Monday, November 06, 2006

Almost Avgolemono


Philip's Fast (aka Advent for you non-Orthodox) is coming, and I've been trying to use up meat and dairy products from my fridge and freezer. I noticed that I had been saving a couple of chicken/turkey carcasses and chicken wing tips as well as a quart of vegetable trimmings in my freezer, so last night I made a yummy poultry stock and put it in the fridge to congeal. When I got home from work tonight, I scraped all the fat off the top, reheated it, strained all the solids out, ending up with about 1 1/2 quarts of delicious stock. I decided I'd make chicken noodle soup, but the two chicken thighs I thought I had in the freezer were nowhere to be found. By that time, I already had a celery rib and a handful of baby carrots sliced and bubbling away in the stock. I decided to add a can of cannelini beans because, well, I just love them, AND, they are mildly flavored and wouldn't compete with the stock. The soup still didn't seem to have enough "stuff" in it, so I added a 10 oz package of frozen chopped spinach. Once I saw the spinach swirling in the stock, it made me think of Greek lemon soup, so I beat three eggs well, tempered them with the simmering stock, and slowly added them in, stirring the whole time so that the eggs wouldn't curdle. Then I finished it off with about 1/3 C of lemon juice swirled in, and we chowed down. I had some homemade biscuits left over from last night which made a delicious accompaniment to the soup. For dessert, we are going to have chocolate cherry ice cream.

DD was chucking during dinner, and when I asked her why, she said, "So, Mom.... basically, you made this yummy supper out of .... NOTHING???" Yep, I guess that's what I did! Waste not, want not is what my dear departed grandmothers used to say! Wouldn't they be proud! Memory Eternal, Grammie and Memiere. I love you and miss you so very much.

See how easy it is to eat delicious, nutritious and inexpensive meals?

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