dash cumin
salt & pepper

Mix the garlic into the yogurt. Add the cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to eat.

I think this will also be a perfect summer dish as the lamb can easily be grilled outside and the vegetables and sides will be all cool and refreshing. As our lamb chops were a little small, I almost think at least 3 might be a good amount to have per person or perhaps we were just really hungry!

I have decided that one of the very best things about having a blog is having a reason to try cooking new things, like pork, lamb, duck and…baking with phyllo dough! Phyllo is one of those things that I was always scared of using. Dude — it’s so easy! I had no idea. Apparently, the secret is to keep it covered with a damp towel while not actively brushing melted butter or piling stuff on it. Now, granted, the first thing I chose to make was pretty simple but hear this, I am no longer afraid of phyllo!

This experiment went well with a chopped vegetable salad, Greek style, and some red wine. The tart recipe is from Gourmet magazine. Give it a try.

Next I want to try and get up the nerve to flambe something. Opa!

Spinach, Feta & Pine Nut Tart
1/2 cup pine nuts
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 tbsp olive oil
two 10-ounce packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup crumbled feta (about 3 ounces)
1 tbsp fine dry bread crumbs

6 17- by 12-inch phyllo sheets
5 tbsp unsalted butter
6 tbsp plus 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a shallow baking pan toast pine nuts in middle of oven until golden, about 4 minutes, and cool. Keep a fine eye on these as they can get dark really quickly.

Next, cook diced onion in a large heavy skillet cook in oil, over moderately low heat, stirring, until softened. Squeeze thawed spinach to remove as much liquid as possible and stir with salt into onion. I usually place my spinach in a clean kitchen towel and then squeeze out over the sink.

Cook spinach mixture over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until any liquid is evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes, and cool slightly. In a large bowl whisk eggs until combined and stir in spinach mixture, pine nuts, feta, and bread crumbs until combined well. Filling may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. If you do make the filling ahead of time, let the filling get up to room temperature before proceeding.

Now, for the phyllo…

Unroll a package of phyllo sheets and lay out on a board. Cover with a damp towel.

In a small saucepan melt butter and cool slightly. Coat a baking sheet with a little of the melted butter — just brush it on the surface. Lay down one sheet of phyllo on the baking sheet and brush that with butter.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon parmesan evenly over buttered phyllo and repeat layering with 5 more phyllo sheets, butter, and 5 tablespoons parmesan. Now, I actually forgot to sprinkle my phyllo sheets with parmesan as I stacked them up. But, I was able to gently lift half of each sheet up and then sprinkle with cheese, then lift the other side and repeat.

Ideally, you will not forget the cheese the first time around. Arrange the last phyllo sheet on stack and lightly brush with butter. Spoon filling onto phyllo, spreading evenly, leave about a one inch border around the edges. Carefully fold edges of pastry up and over filling a little, leaving center uncovered. Lightly brush top of phyllo with butter. I had a slight sticking problem with the bottom sheet pf phyllo to the baking sheet, but I just very gingerly peeled it up to fold over. I got it all up with just a couple of places were it tore, but after it finished baking, you couldn’t tell at all.

Sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup parmesan over exposed filling and bake tart in middle of oven until golden, 25 to 30 minutes. Serve tart warm or at room temperature.

Now, we had this with a small salad that consisted of quartered artichoke hearts, kalamata olives, cherry tomatoes, slices of seeded cucumber, lemon zest and minced garlic. I made a dressing with red wine vinegar, olive oil and dried oregano, plus a little salt and pepper. I’d give quantities but honestly, I just threw it all together in a bowl. It’s very easy — just wing it.

It was all delicious! The baked phyllo crackled when sliced. The cheese on top got all golden and nutty and the filling was very flavorful!

Here is another thing I learned — phyllo dough, once defrosted, will keep in the fridge for 4 weeks. So, now I have 34 sheets of phyllo dough left and 25 days to use them. Any ideas?

Well, now that I can actually think about falafel (the tasty Middle Eastern chick pea snack) without shuddering or laughing, it sounded like a good pick for dinner. I really like falafel. I used to get it on the Stanford campus for lunch sometimes (at a place by the coffeehouse) and it brings back memories of when I worked there and would walk around campus.

At home, I usually prepare falafel-in-a-box. My new favorite kind is al fez. They’re based in England but you can find the falafel mix at Cost Plus stores. Instead of deep frying, I put my little falafel balls on a cookie sheet that I brush generously with olive oil and then bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, flipping them over after five minutes.

My presentation is more Greek than Mideastern but, you know, that’s just the way I like it. If you’re a purist, omit the feta and yogurt and use tahini sauce.

Falafel:
1 box falafel mix, prepared and set aside
4 pieces flat bread or pita bread, warmed in a dry, hot skillet
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cup lettuce leaves, spinach or any mixed greens work well
1 small cucumber, diced
1/3 cup crumbled feta
1/4 small sweet onion, diced finely
1/2 cup yogurt
2 garlic cloves, minced

Mix yogurt and garlic Set aside.

Lay greens on top of bread and follow with 2-3 small falafel patties. In a small bowl, toss tomato, cucumber and onion to combine. Spoon tomato mixture over falafel and top with feta crumbles. Drizzle with yogurt and enjoy.

***

I also need to add that I just read about IMBB23 and I am so excited! I already have my dish picked out and everything…

Oh, look, it’s more bubbling, baked things! Isn’t that what Winter is for? Why yes, yes it is. I really love moussaka. This, too, I would get at Greek Islands. I don’t know, there’s just something about lamb, red wine and cinnamon…

While I was a vegetarian, the one meat I think I thought back fondly about the most was probably lamb. Not that I ate it that often, because I didn’t, but because it was so interesting tasting. Nowadays, I probably have lamb a few times a year and moussaka is a great way to do that.

For these — instead of making a big lasagne-sized casserole — I made individual moussakas in oven-safe bowls. So cute!

If you had one cup or a bit bigger ramekins, you could easily make four moussakas with this recipe. If you had bigger soup bowls and were starving, you could make two big moussakas (and possibly have leftovers).

Eggplant Component:
2 small eggplants
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil

Lamb Component:
1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 pound ground lamb
1/4 cup red wine
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tomato, chopped
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Sprinkle of cinnamon

Béchamel Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
Pinch nutmeg
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tbsp grated parmesan + 1 more tbsp (or so)

Incidentals:
1 more tomato, sliced
1/4 cup crumbled feta
1/2 tsp dried oregano

For the Eggplant:
Wash eggplant and cut off both ends. Peel the purple skin off (I used a knife, but a potato peeler might work too) and slice it across into about 1/2 inch thick circles. Salt both sides of eggplant pieces and let stand for 30 minutes in a colander. Rinse and pat dry. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, and fry the eggplant on both sides, until golden brown. Drain well on paper towels.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

For the Meat Filling:
Heat the teaspoon of oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and garlic and cook until onions are tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the lamb and cook until brown, about 6 more minutes. Drain out excess grease, then add the wine to the lamb mixture and cook for for about 5 minutes. Add in tomato paste, tomato, water, parsley, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Simmer for 30 minutes more, then remove from heat and cool.

For the Béchamel:
In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Blend in the flour, and gradually stir in the milk. Cook, stirring, until thick and smooth. Add in the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Cool. Add 2-3 tablespoons of parmesan and blend well.

For the Assembly:
Here, I used individual, oven-safe bowls. As mentioned earlier, you can certainly also do this in a casserole dish. Start off by layering tomato slices in the bottom of each bowl.

Then, place some eggplant circles, followed by lamb mixture. Repeat eggplant and lamb mixture layers until both are used up. Top with the Béchamel and sprinkle with the extra one tablespoon of parmesan, then a little feta cheese (just a few crumbles on top to make it look pretty). Complete the masterpieces with a sprinkle of dried oregano on top of each.

Place in the oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, until bubbly and golden on top. Remove to a rack and let cool for 10 minutes.

For the Eating:
Serve with a salad of spinach leaves, kalamata olives, tomato and feta. Oh, and red wine. There must be red wine.

Then, open the box of Baklava you might have gotten for a holiday present. How convenient! Mmm!

Tomorrow: Spirited Cooking.

***

On a different, non-lamb casserole note, congratulations to Christy & Dave. Yay!

When I was growing up, my mom and I would often go to this restaurant called Greek Islands and I would always get a bowl of the egg-lemon-chicken soup — avgolemeno. I started making a version of it last winter and I’m pretty happy with this recipe. Some of the recipes I found called for a whole chicken, while I decided to just use a few chicken breasts. I think it makes enough of a “stock” that way and I usually have chicken breasts on hand. A whole chicken? Not so much. I also like to shred the chicken meat, rather than dice it. Whichever way you choose to do it, this is a great, winter soup for a cold night!

Or a cold day, as I am bringing some leftovers from last night to work for lunch!

Avgolemeno
3 chicken breasts, trimmed of excess fat
10 cups cold water
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 leeks, cleaned and quartered
2 carrots, peeled and quartered
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2/3 cup arborio rice
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 tsp freshly ground pepper

In a 6 to 8-quart stockpot, combine the chicken, water, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; immediately reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and skim the foam from the surface. Add one of the leeks, one of the carrots and bay leaves. Continue to simmer with the chicken until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, and you have a stock — about 45 minutes to one hour.

Meanwhile, dice the remaining quartered leek and carrot. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, leek and carrot and cook, stirring, until translucent, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Remove chicken from the broth, and allow meat to cool. Strain the broth and skim the fat. (Place the broth in the refrigerator to make it easier to skim.)

When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat apart and shred it. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Return the broth to high heat, add the rice and sautéed veggies and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is almost cooked through, about 20 minutes. Add the chicken and reduce the broth to a low simmer.

In a medium sized bowl, beat the lemon juice, eggs, and pepper. Temper the egg and lemon mixture: Ladle 2 cups of hot broth into a measuring cup with a pourable spout. While whisking, slowly pour the 2 cups of hot broth into the egg mixture. Pour the broth and egg mixture back into the pot. The egg and lemon will make the soup creamier and a lighter yellow color. Salt to taste.

If soup seems too thick, you can always add a bit of packaged chicken stock. Garnish with some fresh thyme or oregano leaves.