Poh Faced and The Soup of Love

So, recently I was on the telly. I’ve been on the telly before. It’s fun being on the telly. People watch you and send text messages and mum and dad get all super-proud and momentarily forget the hell their troublesome daughter has put them through for all of these years.

This time was different. I have never had so many people so excited about me being on the telly. Ever. My Facebook page was busier than my birthday. There were text messages, emails and tweets, people who sorta knew me stopped me in the supermarket and jumped up and down. It all went a bit crazy. And I was only on for two minutes! Other times I’ve been on the telly, people have been well… nice… enthusiastic … complimentary even… but not like this.

No. And why? Because I was on a cooking show. And not just any cooking show. I was on Poh’s Kitchen!

I loved it. Poh was actually in my kitchen. She and the lovely crew hung out, filmed me making Avgolemono Soup and then put the clip on the telly. Which you can find if you click on this link, here:

The clip of me on Poh's Kitchen: A Greek Breakfast

So.... a secret....

What I didn’t say on the show was that this soup is something I make when I seek comfort. When I’m feeling isolated or anxious, making this soup restores me, the action of assembling the flavours within that delicate broth brings me back to my senses. And when my friends are feeling poorly with no mamma or are holding a lingering sadness in their heart, I know the one thing I can do to make them feel better is make them this soup.  It’s a beautiful thing.

I also know there will come a day however, when I will discover someone I love is in the most agonizing state of pain. When I have to face the fact that all the soup in the world is not going to make that person feel better. There will be nothing I can cook or do or say that will make everything alright. This really terrifies me. What will I have left? Just me. With no tricks. No answers and a whole lot of fear that if I can’t channel my energy into doing something practical to help, like making soup, I’ll be reduced to being a reminder of how feeble humans can be.

Or… I’ll just be me. With no bowl of soup in my hand or words of comfort to offer.  Put simply, I will go to this person and be with them. I’ll be me saying silently, I’m here because I love you. I hope that will be enough.

Avgolemono Soupa

To make stock:

Place a whole free range chicken in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat. Do not allow the water to bubble furiously or the stock will be cloudy and the flavour will be compromised. Skim any scum that rises to the surface. Season with a good pinch of salt. You can also add a bay leaf and some pepper corns if you like. Simmer gently for an hour or so, or until the chicken is about to fall apart. Remove the chicken, reserving it for later, and strain the stock.

For the soup:

You need:

At least 6 cups of stock

3/4 cup short grain rice, rinsed under cold water

3 eggs

juice of one lemon

Salt and white pepper

More lemon juice to taste

Shredded (reserved) chicken meat

Heat stock til its simmering in a large saucepan and add the rice. Stir until the stock returns to very low boiling point, and then simmer gently for about 15 minutes or until the rice is cooked. You may need to skim the soup during this process as well.

Separate the eggs. In a bowl beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then fold through the yolks, being careful not to flatten the egg whites too much. Gradually drizzle in the lemon juice.

Then you need to ‘cook’ the egg mixture, by slowly ladling in the hot soup a ladle at a time into the egg mixture, while whisking well. Add the hot soup slowly so that the eggs don’t split.

Add the warm shredded chicken meat (about 2 cups worth) into the stock and rice. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in warm egg mixture. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately, adding more lemon juice to taste.