Chicken Lemon Rice Soup (Avgolemono)

(For those who want it more “from scratch,” simply take two chicken breasts on the bone and boil for about 90 minutes in 8 cups of water to make a homemade stock, instead of store-bought broth. Just be sure to skim off the fat, and remove skin before piecing up the chicken for the remainder of the soup.)

1. In a large pot, combine the chicken broth, lemon juice, soup base and pepper. Bring to a boil on high, then simmer for 20 minutes.

2. In a separate frying pan, melt 1/4 of the butter and saute the onions until translucent. Empty into the stockpot. Then add the rest of the butter to the hot frying pan that you just cooked the onions in. Stir in flour to make a roux, keeping over medium heat (and stirring frequently) for about 10-15 minutes. Gradually add the roux to the soup mixture in the stock pot. Simmer for 10 minutes more.

3. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks until light in color. Then beat in cream/milk. Gradually add some of the hot soup to the egg yolks, stirring constantly (about a cup or so). Return the egg/milk mixture to the soup pot and heat through. Lastly, add the cooked rice and chicken and simmer for another ten minutes. Garnish with lemon slices, and add salt/pepper to taste.