If your last few weeks have been anything like mine, someone in your household has been sick. It started with my older daughter the week before Thanksgiving. She was sick, but nothing too bad. Then, right before Thanksgiving, I got sick…and I’m still feeling the after effects of Covid. Yup, this is like the 3rd time I’ve had it and while it wasn’t horrible, it was annoyingly long and this version was a bit different and involved a stomach issue. Anyway, forward to this week and my daughter said her school was nearly empty because so many kids were sick. So, just a heads-up, Covid is still very much around.
But, let’s get to the food. Typically, on Fridays, I don’t cook and we order out. That week when Irie was sick, we ordered Chinese. We all end up with this useless bland bucket of white rice, place it in the fridge and forget about it and throw it away a week later. Well, I needed this rice when I got sick and I put it into an easy soup I made. So, here’s a delicious, lemony, chicken and rice soup recipe for you!
Lemony Chicken & Rice Soup
2 boneless chicken breasts
Large onion
Fennel bulb, or two celery stalks
3 carrots
6 cups chicken stock
Thyme
2 bay leaves
1 lemon
1 takeout bucket of cooked rice
2 egg yolks
Fresh parsley, minced
Place 1.5 tbsp of oil in a dutch oven, set over medium-high heat. Season your chicken with Kosher salt and black pepper and sauté the chicken, browning on both sides for about 8 minutes total.
Meanwhile, dice up the veggies. If using fennel, remove the stalks and use the bulb: halve, core, and dice.
Once the chicken has cooked, remove and place on a plate to rest.
Add a little more oil to the pot, then add in the veggies with a pinch of salt and pepper. Sauté over medium heat until softened, about 10 minutes.
While the veggies cook, slice away the entire rind of the lemon. You can do this in multiple strips with a veggie peeler or use a paring knife. Using butcher twine, tie together some sprigs of thyme and the bay leaves.
Once the veggies have softened, throw in the lemon rind, thyme, and bay leaves. Pour in the stock and bring to a boil.
Return the chicken to the pot, along with any accumulated juices. Return to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, remove the chicken from the pot once more and place it on a cutting board. Continue to simmer the soup, uncovered.
Once the chicken has cooled a few minutes, shred the meat.
While you wait for the chicken to cool, juice the lemon into a medium-sized bowl. Remove any seeds and add in the egg yolks, whisk to combine.
After the chicken has been shredded, remove the lemon rind, bay leaves and thyme from the pot. Then, add the rice to the pot and allow it to absorb the liquid on all sides of the trapezoid-shaped pile of rice before breaking it up into the soup.
Add the shredded chicken back to the pot and stir everything to combine. Turn off the heat.
Using a ladle, pour a ladle or two of the soup liquid into the egg mixture and whisk to combine. Then transfer the egg/soup mixture back into the pot and continue to whisk briefly.
Stir in some chopped parsley. Taste for any seasoning needs, then serve.
______________________________ Copyright 2023, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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