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Avgolemono Greek Chicken Soup

May13

This weekend was Charleston’s annual Greek Festival. It’s a great family event, filled with dancing, history lessons, vendors selling crafts and other goods, and delicious Greek delights. As you can imagine, it’s one of my favorite festivals. Sadly, we had a busy weekend so we weren’t able to squeeze it in this year. I was pretty bummed out but cheered myself up by recreating my favorite dish that I typically only get to enjoy once a year at the festival–Avgolemono. It’s basically a Greek Chicken Soup but has this amazing explosion of flavors in each spoonful. It’s unusual because it has an intense lemon flavor and a velvety, almost custard-like texture. May sound a bit odd but that combination of lemon, rice, chicken and veggies is phenomenal and every time I inhale a bowl I promise myself that I’m going to make it. I discovered you can buy it by the can online but I had that promise hanging over my head so I peeled myself off the couch and got into the kitchen. After consulting several recipe and travel websites, and a friend’s Yiayia, I decided to give it a whirl and it turned out beautifully! I didn’t want to spend a whole Sunday in the kitchen so I simplified a lot of the steps (Sorry, Yiayia!) to be more realistic to my busy lifestyle. I also thought it might be an interesting change to try orzo instead of rice. You can stick with rice if you prefer though. I hope you enjoy!

Avgolemono

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Ingredients:

  • 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup carrot, minced
  • 1/2 cup celery, minced
  • 8 cups of chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup of fresh lemon juice
  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1/2 cup of orzo, uncooked
  • 2 T. flour
  • 1 T. butter, melted
  • 4 egg yolks
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Fresh chopped parsley
  1. In a large pot, saute onion, garlic, carrots, and celery until softened. Add chicken broth and lemon juice and bring to a boil.
  2. Reduce heat to medium high and add chicken breasts. Let cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Remove chicken to cool and reduce liquid to simmer.
  3. Add orzo
  4. Mix melted butter and flour and add to the pot.
  5. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks. Gradually add in some of the hot liquid from the pot to the egg mixture, beating vigorously in between so you bring it up to temperature slowly without the eggs scrambling. You’ll end up adding about 2 cups of liquid in the end.
  6. Add the egg yolk mixture to the pot and stir. Season with salt and pepper.
  7. Shred chicken and add back to the pot.
  8. Let simmer for a few minutes until orzo has fully cooked.
  9. Garnish with chopped parsley and enjoy!

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If you really want to go Greek, you can also serve with stuffed grape leaves! Yummy!

Rosa de Jamaica Hibiscus Tea

May9

While visiting my boyfriend’s family in Guatemala last Christmas, I fell in love with the most amazing drink, Rosa de Jamaica, or Hibiscus Flower Tea. In Spanish, it means the Rose of Jamaica. The drink it produces is tangy, fruity, and sweet, all wrapped up in a vibrant berry red color. It took only one sip to convert me to its magical powers and I was absolutely shocked to hear it was a tea made from flowers and not a local Kool-Aid of sorts.

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Turns out the hibiscus flower actually has many medicinal properties to it and is loaded with Vitamin C. Consuming hibiscus helps:

  • Digestion
  • Lower Blood Pressure
  • Coughs
  • Reduces the absorption of UV radiation in the skin
  • Slows hair loss
  • Slows hair turning gray

See, it is magic!

So delicious and definitely a drink I wanted to make back home. After consulting a few family members, I had the recipe in hand. I made a pitcher of it yesterday and it was like being teleported right back to Antiqua. So here’s the recipe:

Rosa de Jamaica

  • 1 cup hibiscus flowers* These can be found at most Latin or Asian supermarkets, tea shops, or you can buy them online. Below is what the loose flowers look like:
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  • 16 cups of boiling water
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 limes, quartered
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. Place hibiscus flowers, sugar, and spices in the bottom of a pitcher and add boiling water.

2. Squeeze in the lime juice and stir until well incorporated.Image

3. Let steep for 20 minutes.

4. Strain out the flowers and limes and chill.

Enjoy!

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I hope you’ll try this recipe! It’s also a fabulous mixer for cocktails. 🙂

Glorious Garlic & Lime Rotisserie Chicken

May6

Rotisserie chicken is truly the most glorious thing. EVER. To follow up my earlier post about purchasing my rotisserie machine, I am proud to say that I made my first rotisserie chicken and it came about beautifully! Image

You could certainly replicate it by roasting but I’m completely sold on my rotisserie machine so if you have one, USE IT! It’s so much easier than roasting a chicken and the flavor is all the proof you need. Here’s the recipe:

 

Garlic & Lime Rotisserie Chicken

  • 1 Whole Chicken*. I used a 5 lb. chicken. No matter the size, you’ll want to plan on 15 minutes per pound and also note that you’re looking for an internal temp of 170-180°F.
  • 1/2 cup of butter, softened
  • 2 T. of minced garlic
  • 3 limes, zested and juiced
  • Ground Pepper
  • Kosher salt

If your chicken comes with a pack of innards, remove and throw out. Wash and dry the chicken and season the cavity liberally with salt and pepper and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine softened butter with minced garlic, 1 tsp. ground pepper, 2 tsp. kosher salt, and zest and juice of the three limes. Work the garlic butter mixture under the skin of the chicken. spread around liberally. Reserve about a tablespoon to spread on top of the skin.

Using elastic food ties or butcher’s twine, truss the chicken. If you don’t have elastic food ties and want a super quick and easy way to truss the chicken with butcher’s twine, click HERE.

Place chicken on the spit rods and set time for 75 minutes or until the internal temperature is 170-180°F. When the timer goes off, let the chicken rest for 10 minutes in the rotisserie instead of on the counter by having it spin without heat. After it’s rested, remove and serve.

***Roasting Method*** For those roasting in the oven, bake at 425°F for 1 1/2 hours or juices run clear. Internal temp should 170-180°F.

Random side note: If you are looking for an inexpensive digital food thermometer, this is the one I own and LOVE.

Kitchen Sink Salad

May3

I’m not a salad person. At all. Sure, it’s fine when a little salad comes with my steak or spaghetti and meatballs but you’ll never catch me ordering a salad as my main. Unless it came with a side of fries. 🙂
So I’m not sure what happened but I’ve turned a new (wait for the pun) leaf. Maybe it’s spring in the air but I had this craving for the ultimate salad for dinner and I think I’ve got it in the bag. I gobbled it down as if it were a plate of spaghetti & meatballs though I wouldn’t have turned down the garlic breadsticks. Too delicious not to share!

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Here’s what went into my Kitchen Sink Salad (makes 2 large salads):

  • 1 bag of mixed greens
  • 1/2 a cucumber, cut into rings
  • 2 roma tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup of corn
  • 1/2 cup of sliced olives
  • 1 cup of garlic & cheese croutons
  • 1/2 cup of shredded ghouda
  • 8 ounces of cubed ham
  • 8 ounces of sliced turkey

I made my own dressing but you can use any bottled variety as well:

  • 1 T. extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 t. balsamic vinegar
  • 1 t. red wine vinegar
  • 1 T. sugar
  • 1 t. fresh or dried parsley
  • 1 t. dill
  • 1 t. garlic salt

Mix together in separate bowl.

Toss the mixed greens in a large bowl with dressing. Plate the greens on two dinner plates then add all the toppings.

My Infomercial Addiction

May1

Let it be known…I have a serious infomercial addiction. But it’s really not that bad (spoken like a true addict)! I enjoy watching the infomercials but rarely do I actually buy the product advertised. Until now! First a little back story…Since I was little, my all-time favorite infomercial was for the Ronco rotisserie. You know the one; SET IT AND FORGET IT! As a little girl, I dreamed of all the amazing things I could make in that silly rotisserie. Well, needless to say I never bought it (I was maybe 11 at the time) and pretty much forgot all about those days of lusting after rotisserie chicken and screaming along with the audience as Ron turned the dial.

After a recent trip to Guatemala to visit my boyfriend’s family, his Dad made us the most amazing pork loin I’ve ever had in his Ronco rotisserie that’s he’s had for maybe 15 years. It was absolutely amazing and took me back to the days of SET IT AND FORGET IT!

So we get back from our trip and for the past few months I’ve been talking about that stupid pork loin and all the other great things that we could make in one of these machines. My poor boyfriend has probably started to go batty from listening to me prattle on about it. Since it’s $130 it wasn’t an easy decision since the last thing I wanted was to buy the machine and have it die the oh to frequent infomercial death we all hear about and occasionally participate in. Alas, my birthday rolled around and I scored some serious Amazon gift card moolah and bought one for my very own! UPS just delivered it so I’m ready to get started! Here’s the white one I bought: 

It was a toss-up between white and stainless steel:But I think the white goes best with my kitchen. I promise you this; I shall prevail and come out on the other side pudgier but happy that I’ve used the crap out of my Ronco.