Avgolemono Soup

This lemony Greek variant of a classic comfort dish (chicken soup) incorporates both Fogline’s chicken and eggs—raised at the farm by Antonio Reyes. A Fogline chicken creates a rich and lively stock that elevates even the simplest soups. Gently simmered meat, stripped from the bones midway through cooking, adds a smooth and tender protein to this avgolemono. It is rich in health-supporting omega-3s, which are more abundant in pastured poultry than the factory farmed alternative. The dark marigold yolks of pasture-raised eggs give the soup a pleasant spring color and a hearty dose of nourishing vitamin D, B-12 and choline— attuning mind and body to the freshness of the season. Lightly caramelized leeks, blended with preserved lemon, lemon juice, and some of the rice, give body and depth to the soup’s flavor and texture.

1 whole Fogline Farm chicken
10 cups water
1 medium-sized yellow onion
1 whole celery stalk
1 whole carrot
1 bay leaf (we use locally harvested California bay laurel)
1 leek, green top reserved for the stock, white section cut lengthwise then into generous 1-inch rainbows
2 cups cooked white rice (we use Koda Farms Kokuho Rose medium grain)
2 medium-sized lemons, juiced and zested
4 eggs
Salt
Pepper
1 bunch fresh dill
1 handful mildly bitter greens, cut into ribbons (we use puntarella and escarole)
Optional but highly recommended: ¼ of a preserved lemon, pulp and pith removed

Place the chicken, water, onion, celery, carrot, bay leaf and green leek top in a large pot over low heat. Skim foam and any proteins that rise to the surface as the stock cooks. After 1–1½ hours, carefully check the chicken for doneness. If no undercooked pink meat remains, remove the chicken from the pot and transfer to a cutting board where it can rest until cool. Turn off the heat, but leave stock on the stove.

While stock cooks, prepare the rice and set aside.

Once the chicken is cool, remove meat from the breasts and legs. Rubber gloves can help protect your hands from any remaining heat. Tear or cut chicken into bite-sized pieces and set aside in the refrigerator, then return the carcass to the pot. Simmer covered for another 1½–2 hours. When finished, strain the broth, wash out the soup pot and return it to the stove.

Add a few glugs of olive oil and sauté the leek carefully, just long enough to see a hint of brown on some of the pieces but not long enough to burn and dry them out. Remove leeks from the pot and set aside to cool. At this point, the finished stock can be returned to the pot.

When the leeks are cool, place them in a highspeed blender along with the lemon juice, lemon zest, preserved lemon, and 2/3 cup of the cooked rice. Add enough water to cover the mixture and purée until completely smooth. Salt to taste.

Warm the broth. Whisk eggs in a medium-sized, heat-proof bowl until frothy and light yellow. Use the warm, but not boiling, broth to temper the eggs, adding small quantities of broth to the eggs while stirring vigorously to avoid scrambling.

Once the eggs have been warmed by the broth, add them to the soup pot while stirring to maintain a uniform texture. Add the puréed leek-rice mixture, the chicken and the rest of the rice to the pot. Heat until the soup is simmering, but avoid a bubbling boil, which can cause the eggs to separate. Toss in the greens and cook for 5–10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Top soup with fresh dill, torn or chopped. We toss our dill into the blender with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper and blanched chard for a silky green spring pistou. Serves 6–8.